Boks coach Peter de Villiers has apologised for his apparent acceptance that Schalk Burger’s eye-gouging of Luke Fitzgerald was just part of the game.
Ireland’s David Wallace has edged out Martyn Williams for the key position of openside flanker in British and Irish Lions Test team.
British and Irish Lions coach Ian McGeechan praised his team’s patience and discipline after a 39-3 rout of the Sharks on Wednesday.
The shape of the British and Irish Lions was beginning to emerge after coach Ian McGeechan on Monday named his team to take on the Sharks.
British and Irish Lions coach Ian McGeechan said the 74-10 thrashing of the Gauteng Lions at Ellis Park on Wednesday had been more than he expected.
The British and Irish Lions will be looking for a marked improvement in their performance when they clash with the Golden Lions on Wednesday.
Ian McGeechan has packed his British and Irish Lions side with plenty of experience for the opening game of their 10 match tour in South Africa.
Captain Paul O’Connell has urged his players to restore pride in the British and Irish Lions jersey.
The nature of Test rugby is that it tends to run in four-year cycles, centred on the mammoth spectacle of the World Cup. The Springboks face the next three-and-a-half years as World Cup defending champions, a lofty pedestal that has proven very difficult to defend in the past.
Coaching guru Ian McGeechan has promised to restore the traditional spirit of the British and Irish Lions when he takes them on tour to South Africa next year. The 61-year-old, appointed on Wednesday as Lions coach for the fourth time, promised lessons would be learned from the ill-fated 2005 tour, when the Lions were thrashed 3-0 in a Test series by New Zealand.
Ian McGeechan, the man who led the British and Irish Lions to their monumental series victory over South Africa in 1997, has been handed the chance to repeat the achievement against the world champions in 2009. As was widely expected, the vastly experienced coach was unveiled on Wednesday as the head coach for the three-Test, 10-match tour.
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/ 22 November 2007
Martin Johnson has urged the British and Irish Lions to be creative with their selection policy when it comes to picking a squad for the 2009 tour of South Africa. An enduring fascination is that players who have not shone or even played at all for England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales can become stars when they put on the red shirt of the Lions.
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/ 21 September 2007
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As the Rugby World Cup pool stage reached the halfway point this week, not one of the Six Nations countries could yet start planning for a quarterfinal. On the form of the opening two rounds, the semifinalists will all be from the southern hemisphere: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina.
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/ 14 September 2007
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A week into the Rugby World Cup and, if you believe the headlines in New Zealand and South Africa, the Webb Ellis Trophy is already heading back to the southern hemisphere. After defeat for France in Paris on the opening day and less than impressive wins against the minnows for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the northern hemisphere is merely making up the numbers.