English cricket needs to find one-day winners
Posted by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
peter_bills
peter_bills
Peter Bills
Peter Bills is Chief rugby correspondent for Independent News & Media worldwide. He contributes regularly to the group's titles in Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and England. Peter is an award winning sports writer who has been writing on rugby union for almost 40 years. The author of 12 books on the game, his most recent publication is Rucking & Rolling, a look at international rugby over the last 60 years.
Gee, it didn’t take very long for the feel-good effect to disappear from English cricket, did it?
All those joyful celebrations and happy scenes at The Oval just a few weeks back have been rammed back down our throats by the Aussies. Six-nil down in a seven-match One Day International series? How pathetic is that?
The same old names and failures have trotted out for match after match. Players sometimes make a decent 20, 30 or even occasionally a 40, like Kent’s Joe Denly who got to 45 this week and then chucked his wicket away.
The Australians are a different breed. They regard 45 as a failure because they want to reach 50. And if they get out between 50 and 100 they regard that as a failure because they want to make a ton. These are crucial differences in the psychological make-up of the two peoples. Aussies are fighters, not for nothing renowned for their ability to scrap their way out of most situations by dint of sheer graft and bloody mindedness.
When you look at what has happened since, you honestly wonder how on earth England won the Ashes. Chiefly because Australia had one dire session in their first innings; that was the main reason ...
Imagine how they felt after they’d lost the Ashes at The Oval for the second time in four years? They were hurting like hell. Their response has been typical of the sort of people they are, innate fighters. But then, maybe when you are that low, you do fight harder. After all, England lost the last Ashes series in Australia 5-0 in 2007 but then promptly went out and won the ODI tournament. So there is a corollary there.
But what mystifies me about England is why they don’t look elsewhere for players who might succeed. It seems once you’re in an England squad, you can’t get out of it. Yet England only have to look at the example of Jonathan Trott, the player they brought in for his Test debut amidst the excruciating pressure of that final Ashes Test which England had to win to take the series.
Trott got into the 40s in his first innings before being unluckily run out and then made 119 in his second knock.
What England’s ODI team urgently needs is someone who can bat through most of the 50 overs. Isn’t Trott worth a try for that job? Isn’t Kent’s Geraint Jones, who has moved up the order to No. 3 this year and made a stack of runs to help his county to the 2nd division Championship title, worth looking at as a batsman? Jones could always bat well at Test level; it was his wicket-keeping which was the weak part of his game. But now, isn’t he worth considering, even just as a batsman? It’s not as if Matt Prior is doing anything much.
The 2009 Lions leave South Africa on Monday night, the Test series lost and yet, curiously, their concept re-invigorated.
No doubt partly due to South Africa's poor, dreadfully uneven performances during the Test series, the Lions escaped the 3-0 whitewash which an efficient, properly structured Springbok side would inevitably have inflicted. In the end, the Lions left bemoaning the fact that, but for a mere handful of points, a 2-1 series defeat could easily have been a draw or even a win.
No greater indictment of these misfiring Springboks exists than that fact. South African rugby has declined since the peak of the 2007 World Cup triumph.
Yet perhaps even more importantly, in the course of just six weeks, Lions coach Ian McGeechan and his colleagues repaired a great deal of the damage done to the Lions ethos by Clive Woodward's mad japes in 2005 in New Zealand. Now there's a thought, incidentally – imagine a Lions side coached by Woodward against a Springbok side coached by Peter de Villiers. Endless material for the men in white coats...
But significant factors still imperil the Lions. As Jeremy Guscott so rightly said last week "If the countries hosting the Lions do not give them proper respect by fielding as full strength sides as possible against them in the midweek games, then they place in peril the whole Lions idea."
Other elements have to change, too, for us to say with confidence the 2009 Lions' greatest achievement in future times will be seen to have restored the credibility of the brand. Not, mark you, the financial success of the brand; that is assured as long as tens of thousands of Brits and not a few Irishmen wish to splash their hard earned cash on the mother of all drinking sessions across the southern hemisphere for a few weeks every four years.
In Cape Town one night, one travelling Lions supporter splashed Rand 38,000 (approx. £3000) on a single bottle of French brandy. The bar manager's smile was still as wide as the Vaal river the next evening.
The onus here lies on the hosting unions. If, for example, Australia in four years time takes a similarly mercenary view of the tour as the South African rugby union of this one, then the future growth of the game will be actually stunted by the presence of the Lions.
I lost count of the number of people in Durban and Cape Town who told me that, lifelong rugby fans notwithstanding, they flatly refused to be fleeced by a greedy SARU charging European ticket prices in the southern hemisphere. So fathers refused to take kids to see the famous Lions….. How wonderful. Those at the top of South African rugby plus the Lions top brass if, as is alleged, they were in on the deal, should be ashamed of themselves for creating such a damaging trend in the game.
I wouldn't put it past Australia to do the same thing in four years time. But if the Lions concept is now little more than a cash bonanza for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, let's finish it here and now. I'd rather just have the memories than be confronted with that sordid sight every four years.
But the Lions themselves need to learn lessons, too. They didn't get out enough to see a wonderful country with all its fantastic people, beautiful scenery and enchanting sights. Too many of them, too often sat in their rooms idling time away. For that, you have to look at the management and their obsession with training. They should have insisted the players went on more organised trips, met more strangers. A constant diet of non-stop training will turn potentially bright young minds into robots. That speaks ill of the great traditions of this game.
Other things need tweaking. 10 matches is too short, although the Lions suffered self inflicted wounds when McGeechan refused to give his 1st Test side a run-out the previous weekend. That was a crass mistake.
For me, the tourists need at least one more warm-up match and probably a further game, making it a 12-match tour. IF, that is, they are to be confronted by proper teams, not'B' sides. If that happens again, they should just fly in for Tests and fly out. Depressing yes, but inevitable. No-one wants to see a series of six or seven irrelevant mismatches that mean nothing.
As ever, you thank the host country for the memories. My favourite? Playing tag rugby last Friday morning with a group of local kids on a rough, scrubby field in the heart of Johannesburg's tough Alexandra township, in an event arranged by tour sponsors HSBC. On that occasion, five Lions did turn up and participate.
I'd suggest they shared my view that to see the smiles on the faces of children with so little and almost certainly with so much heartache and deprivation in their lives was simply priceless. That is and always was one of the best moments of Lions tours.
No doubt partly due to South Africa's poor, dreadfully uneven performances during the Test series, the Lions escaped the 3-0 whitewash which an efficient, properly structured Springbok side would inevitably have inflicted. In the end, the Lions left bemoaning the fact that, but for a mere handful of points, a 2-1 series defeat could easily have been a draw or even a win.
No greater indictment of these misfiring Springboks exists than that fact. South African rugby has declined since the peak of the 2007 World Cup triumph.
Yet perhaps even more importantly, in the course of just six weeks, Lions coach Ian McGeechan and his colleagues repaired a great deal of the damage done to the Lions ethos by Clive Woodward's mad japes in 2005 in New Zealand. Now there's a thought, incidentally – imagine a Lions side coached by Woodward against a Springbok side coached by Peter de Villiers. Endless material for the men in white coats...
But significant factors still imperil the Lions. As Jeremy Guscott so rightly said last week "If the countries hosting the Lions do not give them proper respect by fielding as full strength sides as possible against them in the midweek games, then they place in peril the whole Lions idea."
Other elements have to change, too, for us to say with confidence the 2009 Lions' greatest achievement in future times will be seen to have restored the credibility of the brand. Not, mark you, the financial success of the brand; that is assured as long as tens of thousands of Brits and not a few Irishmen wish to splash their hard earned cash on the mother of all drinking sessions across the southern hemisphere for a few weeks every four years.
In Cape Town one night, one travelling Lions supporter splashed Rand 38,000 (approx. £3000) on a single bottle of French brandy. The bar manager's smile was still as wide as the Vaal river the next evening.
The onus here lies on the hosting unions. If, for example, Australia in four years time takes a similarly mercenary view of the tour as the South African rugby union of this one, then the future growth of the game will be actually stunted by the presence of the Lions.
I lost count of the number of people in Durban and Cape Town who told me that, lifelong rugby fans notwithstanding, they flatly refused to be fleeced by a greedy SARU charging European ticket prices in the southern hemisphere. So fathers refused to take kids to see the famous Lions….. How wonderful. Those at the top of South African rugby plus the Lions top brass if, as is alleged, they were in on the deal, should be ashamed of themselves for creating such a damaging trend in the game.
I wouldn't put it past Australia to do the same thing in four years time. But if the Lions concept is now little more than a cash bonanza for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, let's finish it here and now. I'd rather just have the memories than be confronted with that sordid sight every four years.
But the Lions themselves need to learn lessons, too. They didn't get out enough to see a wonderful country with all its fantastic people, beautiful scenery and enchanting sights. Too many of them, too often sat in their rooms idling time away. For that, you have to look at the management and their obsession with training. They should have insisted the players went on more organised trips, met more strangers. A constant diet of non-stop training will turn potentially bright young minds into robots. That speaks ill of the great traditions of this game.
Other things need tweaking. 10 matches is too short, although the Lions suffered self inflicted wounds when McGeechan refused to give his 1st Test side a run-out the previous weekend. That was a crass mistake.
For me, the tourists need at least one more warm-up match and probably a further game, making it a 12-match tour. IF, that is, they are to be confronted by proper teams, not'B' sides. If that happens again, they should just fly in for Tests and fly out. Depressing yes, but inevitable. No-one wants to see a series of six or seven irrelevant mismatches that mean nothing.
As ever, you thank the host country for the memories. My favourite? Playing tag rugby last Friday morning with a group of local kids on a rough, scrubby field in the heart of Johannesburg's tough Alexandra township, in an event arranged by tour sponsors HSBC. On that occasion, five Lions did turn up and participate.
I'd suggest they shared my view that to see the smiles on the faces of children with so little and almost certainly with so much heartache and deprivation in their lives was simply priceless. That is and always was one of the best moments of Lions tours.
Now try telling the South African public everything is fine in their rugby garden.
Try, too, suggesting that this Test didn’t matter, that with the series won, it was a dead rubber of no interest to the Springboks. What, with a 118 year record to break ? If the world champions were short on motivation with a unique series whitewash over the Lions within touching distance, they shouldn’t have been out there.
Such talk won’t wash. The fact was, the Springboks were desperately poor, a weak shadow of the side they ought to be. But then, can we be surprised given the fact that the ‘Boks played for only the first 50 minutes in Durban and the last 20 in Pretoria ? Here, they faced a Lions side without probably its five top players yet the South Africans looked second best throughout the game.
No, the fact is, the ludicrous build-up to this Test match with the Springbok coach and not his players again the focus of attention, was a clear and very obvious distraction to the team. Peter de Villiers’ lunatic antics and crazy statements are starting to have a direct effect on the performances of his team on the field.
The world champions were all over the place again, just as they had been for an hour in Pretoria. Sure, they were without eight of their best players but the talent coming through in this country is such that they ought to been able to withstand those absentees and still produce enough to beat a similarly depleted Lions side.
The fact that the Springboks were so outplayed was a dire indictment of what is going on within their camp. Mistakes can always be made by individuals, that is inevitable and excusable. What is not acceptable is a complete lack of structure within a team that calls itself world champions.
Certain players looked only moderately interested, others quickly sized up that, given the general mess and mediocrity, they had little chance of turning the tide. A couple of the youngsters hurriedly brought back into the fray in the second half, Ruan Pienaar (as a scrum half) and Frans Steyn, raged against the dying of the light and the mess around them. But too few others managed much.
In this Lions series, South Africa have looked a shadow of the disciplined, focused, organised side which won the World Cup less than 24 months ago. We have to ask, why that is, what has changed to have so profound an effect. The answer, fairly obviously, is the coach.
De Villiers has too many demons, too many imagined enemies to fight off the field to be able to focus 100% on on the field matters. His Springbok team is proving that, by the alarmingly unpredictable performances they are producing, veering wildly from occasionally outstanding (in the first 50 minutes at Durban until the coach wrecked their rhythm by withdrawing many of his top men) to abject, which was the case yesterday.
To see a South African side so lacking in shape and discipline was a worry with the Tri-Nations so close. De Villiers sought to suggest that inferior performances by certain players unable to make the step up from Super 14 to Test rugby, was the reason the Boks failed yesterday.
Yet how come many of those players looked world class in that Super 14 final only recently ? Can they play or can’t they ? It appears they can, in certain situations. For sure, they never did at Coca Cola Park yesterday.
Heinrich Brussow did his best to make a real impact up front and won some useful turnovers. But the Lions had a greater belief in what they were trying to do, much better organisation in pursuit of it and far more commitment.
Professional players cannot say it didn’t matter, it was an irrelevance. No Test match can fall into that category. So major questions ought to be asked of this South African squad, even though they won this Lions series 2-1.
Performances like this simply won’t do, whatever the circumstances.
Banks, eh? Most of this nation and plenty of others around the world would like to see those who run them strung up from the nearest lamp post.
Politicians might be running them a close second in the ‘Most Loathed Section of the Community' stakes. But you'd hardly find anyone with a good word to say about the banks and what they've been up to.
Well, here is someone. You might need to read these words twice, just to be sure. But this is a story about a bank and the excellent, outstanding work it has quietly been doing for rugby and deprived communities in some of the most disadvantaged parts of South Africa.
Estimates suggest that HSBC Bank spent between £3 and £4 million sponsoring the 2009 Lions tour. But what isn't quite as well known is that an estimated £1 million more has been spent on things like associated activities surrounding the tour.
What HSBC has been doing in the poor regions of this country is commendable. In tough, still grievously deprived areas like Soweto and Alexandra townships, plus Rustenburg, HSBC ambassadors have been into the townships, spreading the rugby gospel, handing out kit, planting trees and enthusing the youngsters about a game virtually none of them knew a matter of weeks ago.
It's easy to be cynical in the modern world and suggest that rich banks only do this sort of thing to ‘buy' some free publicity. But let's look at the facts and you can judge for yourselves whether we ought to remain cynical or try being positive.
More than 4,000 kids have been ‘reached' in South Africa by HSBC's programme, 82% of whom had never played the game before. Five separate rugby festivals have been held, Gauteng, Simondium, Port Elizabeth, Durban and East London. The organisers have worked with ‘Tag Rugby' to create a safe, happy environment in which boys and girls from the ages of 6 to 14 have been able to run around, throw rugby balls about and generally put a smile on their faces. All of the youngsters have come from townships.
The scheme started three months before the Lions tour even began and will continue after its end, in Johannesburg this Saturday. Bank staff in centres like Johannesburg have given up many of their recent weekends to go into the townships to spread the rugby gospel. From each festival, a child has been chosen to be the official mascot at the Lions' non-Test games. None of them had ever been to a rugby match before; few had ever left their deprived home conditions. This is the reality of modern day South Africa.
About 1,000 tickets were given away to the children and local schools to see some of the Lions games, with transport there and back provided.
When officials went to Rustenburg, early in the tour, to an orphanage called the SOS Children's Village, they found children with nothing, wearing shabby, torn clothes trying to raise the enthusiasm to play in the street. No facilities existed for them.
The bank has a long standing relationship with Education Africa, a Johannesburg based charity, and they have built a sports pitch, at a cost of around £250,000, for youngsters from the Orange Farm community at Masibambane College near Johannesburg. Thousands of local youngsters will be able to use this much needed facility for years to come.
Springbok wing Bryan Habana, adored by millions of South African kids, turned up unannounced at the Port Elizabeth Festival, to join in. Habana refused any payment and demanded no PR or publicity prior to his visit. When he arrived, 1000 local kids went wild with joy. Habana coached for two hours and talked to the youngsters, telling them they could achieve things in life if they were dedicated.
And the Lions themselves? Well, they went to just one event, just the four of them. But to make it possible, the sponsors had to pay £1,000 to hire a helicopter and fly them there. But Brian O'Driscoll, Nathan Hines, Gethin Jenkins and Ugo Monye were in for a shock. As they coached and mingled with the kids, they began to understand that there are other things in life, other priorities apart from rugby tours and matches.
They were all deeply moved by the experience and O'Driscoll is said to be donating all his training kit from the tour to the Township. Since then, England centre Riki Flutey has asked whether there will be any other opportunities to experience such things. It looks doubtful.
For the most part, these Lions have just trained and prepared, played matches, travelled and trained again. They have attended far too few events of this kind in a country where such acts of kindness and generosity are so needed.
One senior photographer on the Lions tour who went to the pitch opening at Masibambane, called it "the best day of the whole tour". From such hard nosed media men, that said a lot about this particular bank's efforts to help the local communities.
Politicians might be running them a close second in the ‘Most Loathed Section of the Community' stakes. But you'd hardly find anyone with a good word to say about the banks and what they've been up to.
Well, here is someone. You might need to read these words twice, just to be sure. But this is a story about a bank and the excellent, outstanding work it has quietly been doing for rugby and deprived communities in some of the most disadvantaged parts of South Africa.
Estimates suggest that HSBC Bank spent between £3 and £4 million sponsoring the 2009 Lions tour. But what isn't quite as well known is that an estimated £1 million more has been spent on things like associated activities surrounding the tour.
What HSBC has been doing in the poor regions of this country is commendable. In tough, still grievously deprived areas like Soweto and Alexandra townships, plus Rustenburg, HSBC ambassadors have been into the townships, spreading the rugby gospel, handing out kit, planting trees and enthusing the youngsters about a game virtually none of them knew a matter of weeks ago.
It's easy to be cynical in the modern world and suggest that rich banks only do this sort of thing to ‘buy' some free publicity. But let's look at the facts and you can judge for yourselves whether we ought to remain cynical or try being positive.
More than 4,000 kids have been ‘reached' in South Africa by HSBC's programme, 82% of whom had never played the game before. Five separate rugby festivals have been held, Gauteng, Simondium, Port Elizabeth, Durban and East London. The organisers have worked with ‘Tag Rugby' to create a safe, happy environment in which boys and girls from the ages of 6 to 14 have been able to run around, throw rugby balls about and generally put a smile on their faces. All of the youngsters have come from townships.
The scheme started three months before the Lions tour even began and will continue after its end, in Johannesburg this Saturday. Bank staff in centres like Johannesburg have given up many of their recent weekends to go into the townships to spread the rugby gospel. From each festival, a child has been chosen to be the official mascot at the Lions' non-Test games. None of them had ever been to a rugby match before; few had ever left their deprived home conditions. This is the reality of modern day South Africa.
About 1,000 tickets were given away to the children and local schools to see some of the Lions games, with transport there and back provided.
When officials went to Rustenburg, early in the tour, to an orphanage called the SOS Children's Village, they found children with nothing, wearing shabby, torn clothes trying to raise the enthusiasm to play in the street. No facilities existed for them.
The bank has a long standing relationship with Education Africa, a Johannesburg based charity, and they have built a sports pitch, at a cost of around £250,000, for youngsters from the Orange Farm community at Masibambane College near Johannesburg. Thousands of local youngsters will be able to use this much needed facility for years to come.
Springbok wing Bryan Habana, adored by millions of South African kids, turned up unannounced at the Port Elizabeth Festival, to join in. Habana refused any payment and demanded no PR or publicity prior to his visit. When he arrived, 1000 local kids went wild with joy. Habana coached for two hours and talked to the youngsters, telling them they could achieve things in life if they were dedicated.
And the Lions themselves? Well, they went to just one event, just the four of them. But to make it possible, the sponsors had to pay £1,000 to hire a helicopter and fly them there. But Brian O'Driscoll, Nathan Hines, Gethin Jenkins and Ugo Monye were in for a shock. As they coached and mingled with the kids, they began to understand that there are other things in life, other priorities apart from rugby tours and matches.
They were all deeply moved by the experience and O'Driscoll is said to be donating all his training kit from the tour to the Township. Since then, England centre Riki Flutey has asked whether there will be any other opportunities to experience such things. It looks doubtful.
For the most part, these Lions have just trained and prepared, played matches, travelled and trained again. They have attended far too few events of this kind in a country where such acts of kindness and generosity are so needed.
One senior photographer on the Lions tour who went to the pitch opening at Masibambane, called it "the best day of the whole tour". From such hard nosed media men, that said a lot about this particular bank's efforts to help the local communities.
So the Lions have gone into the bush for a couple of days to lick their wounds.
We have to hope all those cuts have healed and the flow of blood from Saturday's brutal Pretoria Test has been stemmed. Otherwise, they might be confronted with the unedifying sight of lions chasing Lions with the smell of blood in their nostrils.
At Loftus last weekend, it was Springboks who had the taste for blood. Lions doctor James Robson, normally a master of diplomacy, said revealingly "It certainly was a fairly brutal game. As the casualty list goes, it is not something I am happy with."
Not surprising, either. Welsh props Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones are out of the tour, Brian O'Driscoll who suffered concussion is also likely to be sidelined for this Saturday's 3rd Test in Johannesburg, Irish wing Tommy Bowe damaged an elbow and Welsh centre Jamie Roberts, a wrist.
The Lions are due to arrive back in Johannesburg late Monday evening, ready for another training session on Tuesday. But what state will they be in to confront the world champions for a third time in successive weeks? Pretty poor, is the answer.
These Lions were hardly flushed with an abundance of world class talent even when they left London. Right now, in their greatly weakened state, they are down to the bare bones and will find it massively difficult to raise themselves for Saturday's final Test, especially with the series already lost.
As 1993 Lions assistant coach Dick Best, who was in Pretoria on Saturday, said "The final Test is always tough. You are thinking of home, the players have been training and playing for 10 months at least. They desperately need a break, a decent rest. They're doing last minute shopping and thinking of anything but another Test match. It'll be very hard for them in Johannesburg."
We have to hope all those cuts have healed and the flow of blood from Saturday's brutal Pretoria Test has been stemmed. Otherwise, they might be confronted with the unedifying sight of lions chasing Lions with the smell of blood in their nostrils.
At Loftus last weekend, it was Springboks who had the taste for blood. Lions doctor James Robson, normally a master of diplomacy, said revealingly "It certainly was a fairly brutal game. As the casualty list goes, it is not something I am happy with."
Not surprising, either. Welsh props Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones are out of the tour, Brian O'Driscoll who suffered concussion is also likely to be sidelined for this Saturday's 3rd Test in Johannesburg, Irish wing Tommy Bowe damaged an elbow and Welsh centre Jamie Roberts, a wrist.
The Lions are due to arrive back in Johannesburg late Monday evening, ready for another training session on Tuesday. But what state will they be in to confront the world champions for a third time in successive weeks? Pretty poor, is the answer.
These Lions were hardly flushed with an abundance of world class talent even when they left London. Right now, in their greatly weakened state, they are down to the bare bones and will find it massively difficult to raise themselves for Saturday's final Test, especially with the series already lost.
As 1993 Lions assistant coach Dick Best, who was in Pretoria on Saturday, said "The final Test is always tough. You are thinking of home, the players have been training and playing for 10 months at least. They desperately need a break, a decent rest. They're doing last minute shopping and thinking of anything but another Test match. It'll be very hard for them in Johannesburg."
South Africa produced a miserably disappointing performance of just 18 minutes of rugby in Pretoria on Saturday. Yet it was enough to defeat the Lions and clinch the Test series.
Why? Because the extra gear the world champions eventually found, which is clearly within their capacity, was enough to overturn 55 minutes of Lions ascendancy in the game. That extra gear put them on a level beyond the range of this modest Lions side.
The reasons why the Lions have failed in this series are clear. With their best 15 players, they have been competitive. But once injuries have eliminated some of those key performers, the replacements just haven't been good enough to plunge into the fray against the powerful if erratic Springboks.
On Saturday, the loss of both props, Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones, who had done sterling work in overturning the Springboks' 1st Test scrummage supremacy, was catastrophic for the Lions. That they both departed after only five minutes of the second half was a tragedy.
Yet worse was to follow with Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Roberts also being forced off. The sad failing of Ronan O'Gara as a replacement underlined the chasm that exists between the 15 top men of these Lions and the remainder.
The likely absence of most if not all of that quartet in the final Test in Johannesburg this Saturday leaves the Lions highly vulnerable. They will do well to avoid a heavy defeat, never mind the seemingly inevitable 3-0 series whitewash.
None of this surprises those from the northern hemisphere who deal in facts and present day realities, not fantasy. The emotional language talked in too many quarters about these Lions and their prospects fuelled a completely unrealistic expectation. What we have seen was predictable. For the cruellest fact of all is that the Springboks haven't even had to play well to win the series at a canter.
In Durban, the ‘Boks played for 50 minutes before falling apart, undone by their own coach's lunatic whims. At Pretoria, the hosts produced only 18 minutes of play that resembled that of world champions. It was still enough.
These Lions have been exposed, albeit only in flashes, to the physical intensity, the dynamism and potential pace of the game in the southern hemisphere. It has found them wanting, as it was always likely to do. The important thing is whether the lessons will be learned from the experience.
I don't believe it is appropriate to heap blame on the Lions coaching staff. Yes, they made some absurd decisions, like omitting England flanker Tom Croft from the original 37 man squad. Croft has been one of the stars of this tour and Rob Kearney was in a similar class at Pretoria. Young players like these and Welsh centre Jamie Roberts will have learned invaluable lessons from the trip and will be better for that.
Frankly, Ian McGeechan and his coaches have worked minor wonders to make a disparate group of players competitive against a world champion side, around eight of which have been together since 2004. To do that in the space of a few short weeks is near miraculous. As McGeechan said on Saturday night "We haven't had the rub of the green. Had we done so, we could have been leaving here 2-up in the series."
They could, but the Lions shouldn't fool themselves. Had the Springboks not been so poor for much of the time, had they played with the real authority of world champions, the Lions would have been blown out of sight. Courage and bravery, qualities the Lions have had in abundance, are not enough at this level. You need at least six or seven players of the quality of an O'Driscoll. Alas, the Lions have had none apart from the Irishman.
Saturday's Test was heavily influenced by the decision of French referee Christophe Berdos not to red card Schalk Burger for attacking the eyes of Luke Fitzgerald. He bottled it because it was the first minute. A braver referee would have imposed the ultimate penalty and that could have altered the whole game and perhaps the series.
Ironic, then, that I warned before the tour began the Lions were dicing with danger in insisting on neutral, but inferior, referees for the Test series. That policy came home to haunt them on Saturday.
Why? Because the extra gear the world champions eventually found, which is clearly within their capacity, was enough to overturn 55 minutes of Lions ascendancy in the game. That extra gear put them on a level beyond the range of this modest Lions side.
The reasons why the Lions have failed in this series are clear. With their best 15 players, they have been competitive. But once injuries have eliminated some of those key performers, the replacements just haven't been good enough to plunge into the fray against the powerful if erratic Springboks.
On Saturday, the loss of both props, Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones, who had done sterling work in overturning the Springboks' 1st Test scrummage supremacy, was catastrophic for the Lions. That they both departed after only five minutes of the second half was a tragedy.
Yet worse was to follow with Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Roberts also being forced off. The sad failing of Ronan O'Gara as a replacement underlined the chasm that exists between the 15 top men of these Lions and the remainder.
The likely absence of most if not all of that quartet in the final Test in Johannesburg this Saturday leaves the Lions highly vulnerable. They will do well to avoid a heavy defeat, never mind the seemingly inevitable 3-0 series whitewash.
None of this surprises those from the northern hemisphere who deal in facts and present day realities, not fantasy. The emotional language talked in too many quarters about these Lions and their prospects fuelled a completely unrealistic expectation. What we have seen was predictable. For the cruellest fact of all is that the Springboks haven't even had to play well to win the series at a canter.
In Durban, the ‘Boks played for 50 minutes before falling apart, undone by their own coach's lunatic whims. At Pretoria, the hosts produced only 18 minutes of play that resembled that of world champions. It was still enough.
These Lions have been exposed, albeit only in flashes, to the physical intensity, the dynamism and potential pace of the game in the southern hemisphere. It has found them wanting, as it was always likely to do. The important thing is whether the lessons will be learned from the experience.
I don't believe it is appropriate to heap blame on the Lions coaching staff. Yes, they made some absurd decisions, like omitting England flanker Tom Croft from the original 37 man squad. Croft has been one of the stars of this tour and Rob Kearney was in a similar class at Pretoria. Young players like these and Welsh centre Jamie Roberts will have learned invaluable lessons from the trip and will be better for that.
Frankly, Ian McGeechan and his coaches have worked minor wonders to make a disparate group of players competitive against a world champion side, around eight of which have been together since 2004. To do that in the space of a few short weeks is near miraculous. As McGeechan said on Saturday night "We haven't had the rub of the green. Had we done so, we could have been leaving here 2-up in the series."
They could, but the Lions shouldn't fool themselves. Had the Springboks not been so poor for much of the time, had they played with the real authority of world champions, the Lions would have been blown out of sight. Courage and bravery, qualities the Lions have had in abundance, are not enough at this level. You need at least six or seven players of the quality of an O'Driscoll. Alas, the Lions have had none apart from the Irishman.
Saturday's Test was heavily influenced by the decision of French referee Christophe Berdos not to red card Schalk Burger for attacking the eyes of Luke Fitzgerald. He bottled it because it was the first minute. A braver referee would have imposed the ultimate penalty and that could have altered the whole game and perhaps the series.
Ironic, then, that I warned before the tour began the Lions were dicing with danger in insisting on neutral, but inferior, referees for the Test series. That policy came home to haunt them on Saturday.
Cape Town.
A horrible air of finality hangs over this Lions tour of South Africa, mirroring the dark storm clouds that have sat over the Western Cape this week.
It has long since become apparent that dark forces are gathering to threaten the whole concept of Lions tours. The difficulty in finding time for professional players from the northern hemisphere to commit to a Lions tour of any serious length is just one of them.
This is the shortest Lions tour ever undertaken and the lack of preparation is brutally apparent. Even now, with just two matches left, the Tests in Pretoria this Saturday and Johannesburg the following weekend, it is obvious that the Lions coaching staff are still finding out about players by putting together different combinations.
Yet one Test has been lost, the last two are nigh. The schedule is proving simply impossible for the Lions to make any serious impact in the series.
( Read more... )
A horrible air of finality hangs over this Lions tour of South Africa, mirroring the dark storm clouds that have sat over the Western Cape this week.
It has long since become apparent that dark forces are gathering to threaten the whole concept of Lions tours. The difficulty in finding time for professional players from the northern hemisphere to commit to a Lions tour of any serious length is just one of them.
This is the shortest Lions tour ever undertaken and the lack of preparation is brutally apparent. Even now, with just two matches left, the Tests in Pretoria this Saturday and Johannesburg the following weekend, it is obvious that the Lions coaching staff are still finding out about players by putting together different combinations.
Yet one Test has been lost, the last two are nigh. The schedule is proving simply impossible for the Lions to make any serious impact in the series.
( Read more... )
The limitations of options available to the Lions for Saturday’s 2nd Test in Pretoria were again exposed with brutal clarity last night.
Another poor display by the midweek team confirmed that Lions coach Ian McGeechan has few real alternatives to last weekend’s beaten Test team in Durban.
Very few members of the Lions team which could only manage a scrambled 13-13 draw with the Emerging Springboks at a cold, windy Newlands last night made a convincing case for a Test place.
True, conditions were dreadful with heavy, squally showers soaking the ground. But the Lions had enough possession to control two games yet never did anything much with it. They made numerous mistakes, looked plodding and predictable and could not shake off the courageous Emerging Springboks.
Their last minute try, from replacement wing Danwel Demas, was converted magnificently from touch by Willem de Waal to tie the scores and put a major dent in the Lions morale as they head for Loftus and their must win Test.
McGeechan will have been desperately disappointed that no-one really managed to rise above the general scramble and assert any authority. Skipper Ronan O’Gara was pulled off five minutes into the second half which suggested he may be in line for a starting place in Saturday’s Test. Flanker Martyn Williams worked hard in his usual way but rarely stood out convincingly.
The Lions needed the likes of Nathan Hines, Andy Powell and Shane Williams to step up to the challenge but they barely managed anything above the mediocre. Once again, there was little cohesion or penetration to the Lions game and too much of their ball was hopelessly slow, giving them few chances of making decisive breaks. Even when they did, they could not finish, Keith Earls’ first half try excepted.
Scrum half Harry Ellis, who might have been playing for a Test place, was gritty and determined but little better than ordinary and took far too long to clear the ball.
The atmosphere of a Test match will surely energise these Lions. But, as in Durban, it seems likely that so much will fall on the shoulders of centres Brian O’Driscoll and Jamie Roberts. If the Springboks can contain that duo, the Lions seem to have little else of real quality in their locker.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will have been greatly encouraged by the evidence of this final Lions midweek game. As before, he will have spied a weakness in finishing power and an inability to play the game at a pace demanded by professional rugby. Most of the Lions play last night revolved around driving off rucks and mauls and trying to out muscle their opponents. We know that is not good enough to overcome the powerful Springboks but these Lions do not appear to have much else available as a ‘go to’ tactic.
Truly, the poverty of rugby in the northern hemisphere is increasingly being exposed on this trip.
In the end, for all the talk of 36 players with an equal chance of earning a Test match place, the Lions' selection for the 1st Test against South Africa in Durban on Saturday bore few surprises.
There is a reason for that – nowhere near all 36 players ever had the talent to make the Test side. Thus, it became predictable at least two weeks ago what sort of team the Lions would choose to confront the world champions. Truth is, they had few real class alternatives to the players chosen for the starting XV.
Alun-Wyn Jones has won the lock berth alongside captain Paul O'Connell and Gethin Jenkins has seen off the challenge of Andrew Sheridan on the loose head side of the front row. Ugo Monye's stirring defensive work in midweek against the Southern Kings clinched his place.
Predictably too, Tom Croft wins the blindside flank role for which he was always favourite once the unfortunate Stephen Ferris was forced out of the tour by injury. How Croft can not even have been selected for the original 37-man squad defies belief. That one has to be put down to gross error by the Lions selectors.
Inevitably, too, there is a powerful Celtic core to the team – 11 players from Wales and Ireland are the bedrock, with just four Englishmen. There is not a single Scot in the entire matchday squad of 22, grim confirmation that rugby in Scotland is in serious decline. Nathan Hines and Euan Murray started out with Test aspirations but neither came through. I doubt whether, even without Murray's injury in midweek, he was shooting for anything better than a place on the bench.
The class of 2009 is thinly stretched in terms of resources when it comes to genuine world class talent. The acid test, painful yet always appropriate, is how many would be sure to get into a current World XV ? The brutal answer is one, Brian O'Driscoll.
Yet having accepted the limitations of these Lions and especially those outside the top 15 – the uneven, unconvincing results against many of the below strength provincial sides in the build-up to this 1st Test has merely underlined that truth – there is now a golden opportunity for some of the chosen 15 to kick on and make their names as genuine world class talents.
If this is a team hardly oozing world class, it is undeniably one with a strong bond, a common cause that coach Ian McGeechan and his assistants have worked hard on creating. Now comes the chance for the individuals to make their name.
In 1997, you couldn't pretend the Lions began the Test series with a side stuffed full of legends. Martin Johnson was one, Jeremy Guscott another but not that many others came to mind. But on that tour, myriad players – the likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Richard Hill, Neil Back and Matt Dawson - seized the opportunity to lift their games to another plateau. That triumph took those players all the way on to a World Cup win with England in 2003.
Similarly, the likes of Paul Wallace, Jeremy Davidson and Tom Smith played some of the finest rugby of their lives in that 3-match Test series. Their ability to lift their game contributed mightily to the overall success of those Lions.
If the 2009 Lions are to have any hope of emulating the success of their 1997 counterparts, a similar number of players must raise their game. The Lions look solid in the front row but I don't buy this theory that Springbok captain John Smit will become putty in Jenkins' hands now that he's switched from hooker to tight head prop. Smit played there earlier in his career and he's squat and solid.
Croft will add a valuable line-out option, not just at the back, and the Welsh halves should have played together enough to feel comfortable and confident. Tommy Bowe is in the form of his life on the right wing. And then there's the great O'Driscoll alongside the rapidly improving Jamie Roberts.
But whatever the position, this Lions side must look ahead with belief. They must work collectively and aspire to great performances. If they do that, who's to say they won't give the Springboks something to think about?
There is a reason for that – nowhere near all 36 players ever had the talent to make the Test side. Thus, it became predictable at least two weeks ago what sort of team the Lions would choose to confront the world champions. Truth is, they had few real class alternatives to the players chosen for the starting XV.
Alun-Wyn Jones has won the lock berth alongside captain Paul O'Connell and Gethin Jenkins has seen off the challenge of Andrew Sheridan on the loose head side of the front row. Ugo Monye's stirring defensive work in midweek against the Southern Kings clinched his place.
Predictably too, Tom Croft wins the blindside flank role for which he was always favourite once the unfortunate Stephen Ferris was forced out of the tour by injury. How Croft can not even have been selected for the original 37-man squad defies belief. That one has to be put down to gross error by the Lions selectors.
Inevitably, too, there is a powerful Celtic core to the team – 11 players from Wales and Ireland are the bedrock, with just four Englishmen. There is not a single Scot in the entire matchday squad of 22, grim confirmation that rugby in Scotland is in serious decline. Nathan Hines and Euan Murray started out with Test aspirations but neither came through. I doubt whether, even without Murray's injury in midweek, he was shooting for anything better than a place on the bench.
The class of 2009 is thinly stretched in terms of resources when it comes to genuine world class talent. The acid test, painful yet always appropriate, is how many would be sure to get into a current World XV ? The brutal answer is one, Brian O'Driscoll.
Yet having accepted the limitations of these Lions and especially those outside the top 15 – the uneven, unconvincing results against many of the below strength provincial sides in the build-up to this 1st Test has merely underlined that truth – there is now a golden opportunity for some of the chosen 15 to kick on and make their names as genuine world class talents.
If this is a team hardly oozing world class, it is undeniably one with a strong bond, a common cause that coach Ian McGeechan and his assistants have worked hard on creating. Now comes the chance for the individuals to make their name.
In 1997, you couldn't pretend the Lions began the Test series with a side stuffed full of legends. Martin Johnson was one, Jeremy Guscott another but not that many others came to mind. But on that tour, myriad players – the likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Richard Hill, Neil Back and Matt Dawson - seized the opportunity to lift their games to another plateau. That triumph took those players all the way on to a World Cup win with England in 2003.
Similarly, the likes of Paul Wallace, Jeremy Davidson and Tom Smith played some of the finest rugby of their lives in that 3-match Test series. Their ability to lift their game contributed mightily to the overall success of those Lions.
If the 2009 Lions are to have any hope of emulating the success of their 1997 counterparts, a similar number of players must raise their game. The Lions look solid in the front row but I don't buy this theory that Springbok captain John Smit will become putty in Jenkins' hands now that he's switched from hooker to tight head prop. Smit played there earlier in his career and he's squat and solid.
Croft will add a valuable line-out option, not just at the back, and the Welsh halves should have played together enough to feel comfortable and confident. Tommy Bowe is in the form of his life on the right wing. And then there's the great O'Driscoll alongside the rapidly improving Jamie Roberts.
But whatever the position, this Lions side must look ahead with belief. They must work collectively and aspire to great performances. If they do that, who's to say they won't give the Springboks something to think about?
James Hook’s soaring penalty goal four minutes from the end saved the Lions in Cape Town. But has even that superb kick saved the Lions tour?
From the comparative comfort of an 18-9 lead, these Lions again stuttered and stumbled in a thoroughly unconvincing way. True, the Lions outscored Province by three tries to one. But their continuing tendency to give away constant penalties puts a serious question mark against their ability to live with the Springboks.
With time running out and the 1st Test just a week away, you’d have thought Ian McGeechan’s men would have found another gear at Newlands, moving smoothly onto a level of performance which would have crushed a weakened Western Province challenge.
But these Lions continue to look at best modest, at worst pretty ordinary. They never learn at the breakdown, being penalised time and again by Mark Lawrence for elementary offences like handling in the ruck, diving off their feet at the breakdown and going in at the side. How international players can continue committing such absurd, amateurish errors is beyond me.
Again, the Lions dominated possession, winning more than 70% for long periods of the game. Yet again all that came to nothing because the Lions badly lacked composure, accuracy and precision in their play.
We are surely faced with the stark truth. There may, just, be 15 quality players in this Lions squad and when they are in the same team, the Lions might have a hope in the Test series. But without key performers like Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Mike Phillips, Lee Byrne, Phil Vickery, Tom Croft and Paul O’Connell, this Lions squad looks desperately thin on real quality.
The one player who stood out yesterday was Irish wing Tommy Bowe, who has surely nailed down the Test No. 14 jersey. The Ulsterman scored a superb try, finishing off the Lions best move of the match, and he then made a second try for fellow wing Ugo Monye, with a clever step, punishing run to break the defensive line and a gorgeously soft, well-timed off-load to send Monye clear.
That sort of class was notoriously absent from the Lions play for most of the remainder of the game. They were guilty of turning over possession, losing control of the ball and lacking the type of dynamism to be expected of Lions teams. Far, far too often, the lack of pinpoint accuracy in passing meant that players coming onto the ball had to check to take it.
This is elementary stuff, the basics that you teach kids. There were some players, lock Nathan Hines and fly half Stephen Jones among them, who understood the need to offload in the tackle to maintain continuity. But too many players continued to go to ground, and with their breakdown work again largely unimpressive despite the efforts of Martyn Williams, the Lions suffered as a consequence.
Teams hoping to beat the world champions in seven days time surely ought to be able to swat aside with arrogance and complete conviction the challenge of a provincial side missing a host of top players. It has to be a cause for huge concern that these Lions just couldn’t do that.
Province fly half William de Waal punished the tourists for their frequent errors by kicking four penalty goals and a drop. He was short with a late drop goal which would almost certainly have snatched a draw.
Western Province should be proud of themselves for a hugely creditable effort. But the fact that they kept in touch on the scoreboard chiefly through the Lions technical mistakes ought to alarm the Lions management.
The tour moves on, to Port Elizabeth and then Durban for Saturday’s 1st Test. Frankly, at this stage, the Lions don’t look anywhere near ready for that challenge and nowhere near good enough. But perhaps they can pull a rabbit from the hat this week to turnaround this tour. They certainly need something dramatic.
Look past what appears to be a one-sided scoreline. The age old failing of northern hemisphere rugby was writ large all over the Lions game in Durban tonight.
An inability to finish off scoring chances has been the bête noire of the game in this hemisphere for years and the failing was laid bare against the Sharks at the ABSA stadium.
Never mind their ultimate win. For the Lions to have reached half time holding only a slender 7-3 lead over the Sharks 2nd XV was the ultimate indictment of northern hemisphere rugby players’ lack of accuracy, precision and patience in the vital last few yards before the opposition try line.
Watch an All Black team if you wish to see the complete opposite. They are clinical, ruthless and deadly in their finishing. If they get into the opposition 22, chances are they will come away with a score. In Durban last night, the Lions had 80% of possession in the first half, a hatful of scoring opportunities and countless chances to put points on the board. Lee Mears’ 23rd minute try excepted, they failed every other time.
Such rank poor finishing, unless it is urgently addressed and improved, will give the Lions little chance in the forthcoming Test series against the world champion Springboks.
There were some bright moments last night. Mike Phillips’ sniping abilities around the fringes enabled him to set up the tourists’ first try and score their second. Lee Mears put a major investment down on the Test hooker’s job and Tom Croft again purred with professionalism at flank, making it likely he will fill the Test slot Stephen Ferris could well have won had injury not ended his tour. Elsewhere, Jamie Roberts was an explosive mix at centre beyond the capacity of the Sharks defence to contain, and Lee Byrne again looked an absolute thoroughbred of a full-back.
Then there was the welcome and comforting sight of a marvellous run, full of poise and control, from Brian O’Driscoll which handed Luke Fitzgerald a second half try on a plate. O’Driscoll simply oozes world class – if only the Lions had another six like him !
But there were too many downsides for the Lions with the 1st Test now just 9 days away. Once again, they struggled to assert the kind of dominance at the breakdown that their coaches have always insisted was the key to the whole Test series. The Lions conceded so many turnovers and penalties it became alarming and they still struggled for too long to think quickly enough on their feet and play the game at the kind of pace with which they will need to feel comfortable if they are to match the South Africans in the Test series. Worryingly, too, Gethin Jenkins struggled in a mess of a scrum.
So often last night in Durban, what should have been neat, slick, purposeful and penetrative play leading to tries became a scrappy mess with frequent interruptions for penalties the Lions had conceded. This hardly smacked of a world class Test side in the making.
Much work still to do, then, even through the Test side is clearly taking shape.
If the Cheetahs had shown just a little more patience in the 78th minute of this game, they could have claimed the scalp of the 2009 Lions.
In possession, driving off the forwards and just two points behind, it became clear that a late drop goal could snatch the game. All it needed was the patience by the Cheetahs forwards to keep driving forward, take the ball up to the Lions 22 and then release it.
Instead, they panicked. Full-back Louis Strydom was given the ball too far out and his attempt from close to the halfway line, sailed wide. It was a golden opportunity lost by the below strength Cheetahs but it told us more about the Lions than the locals.
So ordinary a display by the tourists just three days after the sumptuous performance in Johannesburg reminded us that the quality and class does not go very deep in this Lions squad. Take the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips and David Wallace out of the side and the Lions look a very different outfit.
A whole raft of criticisms can and should be directed at Ian McGeechan’s side yesterday. The support work wasn’t good enough, the off-loading in the tackle was largely absent and there was a lack of cohesion about the tourists. There was far too much going to ground without attempting to keep the ball alive, although in fairness the work off the ball was nowhere near the quality shown last Wednesday in Johannesburg.
Among the backs, we saw little of the control, authority or invention on view against the Golden Lions. Harry Ellis is a reserve scrum half at his club Leicester and James Hook wasn’t originally selected in the initial squad of 36. That tells its own story and the duo struggled to run the game in the way Phillips and Jones had done so smoothly and effectively three days earlier.
In fairness, that was due in part to the lack of quick ball from the breakdown. Both sides were guilty of laying all over the loose ball or playing it whilst off their feet. You might have thought the players would have got the message after Wayne Barnes sin-binned Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris for the offence after just 22 minutes. But the scrappy, often illegal play continued at the breakdown and hampered the release of the fast, quality ball backs need in the modern game.
For the Lions to lead 20-0 after the opening 20 minutes and then ‘lose’ the next 30 minutes 17-6, demands questions regarding their lack of control, lack of concentration and focus and their inability to rise above much of the mayhem and stamp their class and authority on the game.
You have to credit the Cheetahs for a gutsy, committed, spirited effort which posed some serious questions for what increasingly began to look like the Lions midweek side. The home team sought space and when they found it, had the gas to cause trouble. But in truth, a litany of errors undermined the Lions’ effort.
The blind side defence was too slow to scramble allowing Jean Louis Potgieter to put Danwell Demas over for the first Cheetahs try. Eight minutes later, the Lions lost control of the ball and Wian du Preez smashed his way over for another try.
This twin blow seemed to knock the confidence out of the Lions. Ferris was again a robust, committed performer who took his try well. But too many of his colleagues were guilty of the bludgeoning approach, shorn of subtlety and thought. Andy Powell lacked nothing in courage but he, like far too many Lions forwards, kept taking the ball to ground, without thought for the concept of the off-load.
At best it was modest, at worst inadequate. The Springboks won’t be quaking with fear, that’s for sure.
The shape of a possible Lions Test team began to emerge tonight in their crushing 74-10 humiliation of the Golden Lions in Johannesburg.
This was the start of the real Lions tour, after the stuttering opening of last weekend in Rustenburg. And several players put their hands up for possible Test selection.
Chief among them were Brian O’Driscoll, Tommy Bowe, Jamie Roberts, Tom Croft, Nathan Hines, Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wyn Jones, Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones. That’s nine players which is almost two thirds of a team. It won’t persuade hard task masters like the Lions coaches to think the job is nearly done; far, far from it.
But the key thing was, there was a clearly discernible shape and structure about the Lions and the effect was apparent on the scoreboard.
Ulster’s Stephen Ferris got the chance to join the party early in the second half, a special moment in the career of the Irish flanker. The astonishing 60 metre try he scored directly from his own turnover in the final minute was reward for his mighty effort in the last half hour.
This was much, much better stuff by the Lions. There was a flow, a rhythm and a purpose about the tourists where none had seemed to exist amid the mess of Rustenburg. As the tourists now head for Bloemfontein for Saturday’s meeting with the Cheetahs, the Lions management will breathe a huge sigh of relief.
They at least saw a performance which raised the bar for all the other Lions players who will now follow. If they wish to be in the running for Test places they are going to have to play out of their skins to make a serious impression. With so few games left before the 1st Test against the Springboks on June 20 in Durban, it was crucial the Lions made vast improvements in Johannesburg and they did.
Under O’Driscoll’s clearly influential captaincy – I still believe the Lions selectors made a mistake by not choosing him as tour leader – these Lions prospered. The key was the quick ball they secured at the breakdown and their ability to off-load in contact, a mantra I have been banging on about for months.
To succeed against the Springboks, the Lions are going to have to move the ball, which means continuity and release out of the tackle. The stop-start game that still dominates northern hemisphere rugby too often must be abandoned. But they will also need power and solidity up front and in that respect this was also a significant step forward from the tourists’ point of view.
The line-out went well, too, Nathan Hines and Alun-Wyn Jones leaping with consistent excellence. You could see the influential coaching hand of Welsh coach Warren Gatland behind much of what the tourists did last night.
In the front row, Gethin Jenkins and Phil Vickery may well have put one hand on the Lions Test props jerseys.
But no-one did better than Irish wing Tommy Bowe, whose superb skills and vision were demonstrated time and again, even when he moved inside to centre as replacements took over in the second half. Bowe’s eagerness for work and his slick releases out of the tackle had created constant danger to the defence in the first half and he then put Ugo Monye over for a second half try with a delicate inside pass under heavy pressure. The Ulsterman finished with two tries himself and was one of the real stars of the night.
The South Africans will pick up on some of the cynical, off-the-ball blocking by the support runners which created holes through which the Lions poured. There will be an inevitable outcry and referees will be forced to officiate this aspect a lot tougher than Craig Joubert managed in Johannesburg.
Much remains to be done of course and the opposition will get gradually tougher. Nevertheless, this was a promising and convincing step forward by the tourists after the poverty of their opening.
Now to back it up and maintain the excellence ...
Perhaps at least now the idiots who thought all the 2009 Lions had to do was run out on South African soil and every opponent would quake in fear, can climb back into their boxes and shut up.
Saturday’s performance by the Lions against the Royal XV, a display as rusty as a cupboard full of old, decaying nails, should at least have buried that myth. Only the arrival of the cavalry from the replacements’ bench and a solidly efficient scoring performance from Ronan O’Gara saved the Lions from ignominy.
Undeniably, as I have been saying all along, these Lions will be far from a vintage crop because they don’t have the world class performers who have hallmarked the really successful Lions squads down the years. There is no Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Gerald Davies, David Duckham or Mike Gibson anywhere in sight behind the scrum; no Mervyn Davies, Fran Cotton, Willie John McBride or Bryn Meredith to be glimpsed up front.
What that means is what we saw on Saturday. The Lions don’t have a few geniuses dotted around their team who can administer a drop or two of magic here and there and ensure a moderate display is perceived as a great one because the class acts in the touring team are able to do things beyond the scope and imagination of all others, thereby transforming and influencing the entire game.
Players like Edwards, John, Gibson and Davies had that ability and they could employ it when and wherever they wanted. The 2009 Lions simply don’t possess that class, with a couple of obvious exceptions, and therefore will have to work so much harder, show altogether greater industry and dedication to the cause to make up for that weakness.
But equally, it is trite and absurd to write off Paul O’Connell’s tourists on the evidence of Saturday’s match. People should know better than that.
Half of the Lions team hadn’t played for weeks; many of the others hadn’t played in South Africa before. Keith Earls is a huge talent but the combination of big match nerves and unfamiliarity with the conditions meant that the Irish youngster looked inferior. That, I can assure you, he is most certainly not.
In my book, he is a huge, coming talent in the northern hemisphere game and he fully merits his surprise inclusion in this squad. His selection demonstrated vision and courage on the part of the selectors. But the boy has to learn and Saturday was a huge learning curve for him. No-one, including himself, should be surprised he made mistakes, was guilty of elementary errors and struggled with his game. He will come back stronger and better for the experience.
A lot of other players will, too. They will now be beginning to understand that the hits are harder in the South African game, the play is less formulaic and there is less time for players to dwell on the ball. Their decision making is going to have to be instant and accurate. What is more, the Lions will be starting to see the requirement for precision in their game. Errors will be punished more heavily by sides better than the Royal XV.
But passing judgement on the evidence of 80 minutes of Saturday’s tour opener is ridiculous. Had the Lions won by 70 points, I suppose the chattering classes would have been lauding them as the greatest thing since sliced bread.
You can never make accurate assessments on the first game of any tour. The abject can flatter to deceive, the seriously impressive can make a stuttering, faltering start. Neither means a lot, especially in this case because so many more players will now step in and present their own credentials for a possible Test place.
The manner of the Bulls’ rampant victory in the Super 14 final on Saturday may well have made some in the Lions party shudder. For others, it merely confirmed that South African rugby has got high class ability coming out of its ears.
But not even the Springboks should be drawing many conclusions from the Lions opening fixture. It was simply that, a first opportunity to blow away the cobwebs and make a start. The fact that it wasn’t very convincing should surprise no-one, but equally no-one should be passing judgement on such flimsy evidence.
Perpignan add to Catalan glory
Posted by peter_bills
peter_bills
So all of Catalonia celebrates after a momentous week !
Three days after Barcelona's triumph over Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League soccer final in Rome, Perpignan toppled swank Parisien outfit Stade Francais to reach the final of the French rugby Championship, at Stade de France, Paris, next Saturday night.
It was a fantastic occasion in Lyon, 24 hours after Clermont-Auvergne had beaten the holders and this year's favourites Stade Toulouse 19-9 in the first semi final on Friday night. Frankly, that was a dire match, riddled with errors and a stop-start affair.
But in the warm Lyon sunshine on Saturday afternoon, Perpignan played superbly, carving out a 20-6 lead before suffering a real wobble in the last 20 minutes. Paris got it back to 20-14 and pressed hard but another try eased the Catalans out to 25-14. Even though Paris came again, with a converted try that made it 25-21 for some anxious final minutes, Perpignan held on to send their supporters wild with delight.
Catalonia has known some harsh times in its turbulent history, notably when General Franco won the Spanish Civil War and Catalunya was subjugated for decades under his iron rule. Only when Franco died and King Carlos resumed the Spanish throne, were the restrictions eased and Catalunya breathed again.
To see Barcelona win European soccer's top prize on Wednesday night and then Perpignan qualify for the French rugby Championship final 72 hours later was a wondrous experience for all Catalans.
Perpignan deserved their win. Watched intently by their crocked All Blacks star Daniel Carter, they scored a fabulous, fantastic first half try which deserved to win any semi-final or indeed final. Precision in execution, speed and accuracy in passing, players hitting the line flat out to take the ball and perfectly timed passes to send the try scorer away to the line. This was high quality stuff in anyone's language.
So next week's final will be some occasion. Perpignan have not been French champions since 1955. Clermont-Auvergne have reached 9 finals in their history and have lost the lot. They were beaten by Toulouse in last year's final and are desperate to make amends this time and at last lift the coveted 'Bouclier de Brennus' log.
What makes next Saturday night's match so intriguing is that the favourites are out. Either of the finalists is capable of winning.
It should be some match.
Three days after Barcelona's triumph over Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League soccer final in Rome, Perpignan toppled swank Parisien outfit Stade Francais to reach the final of the French rugby Championship, at Stade de France, Paris, next Saturday night.
It was a fantastic occasion in Lyon, 24 hours after Clermont-Auvergne had beaten the holders and this year's favourites Stade Toulouse 19-9 in the first semi final on Friday night. Frankly, that was a dire match, riddled with errors and a stop-start affair.
But in the warm Lyon sunshine on Saturday afternoon, Perpignan played superbly, carving out a 20-6 lead before suffering a real wobble in the last 20 minutes. Paris got it back to 20-14 and pressed hard but another try eased the Catalans out to 25-14. Even though Paris came again, with a converted try that made it 25-21 for some anxious final minutes, Perpignan held on to send their supporters wild with delight.
Catalonia has known some harsh times in its turbulent history, notably when General Franco won the Spanish Civil War and Catalunya was subjugated for decades under his iron rule. Only when Franco died and King Carlos resumed the Spanish throne, were the restrictions eased and Catalunya breathed again.
To see Barcelona win European soccer's top prize on Wednesday night and then Perpignan qualify for the French rugby Championship final 72 hours later was a wondrous experience for all Catalans.
Perpignan deserved their win. Watched intently by their crocked All Blacks star Daniel Carter, they scored a fabulous, fantastic first half try which deserved to win any semi-final or indeed final. Precision in execution, speed and accuracy in passing, players hitting the line flat out to take the ball and perfectly timed passes to send the try scorer away to the line. This was high quality stuff in anyone's language.
So next week's final will be some occasion. Perpignan have not been French champions since 1955. Clermont-Auvergne have reached 9 finals in their history and have lost the lot. They were beaten by Toulouse in last year's final and are desperate to make amends this time and at last lift the coveted 'Bouclier de Brennus' log.
What makes next Saturday night's match so intriguing is that the favourites are out. Either of the finalists is capable of winning.
It should be some match.
The Lions tour opener in far away Rustenburg isn't the only big rugby occasion of this weekend. England are playing an absolutely star-studded Barbarians side at Twickenham and in France, they have the semi-finals of the French Club Championship.
These French matches are more like the meeting of warring tribes. Physical well being and safety goes out of the window; nothing matters but reaching the final, which will be played in Paris next Saturday night (June 6).
The semi-finals are always played on neutral grounds. Tonight in Bordeaux, the holders Toulouse will take on Clermont Auvergne, the team they beat in last year's final. Clermont have never won the French title yet incredibly, they have now been in nine finals. The sense of frustration is immense at the club of the mountainous Auvergne region in central France.
Toulouse are assured competitors, stylish and talented. They have an all international back line and a pack laden with more international names. Yet Clermont, under their shrewd New Zealand coach Vern Cotter who used to be No. 2 to Robbie Deans at the Canterbury Crusaders, know what they have to do. They won't suffer for a lack of organisation.
Clermont made a shocking start to the season yet lately they have come right into form and have been scoring tries for fun. It looks like they've hit form at just the right moment. And yet……I can't see Toulouse mucking it up tonight. They have so many resources and have just signed the superb French international back row player Louis Picamoles from AS Montpellier for next season, plus promising Bourgoin centre Yann David. Talk about snatching all the goodies in the candy shop !
If Toulouse go out tonight, it will be a major shock.
Who would they play in the final, if they get through? Either Perpignan or Stade Francais, Paris, who will meet in the other semi-final tomorrow in Lyon. I'll be there to see it and one thing is guaranteed – as ever, it will be a great, noisy, emotional, physically shattering occasion. These semi-finals always are.
Perpignan finished top of the table after the league campaign, Paris fourth. Perpignan would be certainties if their New Zealand All Black Dan Carter were playing. But alas, Carter wrecked his Achilles in the January match between these two sides in Paris and will be in the stand at Lyon tomorrow. The Catalan club will also miss tough Scottish lock Nathan Hines who is of course with the Lions in South Africa.
Even so, Perpignan should win yet you never quite know with Stade Francais. Bedevilled by injuries all season, their Australian coach Ewen McKenzie has had a tough time of it. But now, with the likes of Juan Martin Hernandez, their brilliant Argentine back and fit, they look a stronger outfit. It wouldn't be a great surprise if they stopped Perpignan, and advanced themselves on another final.
Whatever happens, both semi-finals promise to be titanic contests.
These French matches are more like the meeting of warring tribes. Physical well being and safety goes out of the window; nothing matters but reaching the final, which will be played in Paris next Saturday night (June 6).
The semi-finals are always played on neutral grounds. Tonight in Bordeaux, the holders Toulouse will take on Clermont Auvergne, the team they beat in last year's final. Clermont have never won the French title yet incredibly, they have now been in nine finals. The sense of frustration is immense at the club of the mountainous Auvergne region in central France.
Toulouse are assured competitors, stylish and talented. They have an all international back line and a pack laden with more international names. Yet Clermont, under their shrewd New Zealand coach Vern Cotter who used to be No. 2 to Robbie Deans at the Canterbury Crusaders, know what they have to do. They won't suffer for a lack of organisation.
Clermont made a shocking start to the season yet lately they have come right into form and have been scoring tries for fun. It looks like they've hit form at just the right moment. And yet……I can't see Toulouse mucking it up tonight. They have so many resources and have just signed the superb French international back row player Louis Picamoles from AS Montpellier for next season, plus promising Bourgoin centre Yann David. Talk about snatching all the goodies in the candy shop !
If Toulouse go out tonight, it will be a major shock.
Who would they play in the final, if they get through? Either Perpignan or Stade Francais, Paris, who will meet in the other semi-final tomorrow in Lyon. I'll be there to see it and one thing is guaranteed – as ever, it will be a great, noisy, emotional, physically shattering occasion. These semi-finals always are.
Perpignan finished top of the table after the league campaign, Paris fourth. Perpignan would be certainties if their New Zealand All Black Dan Carter were playing. But alas, Carter wrecked his Achilles in the January match between these two sides in Paris and will be in the stand at Lyon tomorrow. The Catalan club will also miss tough Scottish lock Nathan Hines who is of course with the Lions in South Africa.
Even so, Perpignan should win yet you never quite know with Stade Francais. Bedevilled by injuries all season, their Australian coach Ewen McKenzie has had a tough time of it. But now, with the likes of Juan Martin Hernandez, their brilliant Argentine back and fit, they look a stronger outfit. It wouldn't be a great surprise if they stopped Perpignan, and advanced themselves on another final.
Whatever happens, both semi-finals promise to be titanic contests.
Ireland stand on top of the northern hemisphere rugby world.
Leinster’s Heineken Cup triumph, just 12 months after Munster had lifted the trophy at Cardiff and a couple of months after Ireland’s first Grand Slam for 61 years, guaranteed that this era of Irish players has finally got its due reward.
The years of frustration and failure suffered by men like Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy were buried on the pitch at Murrayfield as Leinster’s huge support, close to 40,000, celebrated in the Edinburgh sunshine.
But that wasn’t the only thing Leinster left on the Scottish soil. They shed plenty of blood to make it through to their first Heineken trophy, evidence of their ferocious commitment and fierce determination to end forever their bridesmaid tag in this competition.
Australian flanker Rocky Elsom got the man of the match award and typified Leinster’s gutsy, bloody effort. Elsom had blood pouring out of his nose for the last half hour or more but simply refused to take a backward step, never mind come off.
Elsom’s charging drives off ruck and maul, his open hearted honesty and utter commitment have been at the heart of Leinster’s march to glory in this superb competition. He stopped Munster dead in their tracks in the semi-final and wasn’t far short of that exalted level of performance here.
All across Europe, at clubs and provinces in most countries, you can find plenty of overseas players who have been a disappointment. But Elsom has been a shining example of a player who has given his all. Leinster simply couldn’t have asked for more from him, a totem pole of a player the others have followed with total devotion and effort.
Truth to tell, Leinster had to dig deep to win this final. 9-3 ahead early on, they suddenly found themselves 16-9 down soon after half time. Lesser sides would have cracked, especially with Leicester, always formidable warriors, confronting them and sensing a Heineken/Guinness Premiership title double.
But that was what made Leinster’s eventual triumph so sweet, so satisfying. They beat the new Champions of England by showing tigerish like intensity and effort. Leinster just hammered harder into the rucks, joined the mauls with even more grunt and effort. By the end, even Leicester were feeling the heat of all that effort.
You had to admire Elsom but there were plenty of other outstanding contributors to the Leinster cause. What their semi-final victory had given them was belief, that essential commodity that is a crucial factor in any champion side’s make-up.
Leo Cullen’s men didn’t panic, didn’t start playing wildly expansive, catch up rugby. They kept churning away, battering at the Leicester defensive door in their determination to find a way through. In the end, that maturity got them home. Jamie Heaslip’s try by the posts levelled it and Leinster’s soaring levels of commitment and courage made sure they would be in pole position to strike when the chance came.
They had to wait until just 10 minutes from the end, Jonathan Sexton calmly drilling home the winning penalty with the aplomb of a master practitioner at his trade. But even then, it needed more sweat, more blood and more pounding, relentless commitment from Cheika’s men to make sure Leicester were denied.
You could only applaud, not just the phenomenal effort of Leinster, but the ultimate achievement of their leading players. Even O’Driscoll, a star for the Lions as far back as 2001, has had to wait until the twilight of his career to taste these great glories. He bore the years of frustration, sadness and despair with a good grace that left you wondering at such composure. It wasn’t that he didn’t want it enough; so consummate a warrior wants victory in every match. But he endured the setbacks with a commendable poise that told you everything about the sort of role model he has been to the youngsters who will come after his own generation.
But a word for one of the losers too. Geordan Murphy has matched O’Driscoll in offering a stirring example to the young people who play and support this game. It was Leicester’s huge loss that he disappeared early in the game. Murphy has played some of his finest rugby in the last few months and he has led Leicester with a grace and elegance we should equally admire.
This was a great final, a tremendous battle. But in its commitment and courage, so many stood up as outstanding role models for their sport. For that, we should congratulate them all.
Leinster’s Heineken Cup triumph, just 12 months after Munster had lifted the trophy at Cardiff and a couple of months after Ireland’s first Grand Slam for 61 years, guaranteed that this era of Irish players has finally got its due reward.
The years of frustration and failure suffered by men like Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy were buried on the pitch at Murrayfield as Leinster’s huge support, close to 40,000, celebrated in the Edinburgh sunshine.
But that wasn’t the only thing Leinster left on the Scottish soil. They shed plenty of blood to make it through to their first Heineken trophy, evidence of their ferocious commitment and fierce determination to end forever their bridesmaid tag in this competition.
Australian flanker Rocky Elsom got the man of the match award and typified Leinster’s gutsy, bloody effort. Elsom had blood pouring out of his nose for the last half hour or more but simply refused to take a backward step, never mind come off.
Elsom’s charging drives off ruck and maul, his open hearted honesty and utter commitment have been at the heart of Leinster’s march to glory in this superb competition. He stopped Munster dead in their tracks in the semi-final and wasn’t far short of that exalted level of performance here.
All across Europe, at clubs and provinces in most countries, you can find plenty of overseas players who have been a disappointment. But Elsom has been a shining example of a player who has given his all. Leinster simply couldn’t have asked for more from him, a totem pole of a player the others have followed with total devotion and effort.
Truth to tell, Leinster had to dig deep to win this final. 9-3 ahead early on, they suddenly found themselves 16-9 down soon after half time. Lesser sides would have cracked, especially with Leicester, always formidable warriors, confronting them and sensing a Heineken/Guinness Premiership title double.
But that was what made Leinster’s eventual triumph so sweet, so satisfying. They beat the new Champions of England by showing tigerish like intensity and effort. Leinster just hammered harder into the rucks, joined the mauls with even more grunt and effort. By the end, even Leicester were feeling the heat of all that effort.
You had to admire Elsom but there were plenty of other outstanding contributors to the Leinster cause. What their semi-final victory had given them was belief, that essential commodity that is a crucial factor in any champion side’s make-up.
Leo Cullen’s men didn’t panic, didn’t start playing wildly expansive, catch up rugby. They kept churning away, battering at the Leicester defensive door in their determination to find a way through. In the end, that maturity got them home. Jamie Heaslip’s try by the posts levelled it and Leinster’s soaring levels of commitment and courage made sure they would be in pole position to strike when the chance came.
They had to wait until just 10 minutes from the end, Jonathan Sexton calmly drilling home the winning penalty with the aplomb of a master practitioner at his trade. But even then, it needed more sweat, more blood and more pounding, relentless commitment from Cheika’s men to make sure Leicester were denied.
You could only applaud, not just the phenomenal effort of Leinster, but the ultimate achievement of their leading players. Even O’Driscoll, a star for the Lions as far back as 2001, has had to wait until the twilight of his career to taste these great glories. He bore the years of frustration, sadness and despair with a good grace that left you wondering at such composure. It wasn’t that he didn’t want it enough; so consummate a warrior wants victory in every match. But he endured the setbacks with a commendable poise that told you everything about the sort of role model he has been to the youngsters who will come after his own generation.
But a word for one of the losers too. Geordan Murphy has matched O’Driscoll in offering a stirring example to the young people who play and support this game. It was Leicester’s huge loss that he disappeared early in the game. Murphy has played some of his finest rugby in the last few months and he has led Leicester with a grace and elegance we should equally admire.
This was a great final, a tremendous battle. But in its commitment and courage, so many stood up as outstanding role models for their sport. For that, we should congratulate them all.
So Newcastle are relegated, their prized Premiership place lost.
With just 7 wins in 38 matches you can hardly say their demise is either a surprise or unjustified. Just as the best usually end up top of the pile after so long a season, the worst are almost invariably found out and doomed by their own inadequacies.
What surprises me, trawling through the morning papers 24 hours after Newcastle's relegation, is the tide of sentiment and, it has to be said, naive hogwash, which litters so many reports.
Some talk in angered tones - and indeed, coach Alan Shearer alluded to this in his after match quotes - of certain players not having given their best during the season. I'm sure they haven't but who on earth can be surprised at that ?
The only real thing that matters to the modern day footballer is how much money he can suck from his employers of that particular season. Loyalty (Ryan Giggs excepted) hardly applies any more in top line football. You go where the most money is and you do what you can for that club. So if it doesn't work out; hey, just find another employer.....as long as they'll pay you as much.
Why would Newcastle's discredited, hopeless players be that bothered about this club's demise when they can move on in the coming months to another club willing to pay them just as much or maybe more? Hell, let's face it, when a thug like Joey Barton continues to find more clubs willing to give him yet another chance, we should abandon forever notions of loyalty, decency, commitment, standards and responsibility in English football.
Most players at English football clubs are there for one thing and one thing alone - money. Deep down, they couldn't care less about the club. The club shirt is a badge of convenience, nothing much more. Manchester United buck that trend chiefly because of the man they have at the helm.
But look closer at Newcastle. It's alright accusing the players of not caring, as Shearer did in effect. But if Shearer cared so much about the club why didn't he go to their help far earlier this season ? The club was virtually begging him to take the job for most of the season. He left it until 8 matches from the end to agree to try and help. Far, far too late.
Why didn't Shearer get involved earlier to try and nurse this sick patient back to health ? Well, because it didn't suit him, of course. He was making too much money, saying absolutely nothing at all for the BBC. It didn't suit him to abandon that for a job with Newcastle. That was just Shearer putting his own wishes ahead of the club's in their hour of need. Just like the failed players he tried to encourage will now put their own wishes first and attempt to abandon the sunk ship.
And while we're on the subject of people just doing what suits them, what of the role of Newcastle's owner Mike Ashley ? How can footballers be accused of being mercenary and interested only in money when a guy like Ashley is in charge of the club ? Why did Ashley buy the club ? Out of the goodness of his heart ? Out of a lifelong devotion to the club ? Please, be serious.
Ashley went there for the same base reason as hopeless players who occasionally raised a gallop for the club -but not much more. To make money. Nothing else. Ashley thought he'd make a killing. Instead, it's cost him a fortune. Tough luck.
Add all this up together and you see the problem. The club was just the cash cow, being milked by all and sundry for their own profits.
The only people who come out of any of this with their heads held high are the sort of loyal fans who went all the way to Aston Villa on Sunday to try and help their team, their club, raise their spirits and somehow survive. They're the people we should feel so sorry for - not the millionaire players, not multi millionaire Alan Shearer, not multi millionaire Mike Ashley.
In their different ways, all of that lot have failed this once proud club.
With just 7 wins in 38 matches you can hardly say their demise is either a surprise or unjustified. Just as the best usually end up top of the pile after so long a season, the worst are almost invariably found out and doomed by their own inadequacies.
What surprises me, trawling through the morning papers 24 hours after Newcastle's relegation, is the tide of sentiment and, it has to be said, naive hogwash, which litters so many reports.
Some talk in angered tones - and indeed, coach Alan Shearer alluded to this in his after match quotes - of certain players not having given their best during the season. I'm sure they haven't but who on earth can be surprised at that ?
The only real thing that matters to the modern day footballer is how much money he can suck from his employers of that particular season. Loyalty (Ryan Giggs excepted) hardly applies any more in top line football. You go where the most money is and you do what you can for that club. So if it doesn't work out; hey, just find another employer.....as long as they'll pay you as much.
Why would Newcastle's discredited, hopeless players be that bothered about this club's demise when they can move on in the coming months to another club willing to pay them just as much or maybe more? Hell, let's face it, when a thug like Joey Barton continues to find more clubs willing to give him yet another chance, we should abandon forever notions of loyalty, decency, commitment, standards and responsibility in English football.
Most players at English football clubs are there for one thing and one thing alone - money. Deep down, they couldn't care less about the club. The club shirt is a badge of convenience, nothing much more. Manchester United buck that trend chiefly because of the man they have at the helm.
But look closer at Newcastle. It's alright accusing the players of not caring, as Shearer did in effect. But if Shearer cared so much about the club why didn't he go to their help far earlier this season ? The club was virtually begging him to take the job for most of the season. He left it until 8 matches from the end to agree to try and help. Far, far too late.
Why didn't Shearer get involved earlier to try and nurse this sick patient back to health ? Well, because it didn't suit him, of course. He was making too much money, saying absolutely nothing at all for the BBC. It didn't suit him to abandon that for a job with Newcastle. That was just Shearer putting his own wishes ahead of the club's in their hour of need. Just like the failed players he tried to encourage will now put their own wishes first and attempt to abandon the sunk ship.
And while we're on the subject of people just doing what suits them, what of the role of Newcastle's owner Mike Ashley ? How can footballers be accused of being mercenary and interested only in money when a guy like Ashley is in charge of the club ? Why did Ashley buy the club ? Out of the goodness of his heart ? Out of a lifelong devotion to the club ? Please, be serious.
Ashley went there for the same base reason as hopeless players who occasionally raised a gallop for the club -but not much more. To make money. Nothing else. Ashley thought he'd make a killing. Instead, it's cost him a fortune. Tough luck.
Add all this up together and you see the problem. The club was just the cash cow, being milked by all and sundry for their own profits.
The only people who come out of any of this with their heads held high are the sort of loyal fans who went all the way to Aston Villa on Sunday to try and help their team, their club, raise their spirits and somehow survive. They're the people we should feel so sorry for - not the millionaire players, not multi millionaire Alan Shearer, not multi millionaire Mike Ashley.
In their different ways, all of that lot have failed this once proud club.
You certainly have to hand it to the gentlemen of UEFA. They could never be accused of allowing right to prevail and get in the way of their undemocratic rules.
As Manchester United always feared, their appeal against Darren Fletcher’s totally erroneous dismissal in the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal was thrown out by an organisation that works on the principle that a referee of theirs is never wrong, never can be wrong and never can make a mistake. So why would anyone want to appeal against any decision ever taken by a UEFA referee ?
UEFA is an organisation run by men wearing blindfolds and with their ears covered. Hear no evil, see no evil, is their motto. The fact that Fletcher was sent off for a perfectly fair tackle in which he won the ball, has no interest for UEFA. They would rather protect a referee who has made a gross mistake than see justice and fair play triumph.
That’s the kind of organisation they are. Their communiqué, issued after they had also rejected Barcelona’s appeal against the semi-final dismissal of Eric Abidal for a foul he never committed (and Dani Alves pointless appeal for a yellow card which ruled him out of the final in Rome) stated “All three players are therefore suspended for one UEFA club competition match and will serve their bans when Barcelona meet Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final in Rome on May 27.”
The statement continued: "In reaching its decision, the Control and Disciplinary Body concluded (i) that the protests had not been submitted within the required 24-hour deadline of a match for filing protests - as specified in the disciplinary regulations - and (ii) that even if they had been admitted they would have been rejected as unfounded as there were no grounds for contesting the referees' original decisions."
With UEFA, there never are and never can be. How could it be otherwise when they insist a referee of theirs can never make a mistake ? And even if he did (in the cases of Fletcher and Abidal), they wouldn’t admit it so what’s the point of appealing?
What a shining advertisement for democracy and fair play the gnomes of UEFA are.
Our old friend Joey Barton was at it again at the weekend, launching a wild two-footed lunge (you couldn’t give it credibility by calling it a tackle) on Liverpool ’s Xabi Alonso in the 77th minute that saw him earn a straight red card, one supported by his manager, Alan Shearer.
Newcastle Football Club is in one hell of a mess precisely because it brought into its midst people like Barton. Can the same not be said of the likes of Dennis Wise who reputedly picked up wages of £1 million a year until Shearer took over, allegedly on the implicit understanding that as he walked in the front door, Wise left by the back?
Sitting at the top of this ants’ nest of seething unrest and unease is Mike Ashley, the owner who has expressed past, forlorn hopes of flogging off the club to some wide-eyed buyer. But if anyone expresses an interest in taking on this pile of the proverbial, they ought to see the men in white coats first.
Barton typifies all that is wrong with
The word after Sunday’s match at Anfield was that
People like Joey Barton ought to have no place in modern day professional English football. He ought to be ostracised for the guy he is, not courted by yet another daft manager with too much money and too little judgement to see a bad boy standing in front of him.
Whatever happens to Newcastle United in the next three weeks, whatever their ultimate fate, they are going to need men of character to rebuild their club, people with some principles and standards worth following. Not thugs like Joey Barton who just undermine their club’s efforts at every turn.
Syndicate
