1st Lions match

[ianh5979]

Did anyone else notice the Royals scrum half spending all his time offside at Lions scrums going at least 1 yard past the No8 blocking off one passing lane?
How could a TO3 miss this all the time?

 

[Staybound]

I certainly saw the Royal XV props popping up like meerkats and not getting pinged!

 

[BigDai]

The only scrumage sanction I noticed all afternoon was against the Lions! The Lions had a huge advantage in the scrum which they weren't allowed to press home.
Similarly, in the Canada/Wales game, the Canada TH dropped the scrum at every opportunity, even as Wales went for the push over! Still no PK.

 

[Lee Lifeson-Peart]

Did anyone else notice the Royals scrum half spending all his time offside at Lions scrums going at least 1 yard past the No8 blocking off one passing lane?
How could a TO3 miss this all the time?

This contributed to Blair looking a bit of an @rse - plus Wallace at #8. The ball that he lost to Pretorius picking up from Wallaces feet was a case in point. Pretorius had both feet past the ball.

I thought Royals were offside a lot at the Ruck and were penalised only half as often as they should have been.

It was only when they were too knackered to make the extra metre + count that the Lions started to make in roads.

 

[Ian_Cook]

Of course, the Lions were as pure as the driven snow, and wouldn't dream of being offside or committing any other breaches of the Laws!

But as Hale & Pace would say, "thats enough of the fairy tales"

In reality McGeechan will have to put a rocket up these guys arses. First game together or not, this Royal XV were a very weak side that also played together for the first time. There were only five S14 players in the squad, and even then, they were only second-stringers for their bottom of the table sides; Deon van Rensburg (Lions) and Hanno Coetzee, Bjorn Basson, Bees Roux and Sarel Pretorius (Cheetahs). The rest of the team were Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup players not deemed good enough to be in the top 160 players in South Africa. To make a comparison, imagine what the All Blacks coach would be telling his team if that were the best they could do against a side made up of ND1 players plus five second choice GP players from Bristol & Newcastle.

The Lions were just awful in the first half. What the hell was Keith Earls doing? In that first half he looked totally out of his depth. The non-selection of Delon Armitage is starting to look like a mistake.

Thankfully for the sake of this tour, and their credibility, the Lions managed to extricate themselves from the poo due in no small part to the 22 points provided mostly by faultless placekicking from O'Gara.

The B&I Lions will need some dramatic improvement before they play their next match against Gauteng, because they WILL be a much tougher prospect.

 

[Davet]

Just keeping our powder dry.

Hopefully.

Do just enough to win - and when they did up the pace they were never in danger of losing.






Probably.

 

[Ian_Cook]

.....Probably.

Doesn't sound to me like you are exactly oozing with confidence Davet

 

[Account Deleted]

Is it not interesting that If some of us have a pop at refs from the British Isles then all hell is let loose and our level of ability is brought into the debate.

Yet when it is a SH ref then it's OK and open season.

I just don't like so called "Top" refs ignoring / Missing / Choosing not to deal with (for whatever reason) offenders, when it is pretty obvious what is going on. No wonder people like "Brian Moore" have regular pops at us.

 

[stuart3826]

five second choice GP players from Bristol & Newcastle.

I'm so pleased you didn't mention Worcester in that!:chin: :drool:

 

[andyscott]

To me the referee got an awful long wrong, just to even up the game, how many penalties did the Royal commit at the breakdown, I would have had one of them in the bin early doors
But yet, no warning was given until loads of penalties had been commited.

The Royal SH was the best player on the pitch by a long shot, sure he was offside a lot, but why not if you get away with it.

I have a feeling, the referee was just trying to even up the game giving more leeway to the weaker side, and yes the royals were weaker, even though the Lions made hard work of the victory.

If the Lions dont pull their fingers out, we will look like numpties against the Boks.

 

[Dixie]

If the Lions dont pull their fingers out, we will look like numpties against the Boks.

Was there ever any doubt about that?

 

[andyscott]

Was there ever any doubt about that?

Only the blind hopefulness I have before every tournament starts

Then reality comes crashing in, the bugger that it is.

 

[DrSTU]

As a staunch Natal and Bokke fan; I particularly enjoyed Saturday's game. Can't disagree with any of the comments so far though.

Can't wait for Natal to beat the Lions, should be great

 

[Dixie]

Can't wait for Natal to beat the Lions, should be great

In what way will it be great to see Natal beat the Lions? Surely the paltry attendance at Game 1 indicates that even Saffers won't pay to watch a one-sided game. It'd be like watching a GP side play its 3rd XV - a challenge for the 3rd XV, but hardly great in terms of spectacle or satisfaction for the 1st XV.

Though I suppose the S.14 final proves me wrong ....

 

[Ian_Cook]

I'm so pleased you didn't mention Worcester in that!:chin: :drool:

Oh well stuart I had to be consistent. Cheetahs finished last, Lions finished third last, so Worcester, finishing second last, didn't fit the bill.

 

[Simon Thomas]

Well done to the Royals and very poor show by the Lions. The referee was competent and had no affect on the result imho. Yes, he could have pinged Royals earlier and more, but I would expect a Lions XV to have risen above their invitations into contact, and so not give the Royals what they wanted. The Lions were incredibly niaive, had little leadership on the pitch, and the crash-bang British (Premiership) style looked one dimensional and predictable - goodness knows how they will cope with the pace of the better Provinces and the Bokke themselves.

The old amateur Lions "club together" thing is long gone, and Geech & his coaching team have a massive job to do. The Lions looked stale, tired, and went through the motions - a professional player malaise we have seen with the international soccer team in the past. Of course they are pacing themselves for a very intense month of rugby, but there was a fundamental lack of speed (of action and thought), far to many basic skill errorrs, and little evidence of a group synergy to fall back on.

If the Lions don't get their act together for Wednesday, Transvaal will run up a big score.

I think the Lions have underestimated the physical challenges, the level most South Africans now play at (certainly at Super 14 & Currie Cup), the sheer intensity of the Game over there, and the hard mental approach that faces them across the country.

I was chatting on the phone to an old uni chum today to arrange a few things (as I can now get out there on business in time for the second Loftus & then final Joburg tests, and take up SABC kind hospitality offer at the matches !). He predicted a 3-0 whitewash. I respect his view as he was a British Lion in South Africa himself in 1980, stayed there playing for Transvaal and benched for the Boks, and is well know for his anti-establishment show Radio 702 in Joburg, in which he doesn't follow the 'party line'.

 

[dave_clark]

if the rest of the tour does go the expected way (i.e. thumpings followed by a 3-0 loss in the test series), could this be the last lions tour? or would Australia demand their chance to win 3-0 too before calling it a day?

it would be a shame if it were to be the case, however can a scratch side ever expect to compete with a top world team?

 

[SimonSmith]

I was chatting on the phone to an old uni chum today to arrange a few things (as I can now get out there on business in time for the second Loftus & then final Joburg tests, and take up SABC kind hospitality offer at the matches !). He predicted a 3-0 whitewash. I respect his view as he was a British Lion in South Africa himself in 1980, stayed there playing for Transvaal and benched for the Boks, and is well know for his anti-establishment show Radio 702 in Joburg, in which he doesn't follow the 'party line'.

Tell Mr Robbie I thought his comments on the TV coverage were a cut above the usual...

 

[Ian_Cook]

...Surely the paltry attendance at Game 1 indicates that even Saffers won't pay to watch a one-sided game....

I would not read too much into a rugby crowd size at Rustenberg. Its not exactly heartland rugby country in South Africa. There was a Springboks v All Blacks test there in 2006 that drew only 28,000. The capacity of the Royal Bafokeng Stadium is 42,000. It was originally built as a venue for the 1995 Rugby World Cup but it has become more of a football stadium.

The stadium packs out for a club wendyball match. The Kaizer Chiefs, Moroka Swallows, Orlando Pirates and Platinum Stars have all used the ground in the past.

 

[Ian_Cook]

however can a scratch side ever expect to compete with a top world team?

The Lions a scratch side? I don't think so!

The Lions are less of a scratch side than any Six Nations side.

How many Six Nations sides get three weeks and six warm up matches immediately prior to the first round?