And so to the second Test of the series, with the Lions in pole position at 1-0 up, having won both the rugby and reffing in round one. Rassie’s upped the ante this week and lurched uncontrollably into orbit, giving the tourists the moral high ground too. Is Rassie trying a Mourinho by taking all the focus off the players and onto his mighty shoulders, or has he simply blown a fuse and doesn’t know how to stop? I have no idea, haven’t watched the interviews and don’t really care for social media, evil that it is, he writes for a blog. To the rugby.
Wags is clearly expecting the Boks to not only throw the kitchen sink at his side this week, but possibly also the bath (whether or not there’s water or a baby in it), the TV (not ones looted in Durban) and the canape tray emptied in a single mouthful by Frans Malherbe. He’s beefed up his pack with Mako Vunipola starting, and Faletau on the bench, to the surprise of some although he’ll know what his Welsh blokes can do against the Boks better than anyone. In the backs, Connor Murray is there is to out box-kick the Boks and give McDuhan and Co lots to chase, whilst Harris is in to provide more steel in the midfield. It’s a side picked to keep parity early and ease away later.
The Boks have gone for a couple of changes too, with Ox Nche out injured, but surprisingly starting with Malherbe who looked anything but the cornerstone of the scrum last week. Looked a bit more like a Krispy Kreme donut to be honest. So the ‘Bomb Squad’ props start the match, Jasper Wiese comes in at number 8 to add more ballast to the scrum and aerial power for the restarts where Kwagga Smith was found wanting last week, as well as grunt going forward. It’s not a mobile pack by any stretch, but one designed for a single purpose: Searching, seek and destroy! With Metallica’s backing, what could go wrong?
The bench offers more mobility with Smith now on the pine and Marco van Staden in for the overhyped Elstadt and includes Big Trev, who looked good last week, Vincent Koch who knows his stuff and Marx, still a great poacher, defender and ballcarrier. The starting backs remain the same, with the only change being Elton Jantjies out of the 23 in favour of the extra forward. Willemse thus covers everything outside of 9 off the pine.
Gatland has picked a side to combat this, whilst Nienaber has picked a side to combat Gats’ combat and do what the Boks did well in the first 40 last week, but for longer this week or to get even further ahead in the first 40. It’s Combat Rock, kids! You’ll have to Know your Rights, or go Straight to Hell.
Simple plan. But there is still a disjointed feeling about the Boks. The blocks (and Boks) are not quite in place, the kicking game is metronomic, predictable and limited and requires absolute accuracy to be effective over 80 minutes. There was no real dominance up front last week and as the match wore on, the Boks were on the back foot. Having picked a pack to pulverise as his opening gambit, it’s highly unlikely Kolbe and Mapimpi will see any ball down the line in the first half at least. Hell, de Allende and Am will be lucky to see anything other than turnover ball or kick returns. So, who’ll win? If the Boks get that first half ascendancy and a big enough lead, or are able to use a more mobile pack in the second half to stop the Lions getting good momentum, they can turn the tables and sneak a tight win of their own this week. If The Lions start better than last week and have parity or thereabouts at the change – or even lead the match – they’ll be difficult to stop and will seal the series. Either way, one set of players will be heroes come tomorrow evening, keeping the series alive or winning it with two from two. Sadly, I think it’ll be the Lions by about 4 points and series over.
Lyrics by Deebee7
Onna telly this week
Saturday 31st July
| South Africa v B&I Lions | 17:00 | Sky Sports Main Event |
Ovally Balls 
Lovely grubber by Faf for Am’s try!
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Raking kick from Farrell downfield.
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Lions losing cohesion and discipline in the last while. De Jager pretty good so far. The Kolisi haters in SA must be having nightmares.
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Big Trev having fun! He really does love his rugby! 10 minutes to go, the Boks have a good lead and the Lions haven’t really done much in the last 20 minutes.
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That’s a helluva scrum by the Boks! And Trev playing at loosehead this week after playing tighthead all season.
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And that’s that! Not champagne rugby, but neither side set out to play that. The Boks completely turned the tables by keeping the Lions pointless in the second half and scoring a couple of well taken tries themselves.
Assuming everyone is fit next week, the Lions need to come up with a different approach. The Bok bomb squad was rampant in the end. You could also argue that the Boks got the rub that the Lions got last week and those small margins make the difference in these matches. Either way, what a match in prospect!
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Really hope that PSdT is fit for next week. We’ll need him. Very happy with our tight five and bench options there. Still a bit iffy with the loose trio/replacements. Backs are fine.
Still need to execute the game plan properly though!
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Not much point in engaging in an aerial duel if noone can catch the ball. You would think that it would be worth varying the attack at some point to try and move the defence around. Have to say I feel that I have been robbed of 2 hours that could have been better spent doing almost anything else, and thats rare.
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1. I thought the SA commentators were very good/fair to both sides – a vast improvement on the usual jingoistic stuff!
2. I don’t mind who gets selected next week so long as the team/squad attitude improves.
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Does the ref have any ability to speed up the play? The first half was dire and presumably a Boks tactic.
Waterboys on after 1:40, for example?
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It’s ’cause they saw the whole of the moon…..
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I don’t know if this is workable, but I’d like to see w trial of any kick has to be caught by the opposition, unless it bounces.
Non-contestable kicks would prevent the Kolbe/Murray incident and also go a long way to stopping the kind of turgid dross we saw yesterday
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ticht, in the SA Varsity Cup they had catching the ball from a kick gives you a free kick and play rule for a while. It meant the kicking had to be more accurate. I don’t mind the contestable kicks, partly because it makes the game less structured – or at least until the attack takes 10 seconds to set up.
Fewer kicks in yesterday’s game than the week before.
Was watching with my lad – which was an experience — and he asked the sensible questions ‘Why are they scrumming again? on the 2nd re-set and ‘Why is the pitch so bad?’. I was happy for him (and me) that Kolbe didn’t get a red as it would’ve sent him into uncontrollable tears. It’s hard for me to tell him that rugby’s a running and passing game after a match like that.
I think both defences were strong and that’s a big part of the problem. Also, the Boks are happy with that. The onus is on the Lions to bring some guile to the game. South Africa at least tried early on to put some width on the ball. There was one attack from the Lions in the first half that had a neat little interchange between Conan and Henshaw that had the terrible Sky commentator talking about the Harlem Globetrotters.
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On the kicking team not being allowed to catch, they’d just adjust their chase and smash the catcher when she landed.
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@ticht
Can’t see that working – but I understand what you’re trying to do…a Garryowen used to be an occasional tactic not the main strategy.
Obviously, it’s a legitimate tactic to try to get past 13 men strung out in a line. 50-22 might help…. (it wouldn’t have yesterday 2nd half as Lions lineout was in trouble).
.
I guess we’re faced – again – with using RL defence tactics in a version of the game with 2 additional players. Now we know RL has attacked this by dropping 2 players, setting the offside line 10m (?) back and insisting on 2 in the “ruck”(play the ball)….(and the 40-20).
RU can copy, adapt, or maybe think of other solutions – catcher can’t jump ( or must be lifted)? Not sure I see obvious solutions except to make the box kick/Garryowen as less attractive as a way to advance the ball and that means giving more space to play in by enforcing offside line and/or pushing offside line back.
And I’m well aware that the Garryowen/bomb is a constant tactic in RL on tackle #6….
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Yeah, I noted that and felt he was implying it was planned rather than off-the-cuff. Lions didn’t do enough of that…
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“On the kicking team not being allowed to catch, they’d just adjust their chase and smash the catcher when she landed.”
Edinburgh’s tactic over the last few seasons has been to allow the opposition to field the ball and then hit them, and this included Hamish Watson and van der Merwe chasing, at most you gain about four metres from where the catcher takes the ball, but you still lose possession, the best you can do from a kicking team’s perspective is tackle the catcher into touch.
Cockerill was safety first at all times and I think the idea was to not risk giving away penalties for collisions in the air.
So it’s definitely do-able.
Or maybe they could go back to allowing a mark, or “fair catch” to be called anywhere on the field of play.
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Having said that, I really don’t envisage Australia or New Zealand trying to beat SA by roosting the pill at every opportunity next month, so maybe it’s not the problem that it seems to be this morning after that.
Btw, if it sounds like I’m not giving South Africa their due, then that is my mistake, I thought they controlled the game brilliantly from their point of view, and they were easily the better side.
Gats fucked up, why pick Hogg, vdM and Watson if you are going to deliberately play away from their strengths?
For that type of game they’d have been better off with Williams and possibly Adams, though I genuinely don’t know about his catching, but there was definitely the need for a Tommy Seymour/Tommy Bowe type of back three out there if you are going to play the game above your head.
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Fair catch – yeah, I had thought of that… too much like Aussie Rules to accept?
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Oh and one more thing, I thought Faf was a total shit house yesterday, he spent his whole game sledging van der Merwe, you could see it got to him and probably led to both the tackle on PSdT and the trip on Kolbe.
If it was my scrum half then I’d say “good job”, probably.
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Trisk, I’m pretty sure that when I started you could call the mark anywhere on the field, the law changed to being just in the 22 (or 25 yards as it was then)
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ticht, you could get the catcher to ground and then try to ruck over I suppose.
It’s often claimed that Watson’s a really good full back for his defensive skills as much as his running but yesterday’s game reminded me of why I’ve always been suspicious of that at test level. He had a rough ride v Ireland and France in 2018 and hasn’t been picked there by Jones since.
I’m not sure that the Lions are going to be able to generate enough quick ball to get the ball into vd Merwe’s hands. Best hope is for the Boks to kick badly and they’ve kicked quite well so far.
Having said that, the scrum 5 metres with a big field on vd Merwe’s side (and Kolbe out of the game???) was a time to try it but they went blind instead.
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The rule changed in the 1970s so that would be about right, ticht. Also you needed to put the heel into the ground and shout mark. I prefer that to the one the run catch and call after the ball is caught.
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My memory is playing tricks on me, according to this it was 1971 when the mark was only allowed in the 22 and that was before I started playing. Maybe I was told that you used to be able to mark the free kick anywhere.
This is an interesting little bit of history on the free kick
https://rugby365.com/laws-referees/law-discussions/history-the-changing-mark/
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heel on the ground with the toe pointing up – I remember players doing that, for sure
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You used to be able to take a drop at goal afterwards as well. Very tricky with a soaking ball, mind.
I always liked the easy 3 points you got after free kick. Pass back for drop goal.
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According to Rugby Pass stats, Dan Biggar made 3 passes yesterday, 3.
He kicked from hand 6 times.
Pollard made 4 passes and kicked from hand 4 times.
These numbers don’t reflect on the players, they are following The Plan.
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Those figures seem incredible. Shows how tough the SA defence is and how it means you can’t take unnecessary risks.
Pollard must have passed more than that. I thought he’d 3 or 4 in the first five minutes.
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Also it’s basically playing off 9 rather than 10.
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There’s playing off nine and there’s box kicking the shit out of a game and using one out carries, of which there weren’t that many afair, though I’m not going to watch it again to count.
Honestly, that was so familiar to anyone who has watched Edinburgh over the last few years, only with higher quality players
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Honestly, that was one of the worst games I have ever seen. Disappointed by the result, of course, but fair play to the Boks, they muscled up and were deserved winners.
I have been off rugby for a few years – just isnt the game I played, coached, reffed and watched for almost 50 years anymore. Tuned back in for 6N and quite liked some matches, and for me the Lions has always been special, so gave it a go. My earliest memories of watching rugby are the 74 tour (I apparently watched the 71 tour too, but dont remember doing so). I began posting regularly during the 09 tour.
Anyway, in this series, the physical confrontation is stupendous (and scary) and the intensity, despite no crowd, has been off the scale. But the game is broken, it just is awful watching teams try to win collisions and manipulate penalties (and pre-manipulate in press and social media).
Genuinely struggled with the 1st test, and yesterday was a real battle to watch through to the end.
The athleticism, strength, courage and stamina of the players defy belief, but the game itself is so dull and uninspiring and devoid of imagination (understandably as he who dares inevitably loses).
And yes, I am aware of 3-9 games in the mud in the 70s and 80s, but that was through poor play, skills, equipment, fields etc.. not by deliberate attempt to make it like that.
Comes down to professionalism, money and win-at- all costs. I used to enjoy football (soccer) in the 70s and 80s and still occasionally play 6 a side etc.. but from the mid 90s I found it unwatchable. Incredibly sad to now feel the same way about the sport I truly loved.
I will try to watch the 3rd test, no doubt.
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Dawson says Lions need a creative player, without actually saying who that creative player might be…
(And no, Matt, Owen Farrell at 12 won’t be the answer).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/58043808
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Other things I’d do is move the kick-off time an hour or an hour and a half forward. Much prefer watching rugby in sunlight/daylight. Second: move the game over to Newlands. It’s not a fast track either but the pitch cutting up just slows the game down even more.
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‘Fair play’ to no-one, but especially the Boks for the duration of the 1st half – they tried every tactic to slow/stop the game and the Lions fell for it, often as not…………….dreadful.
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I know it is far easier said than done, but (these are prof. athletes):
– too many catches of high balls were knocked on by Lions players; I think the technique can be improved, e.g. Hogg seems to run fast forwards to attack the ball as it comes down and presumably turn forward momentum into height jumped. Unless he gets it perfect he (and others) nearly always knocks-on.
Can they be trained by athletics coaches (or Expro) to jump higher from a more controlled or standing start?
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@Slade – the solution is obvious. Bring in Johnny Sideways. He completely turned around his ability under the high ball.
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The mark rule only changed- I think- along with the “Australian dispensation” (kicking directly to touch from 25/22).
Having the old style mark with the heel would probably mean fullback/wing has to be deeper to catch the ball standing – not catching on the run and waving your arm to “hail a cab”.
…..
Actually, I think that there’s probably solutions already available – stopping the conga line ruck, speeding up the “use it” call, redefining when ball is “out” of the ruck.
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@Trisk – the ball should only be counted as ‘in’ the ruck, when it’s in contact with the rear-most person on the floor.
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Sinkler cited for biting????
Sincerely hope there isn’t anything in it
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Vermuelen back too. Lionz really need to get a better game plan
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Wur doooooomed!!!!!!!!
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Ffs Kyle.
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For me, this was the sporting highlight of my weekend:
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From the old days……
I always thought that the whole point of a mark was to make the play contestable. An overly long kick was caught cleanly by a full back or wing with two clean hands and two feet firmly planted. The heel to ground was only to indicate that it was a clean mark, in pressing circumstances. This then gave the defending side the advantage if the Garry Owen was of poor quality. The idea was that an up and under ( ya we go) was an occasional attacking threat, to be used clinically, and if it was not contestable, the defending side could got a free kick, and could move up the pitch for a line out. At the time, pre lifting, a line-out was possibly only marginally better than a 50-50 , so a poor kick was a significant disadvantage. Now, with league defences styles and lack of rucking, a poor kick is still a more potent attacking weapon than keeping the ball in hand. It is no longer a major tactical disadvantage to kick the ball away into open field, and it is not really a major tactical advantage to kick for touch and have a decent chance of regaining the ball at the line out, cos the cheating bastard saffas pissed and moaned about not being allowed to lift, and a 6′ 9″ 2nd row lifted into the stratosphere by a short 6’4″ flanker or prop is difficult to contest, unless the hooker seriously fucks up. Add in penalties for slapping the guys arm, or early engagement, because it is dangerous to interfere with a giraffe standing on another giraffes shoulders, as he may fall down and hurt himself from the insane heights he is being elevated too, and the whole thing becomes a farce. A infinitum. Fuck with the basics of the game at your peril.
As an aside, I really don’t think Kolbe deserved more than a yellow, his eyes were on the ball, and Murray got a foot down first, before landing o his chest then face. Similar to Johnny Sideways( Who should have been on this tour and in the team instead of McDuhan) a couple of years ago against the French. Horrible, yes, but not a red.
Anyone biting, if proved, should be banned for a short period, not as bad as gouging, but close. Maro should be severely sanctioned for the knee to the neck too. Whilst I personally strongly approve, and think that a 99 call would be in order to deal with this largely unpleasant current bunch of Boks*, it was a clear red card by todays standards.
*I exclude Mapimpi and Kolisi here, and possible Am and the red head prop, but Kolbe , Le Roux and Mostert, who were also favourite players of mine, can all fuck off into the sun for behaving like utter pricks with the rest of their team mates and their manager.
The Raiders lost again this weekend, but it was far less demoralising a game of footy to watch.
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To clarify the last comment, if you did not catch the ball cleanly in two hands with two feet firmly planted on the ground, having simultaneously called for a mark, you could not claim it, and play continued, usually involving you being flattened by three back rows, who then fly hacked the resulting loose ball over the try line and touched it down for a 4 pointer, which may or may not have had a conversion added to make it into a six point goal.
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Whilst I personally strongly approve, and think that a 99 call would be in order to deal with this largely unpleasant current bunch of Boks*, it was a clear red card by todays standards.
*I exclude Mapimpi and Kolisi here, and possible Am and the red head prop, but Kolbe , Le Roux and Mostert, who were also favourite players of mine, can all fuck off into the sun for behaving like utter pricks with the rest of their team mates and their manager.
What did this thoroughly unpleasant bunch do? Lest we forget, it was AWJ who kicked the whole thing off in the first few minutes and set the tone for the match. No Boks have been cited for foul play, whilst Sinckler has for biting, and Itoje should have been for kneeling on de Allende’s neck. Both those acts are cowardly and niggly and have n o place in the game, at any level.
I’m not for a minute suggesting that the Boks are all lovable innocents and Faf in particular seems to have lost the plot a bit in this series, but Willie le Roux? For standing his ground? He’s about as mild-mannered a player as you get in the modern game, so I’m assuming that if he was getting involved in the panto pushing and shoving then there must have been at least one Lions player who was also revving things up. Are you really suggesting that all the niggle was one way?
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It appears a tactic of Gats not to cite any Boks
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I doubt that!
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SBT, watched the Kolbe on Murray incident again and you were right in what you said on Saturday.
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Deebs – bunch of bastards the lot of em!
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