Boks v Lions

[ivoralljack]

If the Boks had any games under their belts they'd beat this Lion's lineup with no problem. As it is they'll likely tire before the end and let the Lions steal it. If this happens Gatland will have got out of jail. He allowed his Scottish co-selectors to influence his team selection and, as a result, we have Stuart Hogg at full back who is very suspect under the high ball and Duhan van de Merwe (a Saffer who plays for Scotland on residential grounds) on the wing who, despite his 6ft 4", is a poor defender. Milk turns quicker than he does!

These Scottish players (both fine performers btw) take the place of Liam Williams, considered one of the best in the game under the high ball, and top try scorer so far in Josh Adams, who is also excellent in the air and a fine defender with it.

Make no mistake. Boks will play as they always do. Faf de Klerk will bombard Hogg and van de Merwe with high kicks and the Saffer's forwards will seek to engage the Lions in a mighty arm wrestle which they'll expect to win. Were they match fit they would win the wrestle and with it the game BUT they aren't, so Lions have a chance. Game could still go either way but mistakes from Hogg and or VdM might swing it for the Boks. If they don't make mistakes then the Lion's match fitness could win it for them.

 

[ivoralljack]

I called it right. The Boks have played little top rugby in recent times because of covid and other reasons. They were undercooked and fell away in the second half after getting a useful first half lead. Even so, the Lions had a couple of close shaves with the TMO and might have shipped a try, and the game, had the calls gone the Saffer's way. Good game and I'm looking forward to the next one, which also promises to be close and a battle of attrition.

 

[ivoralljack]

Read this with great amusement about the Lion's tour of SA in 1974. It was well known that the Boks intended to rough up the Lions big time, so Lion's captain, Willie John McBride, hatched a plan with his team to deal with it. The infamous "99" call was born. Individual fights would likely lead to a red card, so 99 was a call for EVERY lions player to get into the brawl when one happened. This meant that the officials couldn't single out any player for a card because everybody was in there swinging punches, kicking and head-butting.

Anyway, the expected fracas occurred. Immediately, every Lions player got involved - some more than others!! After the game in the dressing room, one of his team mates jokingly asked tiny outside-half Phil Bennet, who was hardly built for violence, whether he had got involved.

"Too right I did", replied the diminutive Bennett, "I gave the ball boy a hell of a hiding!!"

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Gareth Edwards escorted by Mike Summerbee (60's - 70's winger for City) at the Swans first match in the Prem August 15 2011 at the Ethiad. Summerbee was a shorty too. They were collecting passes at the customer service office outside the stadium.

 

[ivoralljack]

Gareth Edwards escorted by Mike Summerbee (60's - 70's winger for City) at the Swans first match in the Prem August 15 2011 at the Ethiad. Summerbee was a shorty too. They were collecting passes at the customer service office outside the stadium

Not the biggest but he had a fearsome reputation. He was one of the few forwards who gave back more than he got and defenders learned to respect him and treat him with caution. Mike originally was at Swindon with an old friend of mine whom I met when he came to my house in his capacity as a policeman. He loved his football and often popped in to watch MOTD when he was supposed to be on patrol!! His name was Len Ballinger and I introduced him to Ponty where he played for a couple of seasons. Told me then that he and Mike Sumerbee had been team mates at Swindon. Len was a big guy but surprisingly skillful with it. And he was a nice bloke as well.

 

[ivoralljack]

Watching the Ospreys play Johannesburg Lions at Ellis Park, at the moment. Brings back fond memories as, when I first went to SA, my first home was in a highrise apartment block called Tygerberg on the 10th floor, which overlooked Ellis Park nestling in a sort of valley immediately below. Had a great view of games through binocs!

Ospreys have a problem. Jo'burg, on the Highveld, is 5750 feet above sea level and the air is so thin it drains you. A night owl by nature, I was looking for my bed at about 8pm when I first got there so tired had I become. It took well over a month to get used to it.

When the British Lions tour they have weeks to acclimatize and still struggle. The Ospreys have just a few days, as do other Northern hemisphere club teams, and will likely get slaughtered today. I remember how the thin air affected other things besides your lungs. When playing football, 30/35 yard strikes at goal were commonplace as there was so little air resistance. Similarly, you had to play squash with the lowest bounce yellow dot ball and I often drove the ball 300 yards when I played golf if I caught one right!! Great memories!

 

[ivoralljack]

PS: Saffers dominate in the list of long kickers in rugby union. Whilst not done in an actual match, Kings and former Cheetahs utility back Gerrie Labuschagne, landed the longest ever documented kick of 80 metres on the training pitch at U19 level!! Successful sixty or seventy metre kicks are quite commonplace in SA rugby, which gives you an idea of how high altitude affects things.

Back to the game - Os were doing well at just 3-7 down but as the half drew to a close, the altitude started taking its toll and Lions ran in another try for 14-3. As the game goes on the lack of oxygen will wreak havoc with the Os and they'll do well to avoid a 40+ points defeat, which was the fate of both Scarlets and Cardiff who played there recently. The only way to keep the score down will be to empty the subs bench to use as many fresh legs and lungs as possible.

 

[ivoralljack]

As I feared the Os went down 15-45 but managed to get 2 tries. The physicality of the Lions, coupled with the atltitude problem, was far too much and they treated the Os' tacklers as little more than speed bumps. Problem is, as the pundits pointed out, the lack of oxygen affects the brain as well as the muscles and lungs, so Os were making bad decisions in addition to being battered by superior/stronger opposition. And the worrying thing is that the Lions are the WEAKEST of the Saffer sides with hardly any international players!

Now Wales have to go there for a 3 match series. After losing at home to Italy good luck with that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ivoralljack]

And yesterday the Dragons were routed 20-55 by the Bulls in Pretoria. It's not really a fair contest when our club sides play in SA. The local teams, who are invariably fabulous rugby players anyway, have this huge advantage of being acclimatized living and working as they do at altitude. The best visiting club teams can do right now is to play for damage limitation - meaning they ONLY ship 40/50 points a game. Bit of a farce really.