Fair enough he may not but think Fitzgerald may offer a bit more. Too early to make the call one way or another. An awful lot can happen on a Lions tour in a couple of weeks.
When is the meal on a HMS warship booked in for?
The day after the private audience and DVD night with Prince William, I imagine.
Undercover Agent Ferris will report back with news of this in due course.
[quote=âmyboyblueâ]At the moment Monye is a long way ahead of Williams Larry.
Luke will get his chance, but until someone takes it, its Monyeâs to lose for me.
All I did was name the backs as it stands barring injury, I doubt many of them will lose out.[/QUOTE]
Monye is shit.
I used to think that but heâs had a very decent season in the GP and has been tasty for a poor England side too. His defense has come on a lot and heâs got pace to burn.
Heâll be in the shake up if Williams doesnât fire soon.
Its Lukeys to lose depending on how Saturday goes for him.
[quote=âmyboyblueâ]I used to think that but heâs had a very decent season in the GP and has been tasty for a poor England side too. His defense has come on a lot and heâs got pace to burn.
Heâll be in the shake up if Williams doesnât fire soon.
Its Lukeys to lose depending on how Saturday goes for him.[/QUOTE]
I would like to re-iterate that he was shit last night in a back line that was humming.
In general, he is shit.
Really? Couldnt agree on that. Shit is a bit harsh, possibly not firing as much as some of the rest, but shit?
Nah.
I thought Monye was fairly shit too - nowhere near the sleight of hands and intelligent running lines of some of the other backs. Then again, weâre comparing the lad to the likes of Brian OâDriscoll. Fitzgerald will probably get a game on Saturday so heâll need to take his chance.
The backs looked on fire last night, but youâd have to have been very disappointed with the Golden Lions who were utterly shit and a big letdown for a supposed Super 14 side.
Shit crowd too, if numbers dont take up, it will be interesting to see what happens.
[quote=âHangBlaaâ]I would like to re-iterate that he was shit last night in a back line that was humming.
In general, he is shit.[/QUOTE]
Yeah Iâd have to agree with that. Most of the backline played themselves into pole position last night but Kearney didnât reach Byrneâs heights and Monye wasnât really inspiring. His lines werenât brilliant, he was handed three run-ins and he only finished two of them. His defence was reasonable though he was absent for some big plays and his decision making was very questionable.
Donât think he was anywhere near the level of Jones or Phillips who were excellent, nevermind BOD, Roberts and Bowe who put themselves straight into the test team - BOD was already there granted but it was his combination with Roberts that will have pleased the selectors the most I reckon.
Not many would have gotten to Jones/Roberts/BOD/Bowes level last night though, they were all in the zone on top of their games.
Fair play to Jones, he was tasty as fuck last night despite having a pretty bad start. Some of his distribution and link up play with BOD was top drawer. 9, 10, 12 is nailed on imo barring injuries. Kearney continued his poor run of form.
The Cheetahs game will tell a lot. POC and DOC will combine in the second row and Lukey will get his run out. Presume Halpenny will get a game also with Bowe being rested.
Iâd say we wonât see Bowe for the next two games. Halfpenny and Fitzgerald need games, then Williams needs another run. Bowe is in pole position but heâs just played two in a row so theyâll give him a breather while they try to work out who to play alongside him.
Bowe is really coming across as a very clever player in the last year or so. On the end of so many kicks and offloads and he looked like heâd been playing with Jones and Roberts for years last night. So many clever little interventions - smashing player. Hilarious to think how the likes of Hook wrote him off.
Shur Franno still didnt give him any credit after the Grand Slam, still had a dig at him over his pace.
Pace was always Boweâs problem, as a younger player he fell down because he lacked the gas to burn lads off. As heâs gotten older and matured heâs taken to using his brain a lot more, and is now a winger who can position himself in the right place where pace isnt the issue it was. The likes of Monye are all about pace and power, Bowe is a class above.
Its been great to see how heâs developped. I see Lukey in teh same mould, not all about the pace, but so much more. A back 3 of Bowe Lukey and Kearney back on his game is something to really look forward to again for Ireland.
A bit worried about Wallace so far, I know its only 2 games in, but heâs gotten 2 games (albeit one was sprung on him the morning of the game) and hasnt torn it up like some of the other lads. He wont get too many more chances.
GAVIN CUMMISKEY talks to the former Ireland and Greystones scrumhalf who has made a big impression in his adopted country
JOHN ROBBIE gets you with sleep in your eyes. Some will remember the all-too-brief period when he was the Greystones scrumhalf who travelled to South Africa in 1980 as a Lions replacement only to return a year later with Fergus Slatteryâs controversial Irish tourists â a decision that cost him his job.
His move to South Africa handed Transvaal one of the few quality scrumhalves, at his peak, ever produced on this island.
Robbie and his wife, Jennie, were quick to build a new life for themselves. Now a naturalised South African, with son Johnny a London-based lawyer and daughter Susan also practising in Johannesburg, the forgotten man of Irish rugby is chattering away from 6am each morning having carved out a respectable niche on South Africaâs Talk Radio 702 over the past 22 years.
âThis is home. For 28 years now. I did have some shares in Anglo-Irish bank but they no longer exist. That was the only thing I had overseas.â
Denied a Springbok cap (he sat on the bench four times) by the magnificent Divan Serfontein, the All Blacks 1985 tour being cancelled and injury, his break in radio came as a direct result of rugby.
âBefore the Cavaliers Tour of 1986, basically against the All Blacks, I got injured. The radio asked me to do the commentary and in those days it was unheard of to get current guys to do it but I did it and it went down very well.
âA local radio station was looking for sports reporters. They heard me and asked would I like to do it. I did it on a part-time basis until I was finished my rugby. They offered me a full-time job in sport and then they moved to a talk format and as I was getting more politically aware, and I suppose growing up a bit, I moved into the talk radio side.â
A no-nonsense approach quickly became his trademark as some of the premier figures in South African political and sporting life have left the airways bloodied.
The 2000 interview with Minister for Health (1999 to 2008) Dr Mantombazana âMantoâ Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang under the previous government of Thabo Mbeki brought the full weight of the ANC down upon him.
The Minister refused to admit HIV is a cause of Aids, instead promoting beetroot and garlic as means of treatment, in a country still shattered by the epidemic. After refusing to answer Robbieâs repetitive questioning (do you accept that HIV causes Aids?) he concluded the interview as follows:
Robbie: Oh go away!
Tshabalala-Msimang: And I am âŚ
Robbie: I cannot take that rubbish any longer. Can you believe it? I have never in my life heard rubbish. Here we have a situation where the minister of health sends out a document, amongst others, that is looney tunes, that suggests that the Illuminati have conspired with the aliens to bring about Aids to reduce the African population. Now you get the minister on [radio] to explain this and see what happens.
Robbie had been addressing the minister by her first name, giving the ANC the chance to move away from the debate by seeking his apology.
In November 2008, The New York Times reported that due to the Mbeki governmentâs AIDS denialism, an estimated 365,000 people died in South Africa.
âShe ended up in an indefensible position and it was just one of those interviews where you realise you just have somebody of vital issue in the country and you have the person on the spot.
âIn a sort of a nave attempt to make a more informal show I dispensed with all the great titles and formal introductions and, of course, when the minister was in trouble she accused me of being rude by calling her by her first name. She kicked for touch and it ended up a big row.
âBut I think most people would say I was the first person to really call her and expose the lunacy that was going on and Iâm very proud of that.â
Another one that jumps off the Google search was his tteâtte with SA rugby union president Oregon Hoskins when Springbok coach Jake White was forced to include Luke Watson in his squad before the 2007 World Cup. Robbie hammered Hoskins live on air.
âEven though Jake White the coach hadnât selected him they put him in the side, which goes against every rugby tradition. I raised this with him and he accepted this was crazy but then he lost the plot with a very personal attack on me. I managed to keep my cool. Sadly, I havenât spoken to him since.
âJake White didnât select Watson for rugby reasons and other people felt there was more to it than that. His father is a very famous name (Daniel âCheekyâ Watson) as a white player of the old days who choose to play with the black union. Nowadays, he receives a lot of honour for that, quite rightly.
âOther people would argue some of the things he has done since then are a little controversial. Ya, with everything in South Africa there is a political undertone to it.â
Rugby in so many ways symbolises what was wrong in South Africa during the apartheid era but the pendulum, it can be argued, has swung the other way since.
The Watson issue was eventually sidelined and South Africa won the tournament in Paris.
âI was one of only two journalists, Iâm not quite sure why, invited on the team bus with the cup in the pouring rain going through millions of people in Pretoria.
âI think rugby realised no matter what you are doing you have to have a successful team.
âI think there is more realism involved now that the real transformation has to be done at grassroots level.â
With the sporting planet focused on South Africa from now until next yearâs soccer World Cup, how much has the country changed since the days of oppression? âWhen I came here South Africa was the pariah of the world. We just had our fourth election which went through with absolutely no problems. Free and fair. The economy has done remarkably well in recent years.
âIt has taken a bit of a knock but compared to other countries prudent financial management hasnât suffered as much. For any bad story you hear about South Africa there are a thousand good ones. I wouldnât live anywhere else and consider it the best country in the world by miles.â
We eventually get to talking about the Lions and Robbie gives the Paul OâConnellâs team a (place-kicking) chance. âIn the last series the Lions won with goal -kicking and it could come down to those moments, particularly if the Lions go one up.â
We draw a blank when seeking an inside track into potential weaknesses. Outhalf? âNow Butch James is injured flyhalf is a real area of concern but they moved Ruan Pienaar from scrumhalf last year and he was devastating. He had one of the great performances against Australia when South Africa murdered them. Goal-kicking is an issue. He has a patchy record.â
The scrum? âI saw the Sharks frontrow, which will probably be the Springbok frontrow, absolutely destroy the Highlanders in Durban recently and they are supposed to be the best tight five in New Zealand.â
The form of Schalk? âSchalk Burger has had a quiet season, there have been internal problems at the Stormers, but he for me is one of the greatest players not just of this generation but of all time. I imagine a Lions tour would bring out the best in him.â
At least there will be a slight north Wicklow accent to get the tourists out of bed each morning.
Is it always set in stone that the touring captain has to play in the test side? I think Alun Wyn-Jones is a much more superior operator to OâConnell and he was thoroughly excellent last night. Brian OâDriscoll is also a better captain and last nightâs team was a far, far more determined and cohesive unit than Saturday. Big decisions for the management team but we saw when they left the likes of Ryan Jones out of the touring party that they arenât afraid to shun the major decisions.
Pretty much Bando.
Gatland said it last night that POC and BOD are the only two certainties on the test side. POC is a far superior operator than AWJ and showed it on Saturday when he carried a ragbag pack up the field on a number of occasions.
[quote=âmyboyblueâ]Pretty much Bando.
Gatland said it last night that POC and BOD are the only two certainties on the test side. POC is a far superior operator than AWJ and showed it on Saturday when he carried a ragbag pack up the field on a number of occasions.[/QUOTE]
Oâ Connel was excellent last saturday, dragged them kicking and screaming through the game.
Did anyone else see the state of Luke fitzgerald last night, looked like a serious funboyâŚ
I would go along with hangblaa and rocko on monye, thought he was average enough, got caught out for one of their tries and IMO would be behind both williams and fitz in the pecking orderâŚ
Lee Mears had a decent game and is surely in pole position for the hooker spotâŚ
[quote=âThe Pukeâ]Did anyone else see the state of Luke fitzgerald last night, looked like a serious funboyâŚ
[/quote]
Serious funboy thing going on there alright
I would go along with hangblaa and rocko on monye, thought he was average enough, got caught out for one of their tries and IMO would be behind both williams and fitz in the pecking orderâŚ
Lee Mears had a decent game and is surely in pole position for the hooker spotâŚ
Iâm not saying I woulndt have Fitz there, but he has to show well when given the chance. I wouldnt go with Williams in his current state.
Mears on fire last night, serious aggression, as was the whole front row to be honest.