Also this weekend…
(Super 14 final) BULLS-61 CHIEFS-17
(Int friendly) USA-10 IRELAND-27
Well you would’ve thought the Heineken Cup Final would have meant the END of the rugby season, wouldn’t you?
Not at all. Truth be told, the rugby season NEVER ENDS.
Take this weekend just gone, for example. With the sun splitting the skies here in the aul’ sod, my DVR was on overdrive so I could be sure and catch all the big rugger action. And there were indeed some interesting encounters to behold.
For me, the most significant result for the touring Lions squad didn’t come from Rustenberg where Paul O’Connell’s men laboured to victory with a few late scores. It was instead over at Loftus Verstveld Stadium in Pretoria.
It would seem the Bulls are to South African rugby what the Ospreys are to the Welsh, in that they comprise the bulk of the national team. And my word, did they put the Chiefs to the sword on Saturday, killing the showpiece Super14 final before even the halftime hooter sounded.
Matfield, Botha, Steyn, Habana and particularly scrum half du Preez are just some of the names we’ll be getting more used to when the tests come round at the end of June, and if the Lions are going to find it hard to beat a group of players from the 3rd tear of the Springbok system, things could indeed get ugly for the tourists.
As for the performance itself by the Lions, only Lee Byrne stood out and he surely must have nailed down the Test No15 shirt for himself with that display alone. The rest of the display was a litany of mistakes which the Geech will want eradicated immediately.
But not to worry, you Lions fans. Don’t forget, the bulk of the Leinster contingent was not involved, and once Jamie Heaslip took the field, things began to turn for the boys in red.
Meanwhile, over in the US of A, there was a match for the ludicrously-named “Setanta Sports Challenge Cup”. I mean, come on…are you for real??? You think anyone who knows anything about rugby really gives a toss about a trophy for a game like this? Well, I guess it was a way to get yankee bums on seats, and it seems to have worked, albeit in a tiny college football stadium.
Kidney’s team of nearly men didn’t fare much better than the Lions did, either. In fact, you wonder what how much closer the scoreline would be had the Americans been allowed to collapse the maul as they would have one week earlier.
And as for Keatley’s place kicking, if that’s what you call it – TAKE QUICKER KICKS SON!!!! For me, the longer you take to prepare your kick the more you’d damn well better make it! And he didn’t make many on the day. I very much doubt Messrs Sexton and O’Gara will be losing any sleep.
Here’s hoping the second batch of Lions captained by Drico on Wednesday can show they mean business – otherwise we’re going to see three very long, boring tests in a few week’s time.
