Lions squad raises form talking point
THE long-awaited rugby news this week was the announcement of the Lions’ squad to tour South Africa; starting with a warm-up game against Japan in Scotland on 26th June, followed by five games in the provinces before 3 Tests against the Springboks finishing on August 7th.
At this time, no supporters will be permitted, and this is unlikely to change. As such the only way to see any of the matches will be via Sky Sports. Whilst this will not suit all rugby fans it offers a good opportunity for Community Rugby Clubs, as all the matches are scheduled to kick-off at 7pm, and by this time some, if not all, indoor Covid restrictions will be lifted.
Andy Appleyard and the team are no doubt hatching a plan for members to see as much rugby as they can at Priory Park; announcements to follow.
There has been considerable debate about the potential make-up of the squad, shoe-ins, bolters, etc; and when Jason Leonard read out the squad last week, live on TV, there were still plenty of surprises in terms of both omissions and additions. The spread across the home nations was quite even, with a few more Scotland and England players getting seats on the plane than expected.
Of the surprise additions, three of the Saracens players have received the most questioning of Warren Gatland’s judgement: Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Elliot Daly, the latter looking particularly out-ofform in the Six Nations.
Gatland will have made his final cut with considerable contributions from his Coaches; and one can only presume that they have been given their tickets through previous exploits, hoping that they will play themselves into form on tour. Some might say that this is a dangerous strategy – it hardly worked for Eddie Jones!
Whilst past exploits prove that you can perform on the big stage, form is the barometer that surely measures a player’s potential on such a short tour. Form has certainly been an issue for two of Ireland’s expected tourists. Both Sexton and James
Ryan were seen as shoe-ins, but poor Six Nations’ form has put them on the backburner.
On the question of form-players not getting a call,
Ringrose, Johnny Gray and Slade must have been close and many were scratching their heads over Sinckler’s omission. I for one was hoping that Gatland would have gambled on a real in-form bolter such as Quins’ mercurial Marcus Smith. A lot could happen between now, July, and the first test, which is still 10 weeks away. On the whole Gats has got the nod from the media pundits for his picks, although there is still a question mark over the outside centre options having enough guile and pace on the Highveld.
Friday night at the AJ Bell may have been a tad on the quiet side, for Sale Sharks convincing win over Leicester Tigers, but the Box Office is now open for the visit of Bristol Bears on Friday 28th May and the resumption of boisterous support!
AJ MacGinty was in sniper form bisecting the posts on six occasions with tries from McGuigan and Yarde. Once again Sharks 13-man training sessions paid dividends as they went down to 13 men on 56 minutes; this after Claire Hodnett (TMO) had informed Tom Foley of Luke James actions trying to catch the ball.
From the
Premiership rugby that I watch, all of it, the Officials, in my opinion only get 50% of their calls right for deliberate knock-ons (Wayne Barnes excepted).