The South Africa director of rugby should stop slamming officials and analyse the failings of his own coaches and playersThe very best coaches in the world love to have control over everything. We see it with Eddie Jones and England all the time and when those coaches feel like they lose control, they act. Rassie Erasmus evidently feels like control has been lost, that Warren Gatland has seized the initiative and that he has had to respond. This week, just as he wants his players to, he has gone on the front foot. And how.I almost see it as an acknowledgment that the Lions have outplayed South Africa in the press and Rassie has been desperate to change that. Clearly...
Attritional contests are things of the past but there has been no change to the exhausting number of games on the calendar Listen to anyone involved in the British & Irish Lions’ agonising defeat by South Africa in the second Test in 2009 and one word keeps on coming up: brutal. It was a seventh successive Test loss for the Lions but the nature of it – Ian McGeechan’s men bloodied, defeated but unbowed after losing the most gladiatorial of contests with the clock turned red – did much to enhance the myth surrounding the touring side. Despite defeat the Lions’ reputation had been restored after being thrashed by New Zealand four years earlier, but at what cost?The fallout from...
I was part of a great missed opportunity 12 years ago – Warren Gatland is right to make sure the lessons of it are learnedI’m a firm believer in the saying that you learn more in defeat than in victory and that goes a long way to explaining why Warren Gatland has so often referred back to the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa this time around. Twelve years on and for us as players it still feels like a huge missed opportunity so it is no surprise that Gatland is making sure at every turn that lessons have been learned from that series defeat. Related: Credit to bold Gatland for picking a Lions side on form...
For South Africa’s analysts it will feel like doing battle with an army of unknown warriors for Saturday’s first TestThe secret of top-level selection is to heighten the sense of pre-game anticipation. If the team sheet can not only energise your own players but also make the opposition feel faintly uneasy, so much the better. Warren Gatland has ticked both those boxes; now we must wait and see whether it will trick the Boks.South Africa will certainly be scanning Gatland’s selection warily. Not since Jason Robinson skipped thrillingly around Australia’s Chris Latham at the Gabba exactly 20 years ago has a Lions side looked better equipped to make a more proactive start to a series. Gatland has been bold –...
Warren Gatland has been rich in his praise of a maturing player whose skill can counter the power of the SpringboksWinning a series in South Africa is hard at the best of times, never mind during a pandemic. For a British & Irish Lions side hurtling towards a Test series like skydivers yet to locate their ripcords, it is all about making calm, correct decisions under pressure. Find a clever tactical balance and – whoosh – up goes the canopy and everything will be fine.Among the most crucial judgments Warren Gatland and his co-pilots must make is their ideal 10-12 combination. It goes without saying that a Lions stand-off is a pivotal individual around whom much revolves, particularly given the...