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A huge Lions focus: 'Scrum sessions so far have been pretty tasty'

(Photo by Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

Jamie George painfully knows to his cost one area of the game where the Springboks will target the Lions in the upcoming three-game Test series in South Africa. It was at the scrum where England were repeatedly punished in their November 2019 World Cup final defeat and Warren Gatland’s Lions are busily preparing to ensure that same pattern doesn’t materialise again. 

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Twenty-three of the players Gatland has with him in South Africa are already midway through their third week getting ready for the challenge that lies ahead and England hooker George had revealed how he was tasked with getting straight down to work regarding the scrums as soon as he came in through the door last week for the Lions’ second week in Jersey. 

George was one of eight players who joined up in week two and with the Lions having since flown to South Africa to prepare for their opening game in Johannesburg next Saturday, he is especially enjoying the enthusiasm which Irish tighthead Tadhg Furlong is bringing to the scrum mix. The pair started all three Test games for the 2017 Lions in New Zealand and their rapport was quickly re-established four years later. “Ridiculous personality,” said George of Furlong. 

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Jim Hamilton is reunited with Vitality ambassador and former teammate @maroitoje before he jets off to South Africa for the British & Irish Lions Series.
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Who inspires rugby star Maro Itoje?

Jim Hamilton is reunited with Vitality ambassador and former teammate @maroitoje before he jets off to South Africa for the British & Irish Lions Series.
Itoje told Jim Hamilton all about what has inspired him to be the best person that he can be in rugby and in life. @vitality_uk

“He is a great guy, very funny but he takes his work very seriously. That struck me straight away. I had a great relationship with him in 2017 and we picked up where we left off and pretty much as soon as I walked in the door in Jersey I had a laptop in my face looking at scrum set-ups, engages and all that sort of stuff and what he needs from me and that’s perfect from me. 

“It’s great to be able to have that relationship with him. The role of a hooker in a scrum is to make sure is trying to get the best out of the people either side of you and he is a great character, probably one of the best tightheads in the world. We’re blessed in this team.

You look at (Andrew) Porter going out and you bring in someone of the calibre of (Kyle) Sinckler coming in and the scrum sessions so far have been pretty tasty I have to say. Competition for places is great but Tadhg is really putting his hand up and I thought he has a great game against Japan.”

George admitted he has been on his toes to catch up with the Lions having arrived a week after the bulk of the squad. “It is challenging. Your main focus coming into camp is getting to know people and familiarising yourself with the plays. It was a bit tough last week, getting your head around things and working with different coaches. 

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“The transition in 2017 was perhaps a bit easier with (Steve) Borthwick coming in and having such close relationship with him and a lot of the lineouts we used then we pretty similar to the ones we used in England at the time but it is different here now. It’s just about getting up to speed – there is a lot of walkthroughs and conversations happening at the minute around a laptop… 

“You’re getting your head around the new attacking shape, which is slightly different to what I have been used to before. The difficulty is we can’t be on the field for hours and hours at a time, so there’s a lot more studying. The training time probably isn’t as high as what other teams might work at.”

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H
Hellhound 49 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

4 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

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LONG READ Gatland defiant but Welsh rugby no nearer escape route with Springboks looming Gatland defiant but Welsh rugby no nearer escape route with Springboks looming
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