Original source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56709964
Friday, April 16, 2021
Shaunagh Brown column: England will rise to the occasion in the Women's Six Nations final
In her second BBC Sport column of the 2021 Women's Six Nations, England prop Shaunagh Brown explains why she is not worried about the side's final.
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Will Springbok pride come before the fall?
“Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he is grown so great?” ― William Shakespeare.
The British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa is but a few months away, scribes and pundits are already beginning to debate, argue, and select their picks for their respective teams starting XVs for the first Test and the eventual result of the series.
However, while the European leagues and cup competitions have continued uninhibited (to an extent), the worry for the Springboks brains trust will be the lack of game time the Springboks (collectively) have had in gathering momentum for the Lions tour. Although you’d never say so reading some of the bullish articles coming out of South Africa.
There is a sweeping and prevailing wind of assuredness or cockiness from some of South Africa’s most respected rugby scribes that the Lions will lose the series 3 nil, especially with the possibility that they will be without their travelling horde of red-clad vociferous fans.
Scribes have also pointed out the lack of progress and result’s from the home nations during the 2019 World Cup and on their current form during the Six Nations tournament this year. While these points may have some validity in assessing and gauging the make-up of the Lions team, to use them as cornerstones for a prediction of total domination from Springboks is foolhardy, errant, and ultimately arrogant.
That arrogance is something we as South Africans are not accustomed to and do not subscribe to, we are not a nation of trash talkers before major sporting events, quite frankly we do not how to even if we wanted to.
The Springboks have produced their most remarkable results when they have been written off, the underdog tag is something that fits comfortably with us, it always has. The motivation it provides has been used on many occasions when the Springboks haven’t been given a snowball’s chance in hell at securing a result.
Being written off for the 2019 Rugby World Cup final made it a personal issue with the Boks regarding the English player’s media attempts to meet the Boks challenge at the coal face, England’s defence coach John Mitchell said as much after the final.
The Lions have been installed as the bookie’s favourites and are predicted to win the series in South Africa, and will certainly be looking to win the series for the first time since 1997.
The Boks haven’t played a Test match since the final in 2019 in Japan and while key players are performing superbly well at home, in Europe and Japan for their respective clubs, that will not necessarily translate into immediate success when they run out against the Lions.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The home unions have been battle-hardened during their Test matches in both Six Nations and Autumn Cup in the lead up to this year’s series, whereas the Boks will be well short of game time. Both teams will play warm-up fixtures, but I can’t help but feel that the Lions will be better prepared for the series.
The Boks still have injury concerns none more so than the availability to star flyhalf Handre Pollard who is recovering from a serious knee injury.
Unlike the Boks forwards stocks which are packed to the rafters, the flyhalf position stocks will keep Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber up until the late hours of the night. The Lions will also have the added motivation of exacting some of their own revenge on the current World Champions, as such the Boks have a major target on their back and likely won’t be able to use the underdog tag for the upcoming tour.
Much has also been made of Warren Gatland’s season at the Chiefs in New Zealand last season whereby they equaled their club record for consecutive losses under his tutelage, however, it would be naïve to look at that as a gauge for how the Lions will fare in South Africa.
Gatland is in charge of his third Lions tour with a rather enviable record, he has overseen the last two previous Lions series (win in Australia 2013, drawn in New Zealand 2017).
While the home nations may have somewhat flattered to deceive during the past Six Nations, you best believe when Gatland assembles his squad they will be more than prepared and mentally frothing at the thought of taking on the Springboks and a shot at immortality.
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What we as Springbok fans should be acutely aware of is providing the Lions with extra ammunition through the news articles published about a series whitewash and the like.
Remember the English press wrote similar articles in the lead up to the 2019 final – and we all know how that ended…
If I was Gatland I would be printing various articles in the Lions change rooms before the series kick-off, telling them this is what they think of you, South Africa doesn’t rate you.
Let us hope the Boks fly under the radar with humility and as Shakespeare alluded to, I hope the meat will be on a braai hopefully after a series victory as opposed to chocking on it with a series loss after having been so very sure of a Springbok victory.
Original source: https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/04/13/will-springbok-pride-come-before-the-fall/
https://therugbystore.com.au/will-springbok-pride-come-before-the-fall/
Will Springbok pride come before the fall?
“Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he is grown so great?” ― William Shakespeare.
The British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa is but a few months away, scribes and pundits are already beginning to debate, argue, and select their picks for their respective teams starting XVs for the first Test and the eventual result of the series.
However, while the European leagues and cup competitions have continued uninhibited (to an extent), the worry for the Springboks brains trust will be the lack of game time the Springboks (collectively) have had in gathering momentum for the Lions tour. Although you’d never say so reading some of the bullish articles coming out of South Africa.
There is a sweeping and prevailing wind of assuredness or cockiness from some of South Africa’s most respected rugby scribes that the Lions will lose the series 3 nil, especially with the possibility that they will be without their travelling horde of red-clad vociferous fans.
Scribes have also pointed out the lack of progress and result’s from the home nations during the 2019 World Cup and on their current form during the Six Nations tournament this year. While these points may have some validity in assessing and gauging the make-up of the Lions team, to use them as cornerstones for a prediction of total domination from Springboks is foolhardy, errant, and ultimately arrogant.
That arrogance is something we as South Africans are not accustomed to and do not subscribe to, we are not a nation of trash talkers before major sporting events, quite frankly we do not how to even if we wanted to.
The Springboks have produced their most remarkable results when they have been written off, the underdog tag is something that fits comfortably with us, it always has. The motivation it provides has been used on many occasions when the Springboks haven’t been given a snowball’s chance in hell at securing a result.
Being written off for the 2019 Rugby World Cup final made it a personal issue with the Boks regarding the English player’s media attempts to meet the Boks challenge at the coal face, England’s defence coach John Mitchell said as much after the final.
The Lions have been installed as the bookie’s favourites and are predicted to win the series in South Africa, and will certainly be looking to win the series for the first time since 1997.
The Boks haven’t played a Test match since the final in 2019 in Japan and while key players are performing superbly well at home, in Europe and Japan for their respective clubs, that will not necessarily translate into immediate success when they run out against the Lions.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The home unions have been battle-hardened during their Test matches in both Six Nations and Autumn Cup in the lead up to this year’s series, whereas the Boks will be well short of game time. Both teams will play warm-up fixtures, but I can’t help but feel that the Lions will be better prepared for the series.
The Boks still have injury concerns none more so than the availability to star flyhalf Handre Pollard who is recovering from a serious knee injury.
Unlike the Boks forwards stocks which are packed to the rafters, the flyhalf position stocks will keep Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber up until the late hours of the night. The Lions will also have the added motivation of exacting some of their own revenge on the current World Champions, as such the Boks have a major target on their back and likely won’t be able to use the underdog tag for the upcoming tour.
Much has also been made of Warren Gatland’s season at the Chiefs in New Zealand last season whereby they equaled their club record for consecutive losses under his tutelage, however, it would be naïve to look at that as a gauge for how the Lions will fare in South Africa.
Gatland is in charge of his third Lions tour with a rather enviable record, he has overseen the last two previous Lions series (win in Australia 2013, drawn in New Zealand 2017).
While the home nations may have somewhat flattered to deceive during the past Six Nations, you best believe when Gatland assembles his squad they will be more than prepared and mentally frothing at the thought of taking on the Springboks and a shot at immortality.
Sports opinion delivered daily
What we as Springbok fans should be acutely aware of is providing the Lions with extra ammunition through the news articles published about a series whitewash and the like.
Remember the English press wrote similar articles in the lead up to the 2019 final – and we all know how that ended…
If I was Gatland I would be printing various articles in the Lions change rooms before the series kick-off, telling them this is what they think of you, South Africa doesn’t rate you.
Let us hope the Boks fly under the radar with humility and as Shakespeare alluded to, I hope the meat will be on a braai hopefully after a series victory as opposed to chocking on it with a series loss after having been so very sure of a Springbok victory.
Original source: https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/04/13/will-springbok-pride-come-before-the-fall/
https://rugby-store-temp.securedsite.cloud/will-springbok-pride-come-before-the-fall/
Shaunagh Brown column: England will rise to the occasion in the Women's Six Nations final
In her second BBC Sport column of the 2021 Women's Six Nations, England prop Shaunagh Brown explains why she is not worried about the side's final.
Original source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56709964
Women's Six Nations: IRFU seeks clarification on France game amid new quarantine rules
Ireland's Six Nations game against France on Saturday could be in doubt because of new quarantine rules introduced by the Irish government.
Original source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56709569
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Women's Six Nations: IRFU seeks clarification on France game amid new quarantine rules
Ireland's Six Nations game against France on Saturday could be in doubt because of new quarantine rules introduced by the Irish government.
Original source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56709569
Are the Springboks ready for the British and Irish Lions?
The first question on most British rugby fans’ minds this year has been: will the Lions tour go ahead? And where?
But a more pressing question, noting the complete lack of game time for South Africa, should be: will the Springboks even be ready?
South Africa have not played a game of international rugby since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in Tokyo in November 2019.
The global pandemic has brought with it many unintended sporting experiments, and rugby is no different. Curtailed seasons, extra midweek games, thorough testing protocols and no crowds have all been a huge test for the sport.
However, one of the biggest experiments in the last season came not from COVID-19 but from the Saracens’ salary saga. The result of Saracens being relegated along with their large England rugby contingent brought about the question of whether long rest periods between competitive games can create more opportunities and better performances.
(Photo by Francois Nel – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Those Saracens players, who formed the backbone of the hugely successful England team over the last year, became unwilling participants in the experiment, testing this hypothesis when England coach Eddie Jones selected five of them to start the Six Nations. Almost all of them played absolutely no club rugby until very recently and played no competitive games between the autumn Nations Cup and the Six Nations.
The unfortunate result of that tournament very much supported the notion of so-called ‘ring rust’. England suffered their worst Six Nations performance since Italy joined the competition in 1999 and the five nations became six.
Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly were heavily criticised for their lack of accuracy and poor decision-making, Jamie George lost his starting spot to Luke Cowan-Dickie and Billy Vunipola, despite continuing to carry like a bulldozer, admitted his own performance wasn’t up to scratch.
The potential outlier, Maro Itoje, who at times performed at his freakishly good levels, still conceded a table-topping 12 penalties – with his Saracens counterpart Mako Vinupula coming in second with nine – which one could argue was due to being out of touch with the current referee’s idea of legal and illegal, a vital ability for a world-class jackler.
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If we take the findings of this two-month experiment and look at South Africa, at the time of writing the national side has not played a Test in 17 months. That’s almost certainly the longest gap in the international schedule since the game turned professional. Compare that to the home nations who since the Rugby World Cup final have played the 2020 Six Nations tournament, the autumn Nations Cup and the 2021 Six Nations, tallying up 14 games apiece, with Wales playing a whopping 16.
At the club level a good number of the South African World Cup winners are now plying their trade in Europe and afar. However, almost half of the starting squad that last ran out in the green and gold play for the national clubs such as Lions, Stormers, Sharks and Bulls. Since the pandemic hit these sides have played in only two tournaments, the Super Rugby SA and the recent Franchise Cup, totalling a meagre ten games apiece.
Compare that to their northern hemisphere counterparts and the likes of Premiership clubs Exeter, Sale and Bristol, who’ve played over 30 matches. Pro14 clubs like Munster, Leinster, Edinburgh, Blues and Scarlets have played roughly 20 games. The clubs likely to supply players to the British and Irish Lions squad have all played double and in some cases triple the number of games as the South African clubs.
To add further worry for the Springboks, the newly incepted Rainbow League between the South African Super Rugby franchises and the Pro14 unfortunately looks like it may be cancelled, which will again leave a good portion of Springboks players with little valuable game time prior to July.
So will this hypothesis be further tested during this tour? Will the South African players show the same ring rust as the Saracens in the Six Nations with so many players having had much more time away from the highest level of the support? Or will Rassie Erasmus’s men prove why they hold the world No. 1 spot and, with the superstars such as Cheslin Kolbe, Faf de Klerk and Damian de Allende causing a storm in Europe, still provide the competitive series all Lions fans are hoping for?
The Rugby world waits with great anticipation, particularly, I’m sure, Eddie Jones.
Original source: https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/04/12/are-the-springboks-ready-for-the-british-and-irish-lions/
https://therugbystore.com.au/are-the-springboks-ready-for-the-british-and-irish-lions/
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