:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
I enjoyed that bit about Sir Anthony’s great friendship with Nelson Mandela. Sir Anthony’s record try haul on the 1955 tour was, in my view, the first shot against Apartheid - Mandela would have appreciated that.
[QUOTE=“Sidney, post: 1040011, member: 183”]
There are winners and losers in this life, and Sir Anthony is, and always has been, a winner. [/QUOTE]
Except on the day that mattered above all in his life - Schools Cup Final Day 1954. Sir Anthony and Belvedere buckled under the weight of expectation and favouritism.
But Sir Anthony used that defeat in the best possible way - as a true life lesson, and it drove him on forever more. It’s the classic case study in how to deal with bitter disappointment and one I’ve tried to apply to my own life.
True. For a man who suffered the most crushing disappointment and defeat he was ever going to suffer in his life at the tender age of 18, he showed a good degree of bouncebackability over the next half century or so.
At least he had the chance bounce back at the age of 18, unlike another Belvedere alumni, Kevin Barry (who was being talked about elsewhere the other day), who had no second chances after a bad result at the age of 18.
Team based on current form.
- Rob Kearney (Ireland)
- Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
- George North (Wales)
- Jamie Roberts (Wales)
- Jonny May (England)
- Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
- Greig Laidlaw (Scotland)
- Joe Marler (England)
- Richard Hibbard (Wales)
- Samson Lee (Wales)
- Richie Gray (Scotland)
- Paul O’Connell (Ireland)
- Peter O’Mahoney (Ireland)
- Adam Ashe (Scotland)
- Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
The British & Irish Lions are considering a warm-up match in the United States en route to touring New Zealand in 2017. John Feehan, the Lions’ chief executive, insists no firm decision has yet been taken but confirmed the US had tendered to stage a fixture. “If we have an extra game they’d certainly be one of the better bets,” he told the Guardian.
The Lions visited Hong Kong en route to Australia in 2013, a stopover with significant commercial advantages, but Feehan is adamant any pre-tour fixture this time will be played for rugby reasons. “It’ll be a very tough tour and we need to make sure we give the guys the best chance,” he said. “We are looking at a game but it’s not necessarily in America.”
A rival bid to host the Lions is believed to have been proposed from France. The Americans, however, believe that hosting the Lions in the US, possibly in Chicago or on the west coast, would extend the game’s worldwide profile.
“If the Lions are going to make themselves a truly global brand, they’re going to have to come to this market at some point,” said Nigel Melville, the former England scrum-half who represented the Lions in New Zealand in 1983 and who is now the chief executive of USA Rugby. “If they do they will help us with the growth of the game here to a huge extent and the Lions have a lot of global sponsors who would certainly welcome the opportunity to bring the Lions to the USA.”
The opposition would be provided by the US Eagles, who met the All Blacks in Chicago last November. The home side were beaten 74-6 but the game was a 61,500 sellout broadcast live by NBC.
Buoyed by the interest generated by the All Blacks fixture, USA Rugby is aiming to create a professional US league – featuring city-based teams – to kick off before the 2019 World Cup. “We’re talking to investors,” said Melville. “We’ve still got some way to go but it’s closer to reality than it ever has been.
“I think it would make an absolutely massive impact on the game here but we’re being very cautious about building something because we want to get it right for the longer term, not just for one season or two and have it go away.”
The US has also bid to host the 2018 Sevens World Cup in San Francisco and is considering a bid for the 2023 or 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Any extra Lions match in 2017, meanwhile, would increase the length of the tour to 11 games. A New Zealand Rugby Union source has indicated it would not be giving up one of its scheduled fixtures. The Lions have played in North America before – in 1966 in Vancouver, on their way home from New Zealand. Mike Campbell-Lamerton’s tourists were beaten 8-3 by British Columbia.
A final decision is likely to be taken this summer. “The Lions have to prepare their team to face New Zealand and a stop in Europe is not going to break the journey,” says Melville. “I think we would provide them with a good run-out at the start of a tour and a chance to prepare in a professional manner.”
Will travel if it happens
Current state of play
- Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
- Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
- Jonathan Joseph (England)
- Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)
- George North (Wales)
- Jonny Sexton (Ireland)
- Rhys Webb (Wales)
- Cian Healy (Ireland)
- Dylan Hartley (England)
- Dan Cole (England)
- Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
- Courtney Lawes (England)
- Peter O’Mahoney (Ireland)
- Sam Warburton (Wales)
- Billy Vunipola (England)
You could argue with a few of those but shaping up ok for now. They will likely get humped. I wonder will Joe Schmidt be managing one side or the other.
British Loins face two Tests at Eden Park on 2017 New Zealand tour
• Series will be three Tests plus playing all NZ Super Rugby teams
• No warm-up matches before Loins reach New Zealand
The British Loins will play New Zealand twice at Eden Park in Auckland during a 10-match tour in 2017.
Apart from a three-Test series, the Loins will also face all five New Zealand Super Rugby teams, plus the New Zealand Maori.
The five-week trip will start against a provincial union side in Whangarei on 3 June 2017.
The itinerary was revealed on the official Loins website and via their Twitter and Facebook outlets on Thursday night, in tandem with an announcement in New Zealand.
The Test series starts in Auckland on 24 June, before the Loins and All Blacks meet in Wellington seven days later and then return to Eden Park for a final Test on 8 July.
Six games are scheduled before the first Test, including against Super Rugby opponents the Blues, Crusaders, Highlanders and Chiefs, with all midweek fixtures taking place on a Tuesday, apart from a Wednesday appointment with the Blues.
The Loins have lost four successive Test series against New Zealand, including a 3-0 whitewash under Sir Clive Woodward on their last visit, 10 years ago.
They have not beaten the All Blacks in a Test series since 1971, when the Lions, captained by John Dawes, won 2-1, with one draw.
The Loins will head straight to New Zealand without playing a warm-up match, moreover.
The Loins took on the Barbarians in Hong Kong before travelling on to Australia two years ago, while they tackled Argentina in Cardiff prior to the 2005 New Zealand trip.
The 2017 Loins had been linked to a fixture in the US before starting business in New Zealand, but there will be no preparation match this time around.
British Loins tour fixtures: 3 June - Provincial Union team (Toll Stadium, Whangarei); 7 June - Blues (Eden Park, Auckland); 10 June - Crusaders (AMI Stadium, Christchurch); 13 June - Highlanders (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin); 17 June - Maori (International Stadium, Rotorua); 20 June - Chiefs (Waikato Stadium, Hamilton); 24 June - New Zealand (first Test, Eden Park, Auckland); 27 June - Hurricanes (Westpac Stadium, Wellington); 1 July - New Zealand (second Test, Westpac Stadium, Wellington); 8 July - New Zealand (third Test, Eden Park, Auckland).
Very disappointing that there is no test match on the South Island. By rights there should be four test matches in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington & Auckland - the way it always was up until the 1993 tour.
I know Carrisbrook was sentimental for Kiwis but I do love Forsyth Barr Stadium. Westpac in Wellington is one of those shitty bowls and is only marginally bigger.
FOAD
you arent wanted here
Anyone prepared to predict the possible make up of a starting New Zealand test side for 2017? A good portion of their World Cup squad will be gone by 2017.
L’Oreal’s All Black eyshadow, because, they’re worth it.
The British Loins will wear red lipstick by @Mac.
Banterous
Attention now turns to the main event, with just 19 months left before the squad assembles.
The British Isles, united, can never be defeated.
Posting on threads is not a generally recognised form of ignoration.
3 Likes