...you all know me, I'm late for everything - in fact I decided the other day that it will say on my grave stone 'Should have left 15 minutes earlier!'
Anyway back to the topic at hand - I'm here in SA already and loving it! I've been in Jo'burg nearly a week already and am staying with a saffa mate called Chris who I met out in Florida last year. He and his family have really looked after me and I just want to say a massive thanks, it's been lekker bru!
So the Lions had their first game last Sat against a Royal XV made up of three Highveld teams all from the third tier of SA rugby (Super14 being top & Currie CCup being 2nd and like the Premiership back home). Ok so it wasn't the best game and it looked like we might poss lose it with 15 minutes to go but our better fitness levels, even at altitute and our superior skills meant that we were able to sneak it at the end there. A good tough examination to start the tough and a 'proper SA welcome'. As a few of the players have said, it was a wake up call to how tough the tour is going to be over the next 5 weeks and how hard it will be to build a test team and get the combinations working quickly but most importantly fluidly.
Players on the up after the 1st game:
Byrne - rock solid and runs some great angles (ANGLES!)
Roberts - another welshie (I love welshies - i can say that while on tour!) who made an impact and could be looking like a big player for us -at 12 or 13 (if BOD has an inury) or at 22.
Scrum time we were solid as execpted but the breakdown was poor and we need to get there faster and blow over in numbers and more aggressively.
Disappointing players:
Rees - over threw a cpl of times and I didnt really notice much of him around the park
Blair - far far too plodding, oh for the likes of Peel.....
Earls - poor lad obviously struggled with nerves - is he too inexperienced for this tour? Should Armitage/Tindall be here instead, possibly but then great Rugby minds than mind picked him!
Wallace & Worsley were quiet, Williams turned over a cpl of balls.
And finally the Saffas named their squad for the Test seris - pretty much as thought but there are a cpl of key weaknesses:
No proper tight head prop, only the captain Smit, who is a Hooker, selected there and 3 loose heads. We really really have to get stuck into him at scrum time, Jenkins or Sheridan must do a number on him here and we could be in for some good times at scrum time!
Fullback - again no fully recognised F/B. The 2 that have player there lots, F Steyn & Pienaar, are both coming back from injuries. Earl Rose is a bit of a liability according to most and Fourie hasn't played there in a long time. Looks like it will be JP Pietrson then, weakening the Boks wing position. Another key area to attack.
Fly half - do they go with the recently injured, & current holder of the shirt, Pienaar or the form but inexperienced Morne Steyn - big call either way! Either way another key area for us to target!
So I'm off to the 2nd tour game any minute - it's the Lions vs the Lions!! Yes you heard me right - the British Lions vs the (Jo'Burg) Golden Lions - or the Cubs as we'll be calling them! They are a Super 14 side & thus going to be a huge step up from last Sat but they did come very near the bottom of the table......!
Cheers for getting involved in my Biltong & Banter blog and I'll keep u posted on how the tour is progressing!!
Nizza
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