It's folly to shield players from non-Test matches — for Lions and hosts
One day, the British & Irish Lions will give themselves the best chance of winning the Test series. They will gain some recompense for saving rugby in the host countries from bankruptcy, which they always do. It is shameful that, yet again, they have not done so and that so many games on tour could be devalued.
Last time the Lions went to Australia, in 2013, Australian rugby was broke. They freely admitted the Lions would be bailing them out — with the TV rights, large crowds, the sea of red supporters that follow them and the boost in national interest in the sport.
The benefits extend. During the forthcoming tour, the arrogance of the NRL in Australia will be in abeyance, because the rugby
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How is it, I thought, watching the 2025 British & Irish Lions play Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening, that Ireland don't get this kind of support in Dublin? This was a Lions XV without the Leinster 12, and with nine England players in the starting team. Yet the warmth of the capacity crowd was commensurate with the temperature of a beautiful summer's evening. Why are there never as many green shirts in the stadium when Ireland play? Never as many white shirts at Twickenham as there were red ones at the Aviva? And how the fans willed the team in red to win. What is it that makes the Lions so popular? Why will 40,000 travel to Australia over the course of the next six weeks making each game look like a home match for the touring team? Not forgetting the disappointment that comes with defeat. The game against Argentina was far better than warm-up matches usually are. For this, Argentina deserve most of the credit. 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I'm going to get better. I'm going to get better.' 'He doesn't complain about the food, or the beds, or the referees. Or all these sorts of things. 'These are just peripheral things that weak players have always complained about. The dishonest player. 'If I tell a player he's too high, or he's not tight enough, he's too f***ing high. He's not tight enough. And that's it. I'm the judge, and not the player. And we accept that, and we do something about it . . . 'Two weeks. There's battles all along the way. There's a battle on Saturday. There's a battle next Wednesday. There's a battle the following Saturday. A battle the following Tuesday — until we're into the f***in' big arena. The one we'll be there on Saturday. And by that time the f***in' Lions have to make them f***in' roar for us. 'Because they'll be baying for blood. Let's hope it's f***ing Springbok blood. We're focused. From now on, kid gloves are off. It's bare-knuckle f***in' stuff. And only at the end of the day will the man that's standing on his feet win the f***in' battle.' When the fly-on-the-wall documentary Living With Lions came out, Telfer was mildly shocked by the number of expletives he used. He was, after all, a headmaster, and there were many who disagreed with his language. A doctor wrote to him explaining that if he had spoken to him and his mates the way he spoke to his players, he would have walked out. Having reflected on this, Telfer said he would have told the good doctor to keep walking and not come back. He did, however, apologise to his mum, who thought his language 'terrible'. Telfer's place in Lions history is sacrosanct. Farrell will have a similar conversation with his players. They need to be honest. They need to get a lot better. This isn't the worst Lions squad but it is far from the best. Unless they become a united and fiercely committed group, they may lose to an Australia team that is improving but still some way from top class. 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Times
28 minutes ago
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There may not be a better cricket pitch in the world than at Headingley. It exhilarates and frustrates in equal measure; it can exasperate, but also stimulate. Above all, it is a pitch that, especially to a bowler, says: 'Don't be afraid of taking risks, as rewards may be just around the corner.' It is a place of extremes: England famously winning in the 1981 Ashes Test after being asked to follow on, or being bowled out for 67 by the Aussies in 2019 and still chasing 362 in the second innings to win by one wicket. On Saturday, India produced a fourth-wicket of partnership of 209 and then lost seven wickets for 41. It was classic Headingley fare. Don't take your eye off the ball for a second. What makes it such a good surface? The bounce, firstly. There is more lift and life from this 22 yards of loam than any other in England. Edges carry to slips set halfway back to the boundary. 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Brydon Carse paid the penalty for not making the Indian openers play enough. This is the first Test at Headingley since 2007 when England have taken the field without James Anderson or Stuart Broad — or both — in the team (they have 97 wickets and average 26 at Headingley between them). It made Stokes's decision to put India in — based on the stats suggesting the pitch gets better day by day — more of a risk than it might otherwise have been. Because of the precision required, the rapid outfield and the odd undulations of the ground — running slightly downhill and then up on to the pitch from the Kirkstall Lane End, and yet ploughing uphill from the Rugby Stand End, it is a tough place for a bowler uncertain of himself. Your front foot lands slightly sooner than you expect from the Kirkstall Lane End, jarring your whole body, and you tend to overpitch, or no ball (both, in my case). 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A high-tech bowling machine set to 88mph with a hint of late outswing to right or left-hander could not have unleashed a more searching or unremitting spell. It was to Ollie Pope's and Ben Duckett's great credit that they survived it, aided by Ravindra Jadeja's dropped catch off Duckett at backward point. With his extraordinary action and fingertip command of swing, Bumrah is a freak. He is as good in his way as the whippet-like Malcolm Marshall — generally agreed to be the best of the great West Indian attack of the 1980s — and with many of the same attributes. High pace, deception, super-skilled manipulation of the ball with his wrist and an innate understanding of batsmen, pitches and situations. Like Bumrah, his deliveries seemed laser-guided to evade bats and cannon into stumps. Marshall averaged 14 with the ball at Headingley, and, it might be recalled, even bowled England out in 1988 (taking seven for 53) with a broken thumb. But the other India bowlers found control elusive and the pitch capricious. Mohammed Siraj conceded four an over, and Prasidh Krishna went at six. Pope and Duckett were coasting along in a second-wicket partnership of 122. Until overambition cost Duckett his wicket and could have caused Pope's downfall too, but for a second drop, this time by Jaiswal. Bumrah the sufferer. As with almost any Headingley Test, only a fool would try to predict the eventual outcome after two days' play. But England could do with Jofra Archer coming through his Sussex rehab, and soon.
