Long Road Ahead for Lions
by Mick Cleary | 01 June 2009 (10:50)
From Mick Cleary, rugby correspondent, The Daily Telegraph.
What are to we make of these 2009 Lions? A bunch of metaphorical losers? Not up to the job? Too slow, too one-paced, too lacking in snap, crackle and pop? A walkover, then, for the Springboks in three weeks’ time?
You couldn’t be blamed for thinking like that. One glance at the two games played on Saturday would lead you towards that conclusion. Take a look at how the Lions left the pitch at half-time in Rustenburg. Normally, teams sprint down the tunnel, eager for a bit of one-upmanship on their opponents. See, you lot, we’re still fresh. You ain’t seen nothing yet. The Lions could barely make it to the sideline. Eventually one or two of them broke into a trot. A token gesture. The boys in red were knackered. Played out. Lungs scorched. Heads fuzzy. Legs empty. I’ve never seen Martyn Williams look so drained.. He’s normally first to everything. On Saturday, he was an also-ran.
Fast forward a couple of hours and what we did get from Loftus? All-action, all-purpose, all-embracing rugby. The Bulls gave us the lot. Power, pace, dynamism, inventiveness, opportunism, running from deep, good angles, variety and masses of self-belief. And apart from that? Quite.
Mind you, much as I have plenty of time for what happens in Super 14, unlike one or two of my colleagues from the north, the tournament is fundamentally flawed at this stage. The Chiefs arrived on Tuesday. Jet-lagged, unaccustomed to altitude and with not a single solitary Kiwi fan in tow. The Mooloo men were on their own in the land of the Bulls.
Call that a fair final? I don’t. I don’t know what the answer is except to utter the heresy that maybe the side that finishes top of a league should be declared champions. Novel idea, eh? Only that lot in football seem to have taken up the notion.
But praise to the Bulls. They exerted every last drop of advantage from that. They stuffed the Chiefs. And if that were designed to send out a message to the watching Lions, who, believe me, were watching from afar, then it had the desired effect.
The Lions know that they have to up their game or they will be laughed out of the country. And do you know what? Nobody wants that. Not the Lions. Not me. And certainly not you. The South African fans are passionate about their team. But, above all else, they are passionate about rugby. They want a contest. I think the Kiwis were quite happy to see their beloved All Blacks wallop Clive Woodward’s Lions four years ago. They had eyes only for the ABs. Narrow-minded or what?
I don’t believe South Africans are like that. Much as they want revenge for 1997 and 1974 ( anything else to avenge while we’re asking? ), they want to see good rugby, hard-fought battles, raw engagements all over the field. They want Paul O’Connell to stand up to Victor Matfield. They want Brian O’Driscoll to give it a blast, Lee Byrne from the rear to boom the ball away. And Andrew Sheridan to get stuck into John Smit? More of that another day.
I still have the faith. Saturday was a rotten day for them. But they have character and heart. And that will take them where they need to go.
This is a tour remember, that long-forgotten, much-mourned thing. One game down. Nine to go. The Lions will be back.
To read more of Mick Cleary, go to www.telegraph.co.ukRead more on the British & Irish Lions page.
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