End this Springbok farce says Lions ace
SOUTH AFRICA’S goslow spoiling tactics against the Lions must finally force rugby chiefs into taking urgent action to avoid the game becoming a major turn off.
Former Wales and Lions star flanker John Taylor says he was “appalled” by contests being ruined as a spectacle by the Springboks being allowed to get away with “another degree of gamesmanship”.
The ex-commentator also claimed there is an increasing need for match day squads to be reduce and for tactical replacements to be cut out altogether.
Taylor would like the game to return to injuryonly bench changes and felt the Lions’ 2-1 series loss to the Springoks proved things cannot carry on the way they are for the game to flourish.
He insisted: “I was appalled by what I saw.
People were complimentary about the final Test but I thought the whole series was fairly turgid.
“It’s a reflection on the way the game is going and a number of us from the olden days would like to see a change in the laws to change the size of squads and the way the game is played.
“One of the simple things I hugely believe is that by enabling all these replacements at any stage of the game you have literally changed the shape of the sport.
“Players are bigger and stronger because they don’t have to play the whole 80 minutes.
“I am in favour of going back to the days when replacements were only for injuries. At first you could not replace any of your 15 players if one got injured...which was ridiculous.
“But replacements for injuries worked very well. Now you get these giants sitting on the bench like the South Africa prop who is 20st (Frans Malherbe) and he comes on for half an hour. So just when you think you have won your battle against your opposite number you have a new monster facing you!
“It’s always been a bone of contention but the gamesmanship in this series was taken to another degree and you are now having to do something about it.
“Games are taking longer and longer with too many reviews of decisions. It all played into South Africa’s hands because they like to play a very structured, phased game and rely very heavily on dominating things with
their very big forwards. So if you get plenty of breaks and rest it is a huge benefit. But if you get high tempo, fast games with some free-flowing rugby it would have suited the Lions better.
“They tried to play some rugby in the Third Test but they only had themselves to blame because they should have committed to that from the start of the series.”
Taylor doubts Warren Gatland’s call for more and better preparation time with his players before future tours will be granted but he says there could be an improvement in terms of opposition taken before flying to the southern hemisphere.
“The Australian idea of getting Fiji over instead of playing against a weakened provincial side who have left their best players out has a lot of merit,” he said. “Preparation for this tour was a farce. Premiership Rugby has to be more flexible. The Lions is a wonderful institution; the players love it, the fans love it as much as they did in my day.
“It’s a unique thing that needs to be fostered but you have people taking advantage with so many leagues having a vested interest refusing to release or rest players. The only real preparation for the tour was against South Africa A.”