You wait bloody ages for an ATL, and then two turn up at once….
No prizes for guessing which is the work of Craigsman, and which of Deebee7.
The Glorious Series Continues
Pre/Ramble
So it’s a bit weird that, with a Lionz series in south Africa being poised with one game each, rugby fans seems quite deflated about the last match in this series. No fans, empty stadiums, accusations of biting, of slowing down the game, of racism, of influencing the referee have all played a part. But really it’s the fact that the rugby hasn’t set the world alight that’s the problem (Springbok tries aside) in this Craigsman’s opinion. Both sides seem to be playing low risk stuff seeing who breaks first. Kick, kick, kick. The Kiwis would lap this up. Form-wise, apart from the last half of the second game (and a bit in the first half of the first game) the Lions forwards have been able to get the dominance needed to win but they have been blunt in attack. Here’s hoping that rugby* wins and we get a game on Saturday. Let’s have a look at the teams innit.
LionzTM
So this makes me wonder what the feck Gats is playing at with his selection for the third test. I am but a simple accountant, unused to the complexities of rugby coaching, but I’m trying to work out some of the choices made at 9 and 10 and 21 and 22. Starting with a live wire scrum half and a … solid fly half and then ending with a … solid scrum half and a live wire fly half seems to be negating the strengths of each player. Either start with the live wire options and when the Springbok defence proves too miserly to score tries against or a nice healthy lead has been built, end with the … wise old heads who like to kick and do the game management stuff. Or, do the opposite to chase the game. What do I know? Everything else in the team seems reasonable. Courtney Lawes has done well to ignore the instructions from Dan Biggar and the rest of the pack looks solid. I would probably have Tadhg MK II in the finishers but hey ho. The back 3 look like they could negate a dastardly kicking game and we have two lumps in the centre to negate the Boks and the “amazing” Elliot Daly to come in against the tired legs at the end. So, I’m sanguine there.
Springboks
The Springboks look rubbish and will get hammered whatever happens look like a settled unit right now with the only changes have come from injury and OH MY GOD IT’S MORNE FECKING STEYNE!!!!!!!!!! Maybe it’s just more trolling from Rassie and we’ll see a last minute ‘injury’ and a proper player like Wynand Olivier will replace him. Just ignorant speculation on my part. Other than that, I can’t see anything to pick at. It’s a formidable side and Lionz supporters everywhere will have breathed a sigh of relief that Duane Vermeulen hasn’t yet come back from injury. I think they will rinse and repeat what worked in the second game. And why not? I hope that their fantastic wingers see some more ball in this game though. If only for them to be bundled into touch at the last second.
Prediction
Whoever gets the forward grunt and manages the ref will win. I really hope it doesn’t come down to the ref or some bs unseen citing or time wasting or whatever. Hopefully the ref will keep the game flowing and we’ll have a classic* on our hands. So who do I think will win?
Erm… hopefully Gats will put me in my place and Finn will catch a perfect box kick to sling an amazing pass to Sam Simmonds for his record breaking hat trick and the Lions win by a point or more.
Or… the Springboks grind the plucky tourists into the dirt and they will win by 18 points. Morne Steyne kicking the final penalty from the Springboks 22.
Or… the test never bloody ends.
Ok, ok Lions 24** – 21 Springboks. There, come at me you bastards.
Final ‘thoughts’
The real question on everyone’s lips is ‘what will this mean for England’? I’ll be btl to give my thoughts on this shortly.
* Which means the Lions win. Anything else is one for the purists.
** Have I mentioned that Siya Kolisi has a special place in my heart? I’ll have another poster to put on my bedroom wall after this series so all is not lost if the Lionz lose.
My Way, Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb Squad
Gats and Rassie loom into view through the smoke-filled karaoke bar, each picking up a mike and ignoring the other, before launching into their tuneless non mea culpa est:
And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain
My friends, we’ll kick it clear, we’ll force the pace of which we’re certain
We’ve kicked a ball out full, we’ve launched the oval skyway
But more, much more than this, we did it our way
Attacks, we’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention
We kicked what we had to kick, and soar it through without invention
I planned each scrumming force, each sideways step and passes astray
But more, much more than this, the blame is his way
The lights dim, the mikes clatter emptily to the floor, clunking soullessly as they slink to the exits, grim, with regret etched on their faces. But enough of my whisky and chocolate addled dreams last night.
The third Test. The series is alive, if not exactly kicking, if you ask many followers. The changes have been wrung, the die is cast and now we’re 80 minutes (or up to 120 depending on how things pan out) from anointing the victors with bragging rights for the next 12 years. Enough has been written about the quality (or absence thereof) of the first two Tests and the series in general, much of it accurate, much of it bilge, so let’s focus on the match to come, shall we?
Six changes in the Lions camp and 3 (one positional) in the Boks. The Lions have been roaring all week about speeding up the game, gaining tempo, running the Boks ragged and raiding the trophy cabinet in the process. In come Price at 9 to speed up delivery from the base – but to Biggar at 10 who hasn’t set the world light in ether teste thus far. Outside him, Bundee Aki, a poor man’s Damian de Allende, comes in to allow Henshaw to move to 13 in an attempt to create more space in midfield, whilst at the back, the Welsh duo of Williams for Hogg and Adams for Watson on the right wing aims to get more incisiveness in attack. On the bench, Connor Murray and Finn Russell are paired, a conservative slower 9 with a heads-up 10, seems strange, to say the least and suggests that Gatland remains conservative and not trusting of an all-out assault on the Bok defence.
Up front the Welsh duo of Jones and Owens are slotted into a front row that struggled last week, despite the Lions leading at oranges, the second and back row is unchanged, slightly surprising given the backseat they took and enormous energy expended seven days ago. AWJ, warrior that he is, must be feeling the effects, whilst Lawes was fairly anonymous last week.
The bench looks strong, but not overly stellar and there must be some concerns in the Lions camp that six new players who’ve spend much of the last month carrying tackle bags will be disruptive – if it is early one, the Lions will be playing catch up.
The Boks have two enforced injury changes, with talismanic 9 Faf de Klerk and indispensable blindside PS du Toit both out. These are huge blows, however much Bok fans will try to sugar-coat things. De Klerk is without peer at the box kicking game and all-round nuisance value, whilst du Toit is an 80 minute machine across the park. It’s resulted in considerable rejigging in the Bok side, with Lood de Jager back in the second row to partner Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert moving to blindside in du Toit’s place. Big moves. De Jager back is great news, adding considerably to the scrumming department and lineout, as well as carrying in heavy traffic, but is more limited out wide. Mostert has played flank, but with limited success. That said, du Toit only played 20 minutes last week, half of them knackered, and the Boks coped just fine without him. The rest of the pack is as is for the starters, and that’s good news.
The bench forwards are the same front row, which is formidable and duffed their opponents last week, whilst Mostert will slot back into the second row later on, with Kwagga – far better on the flank replacing du Toit than playing at 8 as in the first Test – and Marco van Staden coming on later to pinch ball, slow things down and add some vim to the forwards.
The backs have Cobus Reinach at 9, a different player to Faf, without the pinpoint kick accuracy, but absolutely electric around the fringes and in open play. If he brings his ‘A’ game (assuming he’s given licence) he presents an entirely different headache for the Lions – and possibly his own side. The rest of the backs are the same as the first two Tests and pick themselves. Perhaps Reinach can offer some space for Kolbe and Mapimpi to snipe down the blindside every now and then? However, an inaccurate display by Reinach could set the tone for the Lions to dictate the pace and shape of the match. It’s a critical piece of the jigsaw.
Key areas to watch, then, are:
- Whether the Lions can maintain parity up front for the full 80 (or near enough) to dictate what happens behind the scrum;
- Will six new players be too disruptive to the Lions, despite much of it revolving around national combinations – some of the guys are pretty rusty;
- How Gats introduces his bench – do Murray and Russell join the fray together, and if so, what’s the point?
- Will the Boks be able put down a marker from the get-go and dominate the Lions up front to dictate the pace (and crucially the scoreboard) to negate the threats out wide;
- Will Faf’s absence prove too disruptive to a Bok plan that has been well honed for a couple of years now and will allow the Lions to move the ball wide to their very good back three;
- Will the Boks surprise and give it a bit of width themselves earlier in the piece; they’re certainly more than capable of scoring tries whilst maintaining a mean defence;
- Will the refereeing quartet come out unscathed? In many respects, I think the last point is maybe the most important.
Prediction? I’ve gone Boks by 2 on Superbru, which portends, unfortunately, a Lions win based on the last two matches…
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Damian Willemse
British & Irish Lions
15 Liam Williams (Wales), 14 Josh Adams (Wales), 13 Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), 12 Bundee Aki (Ireland), 11 Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), 10 Dan Biggar (Wales), 9 Ali Price (Scotland), 8 Jack Conan (Ireland), 7 Tom Curry (England), 6 Courtney Lawes (England), 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain, Wales), 4 Maro Itoje (England), 3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), 2 Ken Owens (Wales), 1 Wyn Jones (Wales) Substitutes: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), 17 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England), 18 Kyle Sinckler (England), 19 Adam Beard (Wales), 20 Sam Simmonds (England), 21 Conor Murray (Ireland), 22 Finn Russell (Scotland), 23 Elliot Daly (England)
Ovally Balls 
Dammit Deebs, excellent words.
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We kinda agree about the Lions 9/10 axis shocker.
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Every sane person agrees with that!
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Case closed.
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Thanks guys………….
I kind of think that Gats has selected the wrong response to Reinach at 9……………………..
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Well done, boys.
Slade, this is Cobus’s dad. Even faster than the lad:
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Cheers Dad.
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Words Craigs!
Or… the Springboks grind the plucky tourists into the dirt and they will win by 18 points. Morne Steyne kicking the final penalty from the Springboks 22.
I’m not a greedy lad. This result with the last kick of the match (again) and a squeaky win would do me just fine.
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TomP, that video of Jaco Reinach’s tries is quite something! Naas passing, the sheer pace of Reinach, but also his step – stunning. Also a couple of glimpses of Danie Gerber, maybe my favourite centre of all time.
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Deebs – yeah that’s a good attitude. Most of what I said was supposed to be tongue in cheek anyway. A good game of rugby played with heart from both sides would suit me down to the ground.
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Jeepers Tomp, even when the other player is in front they can’t catch him. Out of interest who werenthe team in black with gold numbers?
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That’s the NZ Cavaliers, craigs. The All Blacks were scheduled to tour SA in the mid 1980s (maybe 1985) but the tour was rightly cancelled. The South Africans were able to persuade a mere 30 of NZ’s best to tour the following year by appealing to their love of pure competition.
Around the same time NZ were due to play France and then Australia in series. The New Zealand Rugby Union bravely banned the Cavaliers players from a couple of tests. The Baby Blacks as they were called was a young highly inexperienced team but managed to beat Grand Slam Champions France in the 1st Test, Sean Fitzpatrick made his debut. They then fused the Cavaliers and the Baby Blacks and won the 1987 RWC.
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That was the New Zealand ‘Cavaliers’, the rebel Kiwi outfit that toured in ’86. Wasn’t a full All Black side but had some excellent players nonetheless. I was in the army in Cape Town when they toured and both the Boks and Kiwis trained at Youngsfield where I was based. Some big, mean bastards on both sides.
Mind you, I had Balie Swart (Bok prop) as my lieutenant, Michael du Plessis as my dentist, Carel du Plessis as my CO, Faffa Knoetze as my unit commander, Freddie Ferreira as a pain in the arse officer and a couple of Western Province (Stormers) blokes as NCO’s. Playing touch rugby with that mob was deadly, when you weighed in at 52kg and 1.74m as a 17 year old!
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Think faf’s absence will be the most keenly felt, so much resulted from his kicking game last week.
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The dad was a 400 metre runner, craigs, and held the SA record for a long time. Died really young in a car accident when Cobus was a nipper.
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Watching a programme on the making of Steely Dan’s Aja. Would love to hear Sag’s opinion on the whole thing. Becker & Fagen were, it seems, the utmost perfectionists.
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To be honest, I got more broken noses and black eyes playing soccer against some of the big rugby boys than I did playing rugby. They’d ‘warm down’ by knocking the ball around with us under illegally connected lights at the back of the base and generally apply rugby tackle rules to footy. In hindsight I was as thick as pig shit to put myself through that for two years.
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Well, a year and a bit. 2nd year I was posted to the soul-draining city of Pretoria and spent my time scoffing chemicals to make it bearable.
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Seem to recall he wasn’t a huge Dan fan, partly because of the ‘perfectionism’. Do like Aja, but Royal Scam’s my favourite. After Aja they went VERY smooth with Gaucho which is a bit too FM radio for my taste.
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Cheers, BB. Someone has just said that they went to perfectionism, and then beyond: once the perfection had been done, they then wanted a bit of improv.
Sounds like they were a bit of a nightmare to work with, but I love them.
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Apparently the NZ vs Aus game is on Sky tomorrow morning – just saw a post on the Glasgow FB page plugging it.
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Yeah, Katy Lied is another favourite.
There are loads of Youtube videos of folk trying to do covers of Steely Dan songs, and not all of them are successful. Damn difficult stuff to play.
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Steely Dan is one of those bands I really like but have never bought any of their albums. Just looked them up and apparently Chevy Chase played in their uni band.
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Reeling in the Years is a song that’s almost impossible to sing, because there’s nowhere to take a breath.
Definitely a studio band! Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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Yep, I like music with weird chords, syncopation, rhythm and key changes, decent lyrics, and so on. As I’m a less-than-average instrument-player, I could never possibly accompany the music I really liked.
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Bizarrely, they have Ian Dury commenting on this: he is a big fan, it seems.
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Deebs, you should’ve gone to England like the main character in Michiel Heyns’s novel Lost Ground. It features a section on rugby as I recall. Also one of the secondary characters is called Nienaber. (Spoiler alert: He kills himself.) It’s a pretty good book.
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This lot do good versions of SD (and many other bands). Helps having about 25 people be involved though….
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Ha, Kid Charlemagne – a tribute band, I take it!
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Oh, I see I got the wrong end of the stick.
They are good – not quite as tight as SD, but a decent fist at something that’s almost impossible to reproduce live.
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Yep, their full name is Lexington Lab Band – a core group of about 4 musicians with added extras when needed. They’ve done covers of loads of bands, their YouTube channel is well worth a look.
Think it might have been someone on here who first put me on to them.
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I was thinking about tomorrow’s test and a story about the great Bennie Osler came to mind. I bought a copy of his biography from a bookshop in George – about 2 kilometres from where Duhan vd Merwe went to school. The book’s interesting because Osler was a complex man.
Anyway in 1932 Western Province, Osler’s team – he was a lawyer in Cape Town – played Currie Cup matches away in Bloemfontein, Kimberley and finally Johannesburg. Here’s what Danie Craven says about the game for Griqualand West in Kimberley:
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@thauma
That reminds me of this video I watched recently.
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Not a song I would have guessed as the most complicated song. In fact, not one I think I’d even heard of. These country songs can be quite complicated after all…..
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I like Rick Beato, but he’s labouring a point there, the song is complicated when you read the chords he names but less so when you watch his hands.
The song itself sounds good and flows well.
There was a guy who came in to the workshop once to get this or that done, I don’t actually remember what, but he said that in his time working on cruise ships as a session guitarist the most technically difficult gigs he had was backing Bucks Fizz
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I’m sure Tool would like a word about complexity. I mean, the drums alone for Rosetta Stoned would do for most people.
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NZ/Aus are bringing back rucksy-dropsy.
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A triumph for running rugby that All Black try.
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@Tomp – I think they heard you.
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ABs a bit too good – as soon as Aus had to chase the game they were sunk
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A laurel, and hardy handshake for the dual ATL. Good work ladz.
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TomP – I was afraid to click on that in case it was country, but fortunately not!
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Nice ATL, well done boys.
ABs vs Oz was fun, albeit a bit one sided. Some cracking tries, both good and disallowed. Some forward passes go unnoticed down south and is a chin knock-on really a knock-on?
ABs still rusty and Oz desperately need their players from Europe ( 2nd row in particular) but these two will be there or thereabout come next RWC.
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‘Mon Lions! Here’s hoping a game of rugby occasionally breaks out.
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That 3D thing on the teams on Sky makes the players look really creepy.
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Link if people need it: http://cricfree.live/watchfeeds/demand/171
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Dilemma. Do I watch the game live or delayed? If it takes 2hours again…
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Never thought I’d be glad to hear Miles Harrison, but he’s a far better commentator than McNamara is.
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Nice rendition of the anthem.
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