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Lions stoke the third Test tension with Springboks 'handbags' quip

(Photo by EJ Langner/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Courtney Lawes has lit the touchpaper ahead of Saturday’s finale to the Lions’ already fractious Test series versus the Springboks, the blindside explaining his team has no interest in any fighting or niggle and only want to go and play some of the rugby they were prevented from doing so in last weekend’s 27-9 second Test loss in Cape Town. 

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The Test series has been besmirched by various antics such as concerns over the non-neutral TMNO in South African Marius Jonker, Rassie Erasmus’ incredible 62-minute video criticising the match officials as well as instances of foul play and dust-ups on the pitch. 

It has all left a tempestuous collision delicately balanced ahead of this Saturday’s third Test decider where the Lions are looking to speed up the play and have called on referee Mathieu Raynal not to allow the Springboks to get away with the alleged slow play tactics that were in use last weekend. 

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The latest RugbyPass Offload looks ahead of the Lions series decider

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The latest RugbyPass Offload looks ahead of the Lions series decider

These are allegations that have been refuted by Springboks assistant Mzwandile Stick, but the Lions believe a quicker tempo and steering clear of any rough stuff will be a successful blueprint as they see to add a Test series victory in South Africa to their 2013 success in Australia and the 2017 draw in New Zealand.  

“There are very legal ways in rugby to be physical and we showed that in the first half and the second half we got it wrong,” said Lawes, the first-choice Lions No6. “We will look to correct our mistakes and the discipline is a massive part of that… It’s the nuance things, penalties and things like that, we can’t give them an in to impose themselves in the maul and the scrum. If we can keep them moving around that is going to help us. 

“We can’t get too caught up in the niggle and scrapping and that stuff because it just slows down the game and it doesn’t really help us. We like a high-tempo game – we are a fit team, we want to run around, we want the ball in hand so we can’t get caught up in that and we need to try and speed the game up as much as we can.

“It’s going to be tough and it will be a conscious effort to stay out of that dog fight and niggle because I am imagining that is what they are going to want to bring again. We need to make a conscious effort to leave it alone and get back to what we want to do, which is trying to bring tempo into the game. They can throw the handbags around as much as they like as long as we can get that ball out and play some rugby.

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“They came with a clear game plan last weekend and that was to slow the game down. We are a really fit team and we want to move the ball and play a lot. The second half of the first Test showed that if we do that they are going to struggle to keep up with us and it affects their scrum and maul,” continued Lawes, a veteran of the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand.

“Their strategy paid off in the second Test. They were able to slow it down and when they are not tired they are going to scrum well and they are big, strong men and they are going to maul well, especially when you are giving them penalties and the aerial battle is heavily contested. They are going to get some joy.”

 

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Hellhound 43 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

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J
JW 58 minutes 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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