British and Irish Lions versus Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium; when is it and how to watch
Former Brisbane Bronco Ben Te'o who played for the British and Irish Lions in their epic drawn series against New Zealand in 2017, revealed a quirky move was the secret sauce to team bonding on that tour.
'We had a choirmaster who taught us four songs,'' Te'o said.
'One from each nation (Calon Lân from Wales, The Fields of Athenry from Ireland, Jerusalem from England and Highland Cathedral from Scotland.
'We would have choir practice in the afternoon. That was quite an interesting activity.
'I will never forget once we had learned some of the songs we ended up out at dinner and had the restaurant to ourselves. The red wine was flowing. We started singing.
'Those are the moments you never forget. We booked upstairs in an Irish pub and had a ripper of a night and had a couple of days off after that.
'From then on we were pretty bonded as a team.''
Asked to describe the different flavours of the four nations Te'o said …
The Scots: 'They are always the underdogs, Very passionate. I have witnessed that first hand at Murrayfield and lost to them. They have a lot of passion because they understand they don't have the depth of the other nations. They rip in.''
The English: 'A lot of the English guys who played rugby are from private schools. They are smart, well educated guys.
The Irish: 'They are funny guys. Great sense of humour. And amazingly skilful. Some of the skills they learn playing other sports such as Gaelic Football in their youth mean they can do a lot of special things.''
The Welsh: 'It's a rugby nation. Good fellas. Very talented. They like a drink.''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur not included in list of US Open doubles wildcards
Nick Kyrgios faces an anxious to wait to see if he'll partner Naomi Osaka in the revamped US Open mixed doubles tournament, while Alex de Minaur's plea to play with his British fiancee Katie Boulter also hasn't yielded immediate results. Neither pairing were among the six wildcards handed out by the US Tennis Association, with two spots remaining for the $1.5m event that will feature 16 pairings and be played the week before the main draw begins. Eight pairs qualify based on rankings and eight are given wildcards, which is where the hopes of Kyrgios and de Minaur now lie. Kyrgios made a playing comeback in the doubles at the DC Open last week in an opening round loss after which he said his knee was 'cooked', which could have prompted officials to give him more time to recover before including him. Before he took the DC Open singles title, de Minaur, the highest-ranked male player not yet in the doubles event, made a plea to US Open officials to add himself and Boulter to the draw. 'We'd be definitely asking for a wildcard, and we're definitely hoping for a wildcard,' he said. 'I think, why not give a little bit of love to a tennis couple? 'We have been going strong, it's been, what, five years already, getting married next year. I think we're showing that there is good chemistry between us. 'I think some of the other partnerships, they haven't really said a word to each other in their lives, right? At least we kind of know each other, so we can hopefully show some good chemistry and hopefully play some good matches there.' Among the six wildcards given out, one went to 45-year-old Venus Williams to play with Reilly Opelka. World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz will also play with Emma Raducanu, while 22-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic will team up with Olga Danilovic in what looms as a star-studded event. US OPEN MIXED DOUBLES PAIRINGS Qualified (singles ranking in brackets) Emma Navarro (11) & Jannik Sinner (1) Paula Badosa (10) & Jack Draper (5) Iga Swiatek (3) & Casper Ruud (13) Elena Rybakina (12) & Taylor Fritz (4) Amanda Anisimova (7) & Holger Rune (9) Belinda Bencic (15*) & Alexander Zverev (3) Jessica Pegula (4) & Tommy Paul (15) Mirra Andreeva (5) & Daniil Medvedev (14) Wildcards Venus Williams & Reilly Opelka Emma Raducanu & Carlos Alcaraz Madison Keys & Frances Tiafoe Olga Danilovic & Novak Djokovic Taylor Townsend & Ben Shelton Sara Errani & Andrea Vavassori
7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka, Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter omitted from new US Open mixed doubles draw
A mixed doubles pairing featuring Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka looks like box office, and the love-doubles of Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter is another to catch the eye. Neither duo, however, has been accepted by US Open organisers for their revamped mixed doubles format. Venus Williams, however, is in, the 45-year-old fresh from last week's comeback after a year off the circuit, along with a pairing sure to reignite gossip in the British tabloids: Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz. The remodelled 16-team mixed doubles is designed to attract attention of fans, sponsors, television and social media. Taking place in the Fan Week ahead of the main US Open it has a short format and prize money lifted to a $US 1 million ($A1.5m). Eight pairs qualify on the strength of their combined singles rankings, the other eight are given wildcards by the US Tennis Association. The qualifiers and six of the wildcards were announced on Tuesday. Which means two slots remain open — offering hope to Kyrgios, de Minaur and their partners. One could actually be on hold for Kyrgios to confirm his fitness. After his comeback playing doubles with Gael Monfils at the DC Open in Washington last week he posted on social media his knee was 'cooked', but he did complete the match. Another may be being kept open for women's world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who was partnered with Grigor Dimitrov - but the Bulgarian sustained a pectoral muscle injury while leading eventual winner Jannik Sinner by two sets to love at Wimbledon. Other contenders are Italian duo Jasmine Paolini (nine) and Lorenzo Musetti (10), who were the odd pair out of the three whose combined ranking was 19; Katerina Siniakova and Marcelo Arevalo, who were the women's and men's doubles No.1s until this week when Tayor Townsend usurped Siniakova; or Canadian Olympic bronze medallists Gaby Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime. DC Open singles winner De MInaur (eight) is the highest ranked man not in the event. Last year's US Open mixed doubles champions, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who dismissed the new format as a 'pseudo-exhibition focused only on entertainment and show' that would shut out true doubles players, have been given a wildcard. So has Novak Djokovic partnering Olga Danilovic. Briton Jack Draper, who was going to play alongside Zheng Qinwen, now partners Paula Badosa, who was going to play with her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, Zheng is injured while Badosa has broken up with Tsitsipas. They qualify on ranking, Badosa/Tsitsipas would have needed a wildcard. Williams, who will play with fellow American Reilly Opelka, won one match each in singles and doubles in Washington after not competing anywhere since the Miami Open in March 2024. She has won 16 doubles grand slam titles, 14 in women's doubles with her younger sister Serena, two in mixed doubles. US Open mixed doubles pairings Qualified (singles ranking in brackets) Emma Navarro (11) & Jannik Sinner (1) Paula Badosa (10) & Jack Draper (5) Iga Swiatek (3) & Casper Ruud (13) Elena Rybakina (12) & Taylor Fritz (4) Amanda Anisimova (7) & Holger Rune (9) Belinda Bencic (15*) & Alexander Zverev (3) Jessica Pegula (4) & Tommy Paul (15) Mirra Andreeva (5) & Daniil Medvedev (14) *protected ranking Wildcards Venus Williams & Reilly Opelka Emma Raducanu & Carlos Alcaraz Madison Keys & Frances Tiafoe Olga Danilovic & Novak Djokovic Taylor Townsend & Ben Shelton Sara Errani & Andrea Vavassori.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
India's Rugby Premier League - a new pathway for the best Pacific sevens players to earn big money?
Since it was founded in 2007, the Indian Premier League has grown to become the most popular and richest cricket competition in the world. So could India's Rugby Premier League, which has just completed its inaugural season, become equally successful? Six teams of local and international sevens players took part, including Fiji's two-time Olympic gold-medal winning captain, Jerry Tuwai. Two more Fijians, Joseva Talacolo and Filipe Sauturaga, starred for the tournament winners, the Chennai Bulls, and the team was coached by Ben Gollings, who led Fiji to World Cup final success in 2022. So how does he view the potential impact of the new competition on rugby 7s in Oceania, and will more and more players from the region be tempted to go where the money is?
