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Lions name new captain for battle of the big cats

(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Elton Jantjies will lead the Emirates Lions on the field for the first time in their Super Rugby opener against the Jaguares in Argentina this weekend.

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Jantjies has 134 career Super Rugby caps (121 for the Lions and 13 for the Stormers) while he has amassed 1103 points over his nine seasons of Super Rugby. He is just the fourth player to pass the 1100-point mark with Morne Steyn, who will make a return this year with the Bulls, the only other South African player on the list.

Courtnall Skosan, who has been named to start on the left wing, holds the record for the most Lions tries, with 33 from 72 matches.

Lock Ruben Schoeman and fullback Tiaan Swanepoel will make their Super Rugby debuts this weekend while reserves Morne van der Berg and Manuel Rass could also do so from the bench.

Continue reading below…

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2020 marks the second year in succession that the Lions have kicked off their season with a game against Argentina’s only Super Rugby franchise. Last year, the Lions emerged with a 25-16 win from their visit to Buenos Aires but, come the end of the season, the Jaguares led the South African conference.

While the Jaguares recorded seven wins on the trot before falling to the Crusaders in the final, the Lions somehow fell from 5th spot on the overall ladder to 9th in the last two weeks of the regular season.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B73R65ngFyx/

Given that the Lions had participated in the previous three finals, it was a massive fall from grace for the Johannesburg-based side.

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Ivan van Rooyen, who took over the Lions in a caretaker capacity last year but has been confirmed as their head coach moving forward, will desperate for his side to make a solid start to the season.

Lions: Tiaan Swanepoel, Tyrone Green, Duncan Matthews, Dan Kriel, Courtnall Skosan, Elton Jantjies (c), Andre Warner, Len Massyn, Vincent Tshituka, Marnus Schoeman, Marvin Orie, Ruben Schoeman, Jannie du Plessis, Pieter Jansen, Dylan Smith. Reserves: Jan-Henning Campher, Sti Sithole, Carlu Sadie, Wilhelm van der Sluys, Ruan Vermaak, Hacjivah Dayimani, Morne van der Berg, Manuel Rass.

– with Lions Rugby

Japan head coach, Jamie Joseph, is concerned that a new Japanese club competition could hurt the Brave Blossoms’ chances on the international circuit:

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EllenMoody 5 hours ago
Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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JWH 6 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

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