I know the Boks have clinched the series already, but this will by no means be a ‘dead rubber’ to me. Too much rugby has been played (or not played), too much emotion has been stirred and too much has been said for Saturday’s Test to be ‘dead’.
JJ Harmse, Sport24Â
I for one accepted the invitation sent out from Coca-Cola Park earlier in the week.
“Come to the park and see the Boks play the Lions for the last time in 12 years.�
I will thanks.
Actually, I wish this tour could be longer. I am sure those covering the tour in some way or another must be happy that is almost over, but from a rugby perspective, I want more.
Peter de Villiers has picked a new backline with a powerful midfield combination of Wynand Olivier and Jaque Fourie.
It’s well known to readers of this column that I prefer Olivier ahead of Jean de Villiers and Fourie ahead of Adi Jacobs.
It is a pity that Brian O’Driscoll has gone home and Jamie Roberts might not play this weekend, as I would have loved to have seen how the Lions pair shaped up against my preferred combination.
That is but one reason why I am sorry to see the Lions go. There is also the fascinating front row duel that is set to continue on the weekend, although the Lions are without Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins. Maybe Andrew Sheridan will finally get a crack at John Smit this weekend?
Then there is the impact Simon Shaw had on the Bok pack in the second Test. I always thought that his inclusion in the tour squad was to do just that. Maybe the Lions coaches really expected the Boks to be undercooked in that first Test and that Shaw was not needed.
Big mistake if that was the case.
We will have to wait and see how things pan out on Saturday. I am still waiting for No 8 Jamie Heaslip to show up on tour and could not understand why McGeechan did not pick Andy Powell as their main ball carrier.
I can go on and on with rugby issues, but the tour also provided much more that that.
Into such a knot
The last week has been highlighted by the eye gouging incident and the inability of De Villiers to say the right things at the right time.
I support his decision to defend Schalk, but he got himself into such a knot by trying to be arrogant about it.
I also blame the Bok management in this regard. Where was the guidance when it became clear that De Villiers was losing the plot on the matter? His team manager, Arthob Petersen, was appointed to act as the wise diplomat and statesman when the heat grew on the Springbok team. However he was not heard nor seen.
Also, where was the media manager who could have prevented much of what has been said with a statement handed out before the Monday press conference?
In the end, a lot of people had a lot of egg on their faces for something that could have been handled differently.
Make no mistake, the travelling UK media also made a meal of this in order to divert attention away from the seventh Lions defeat in a row and yet another series loss. They had good points to make, but also made some bad ones.
Rugby deserved better
All of this will now come to an end. It has been entertaining, sad, brutal, silky and never boring. There was some awesome rugby played, some heart stopping moments, some new stars and most of all, it was another celebration of rugby and all its traditions.
I know Schalk was wrong in what he did or tried not to do. I know Sheridan was wrong for what he did with Andries Bekker’s crown jewels. Will that become the lasting memory of this tour? Of course not.
We have to thank the likes of Tommy Bowe, Jamie Roberts and Shaw for that. And we have to thank the ‘Beast’, Morné Steyn and Willem de Waal, to name but a few for some of the great moments.
We saw new faces emerge, we saw old ones depart. We saw reputations shattered and new ones being built. In all, we saw the best rugby team in the world being taken to the wire by determined opponents. And for that, I thank the Lions.
See you in 12 years. I am already counting!
Sauce
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Duiwel
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:19 pm
who wrote this piece, i agree with much of it.
Lions never picked their best side from the first test, far from it.
1. Sheridan 2. Rees 3. Murray 4. POC 5. Shaw 6. Worsely (Ferris) 7. Wallace 8. Powell 9. Phillips 10. Jones 11. Bowe 12. Roberts 13. BoD 14. Munye 15. Kearney
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Reply to cab @ 3:19 pm:
Take a wild guess!!
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Reply to Morné @ 3:28 pm:
It can’t be Boertjie, not suurgat enough
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Reply to JT – http://www.rugby-innsbruck.at @ 3:32 pm:
I have been
& 
& 
all day and no reaction 
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Reply to Morné @ 3:28 pm:
you?
Reply to JT – http://www.rugby-innsbruck.at @ 3:43 pm:
i know its a bit disconcernting.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Reply to cab @ 3:19 pm:
So Geech must be a bad coach then.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Reply to cab @ 3:45 pm:
It’s well known to readers of this column that I prefer Olivier ahead of Jean de Villiers
I dont think so!!!
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
when coach Piet does lose his next test match, dan gaan die harre en snot rondvlieg.
i can see the knives are already being sharpened for the 3N.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Reply to JT – http://www.rugby-innsbruck.at @ 3:43 pm:
hehehehehe
Reply to cab @ 3:46 pm:
They’re being sharpened because they have already been blunted from excessive use on his tour.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Reply to Morné @ 3:46 pm:
ja, look i would not be unhappy with either JdV, WO or Steyn at 12. Some great 12s.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Reply to cab @ 3:49 pm:
I do not mind either, but ‘prefer’ is a pretty strong word…
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
JJ Harmse. The most knowledgeablue rugby columnist ever.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:53 pm
sorry:
knowledgeabull
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Reply to cab @ 3:49 pm:
I will re-post something here (similar) I posted elsewhere tomorrow.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Sorry, forgot to add the
source.
JJ HARMSE
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Lions:
15-Rob Kearney, 14-Ugo Monye, 13-Tommy Bowe, 12-Riki Flutey, 11-Shane Williams, 10-Stephen Jones, 9-Mike Phillips, 8-Jamie Heaslip, 7-Martyn Williams, 6-Joe Worsley, 5-Paul O’Connell (captain), 4-Simon Shaw, 3-Phil Vickery, 2-Matthew Rees, 1-Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16-Ross Ford, 17-John Hayes, 18-Alun-Wyn Jones, 19-David Wallace, 20-Tom Croft, 21-Harry Ellis, 22-James Hook.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
3-Phil Vickery, 2-Matthew Rees, 1-Andrew Sheridan
I LIKE I LIKE!!
Vickery moet hom nou al bekak en ek HOOP iemand MOER vir Sheridan OOK sommer op die koop toe!!
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
See not ALL the poms are whining
While there has been plenty of talk about dirty tactics, former England captain and British & Irish Lion Will Carling has come out in defence of the Springboks.
“When all is said and done though, South Africa won the test and with that the series and have proved that they are one, if not ‘the’, strongest team in the World at the moment,” Carling wrote on his website.
“Did the Boks cheat, were they just thugs?” Carling continued, ” No, not in my mind. If Burger gouged that is inexcusable and the referee should have sent him off there and then. But apart from that, what else did they do that was thuggery? It was hard for sure, bloody hard, but isn’t that Test rugby? Botha’s illegal challenge on Jones? well what about BOD’s illegal tackle? It is swings and roundabouts and the Boks have always been a very very physical side. It is nothing new,” he said.
“The Lions can and should be proud of what they have achieved in throwing four ‘teams’ together in a matter of weeks and secondly the Boks are a bloody good, tough side, with many great players and great characters, and they should not be branded thugs, or cheats. They have won the test series, and congratulations to them.”
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Reply to JT – http://www.rugby-innsbruck.at @ 3:43 pm:
Oh Yeah
Tyrolers cant even drink Pink Drinks!
The Italian Gitls team have biGGer moustaches than them!
Ok _ that is an insult to the eyeties- not the Austrians.
anyway- yip its boring if we aLL agrEE that CoachDiv does know alot about the game – but rather should kEEp his mouth shut- coz the gift of the gab – wasnt one of the talents.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Reply to asteroth @ 5:26 pm:
At least we are not in the same :db: then as the 57 olde farts then- aCCording to MastahCarling.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
cheRRypicked from a eurosport column
“‘Football is a game for gentlemen played by thugs; rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen.’
The next time anyone makes that sort of pat, condescending and arrogant remark, ED is going to go Schalk Burger on their ass and rip both their eyes off their stalks.
Footballers are frequently criticised for their behaviour on the pitch, and often with justification.
A common refrain is ‘why can’t they be more like rugby players?’ Basically because they call the referee ‘Sir’ and clap each other on and off the pitch.
But Burger’s premeditated and blatant gouge on Luke Fitzgerald during Saturday’s South Africa-Lions game showed just how much mutual respect really exists behind the cosmetic niceties.
Even the supposedly exemplary way players deal with the ref is exaggerated. Eurosport-Yahoo!’s very own Neil Back served a six-month ban in 1996 after pushing over referee Steve Lander following Leicester’s defeat to Bath in the Pilkington Cup final.
Players might address him like he is a schoolmaster, but only usually to deny things of which they are clearly guilty.
Forwards in particular spend much of their time pushing the boundaries of legality and trying to deceive the ref. But because they aren’t diving or feigning injury, nobody seems to mind that particular brand of cheating.
Throw in Matt Stevens’s positive cocaine test and worrying tales of more widespread recreational drug use, and you have a sport that does not exactly live up to the Corinthian image some people would like to give it.
Footballers are vilified, often because they are young, poorly-educated, rich and frequently obnoxious. They are easy targets for envy.
Of course conduct in the game could be improved, but if football is looking for an example to follow, it should steer clear of rugby.”