This match was SO boring, Sky’s highlight package was shorter than its ad break.
SO boring, the only thing that caught my eye while watching was the graphic on the screen when the home side made a particular substitution : “Off:Human On:Stick”.
SO boring, I can only bring myself to show you a picture of Ewan Murray receiving treatment rather than so-called action.
Can you tell I’m a tad bitter because I took time off work to watch it live?
Only one thing injects interest into this contest – mathematics.
With 36 left in the overall squad and 22 involved at Port Elizabeth, that meant at least one player on the day would definitely start in Durban next Saturday.
If I had to choose that one player on form alone from yesterday, I guess it would have to be Simon Shaw to partner POC in the second row, but even that may not determine the final makeup of Geech’s XV.
The injury to Murray puts the coach under a bit of pressure to prove his team selection is based purely on merit rather than politics. The Northampton prop’s form was good enough not only to make the Test team on merit, but he also worked just fine as the “token Scot”. Now he’s out, there could be a problem.
Having said that, although Nathan Hines played at 6 yesterday, there could be a case for his leapfrogging both Shaw and Jones into the second row, since surely the Lions will need a bit of raw aggression to match what the Springbok pack has in store for them. And noone can deny that Hines has just that in spades.
But maybe in the end McGeechan will just have to count himself as the token Scot!!!
Now, to ROG. It was a good outing for him yesterday, if not a great one. He nailed some tough place kicks, his kick into the corner for the opening try was nigh-on perfect, even if Monye & Turner did behave more like Laurel & Hardy on the other end of it…
But O’Gara’s overall game is suffering from a lack of real challenge for his Number 10 jumper with both province and country over the years. Both teams, great though they may be, have been built around him, and in South Africa he finds himself having to adapt more to the rest of the players, and unfortunately he just hasn’t had enough time to do so.
That’s why I have to assume Stephen “steady as she goes” Jones will more than likely start in Durban, though don’t rule out O’Gara being called upon to take some crucial late place-kicks throughout the series, and there’s no better man…
One more thing that annoys me about this match is the way so many from the squad, ROG included, have been whining about the way the home side conducted themselves on the pitch.
What are ye, a bunch of sissies lads? “Mammy, mammy, they were pulling my hair!!!” Get out of it…I wonder if the great squad of ‘74 I keep hearing about would have moaned like that or would they have just reminded us that they won and got on with the job at hand?
So as you can see, I don’t have much good to say about what I saw yesterday lunchtime, and I can only hope that the Lions have done enough in preparation to face what looks like a really formidable Springbok XV.
One can only hope…
