Garry Ringrose withdrawn from Lions squad due to concussion
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The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
‘It wouldn't feel the same': Itoje plays down calls for future Lions tour to France
If Maro Itoje did not already know that leading the British & Irish Lions was a big deal, he does now. Since his side took an unbeatable 2-0 series lead against the Wallabies he has even had a congratulatory message from the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, who was in Melbourne for the game last Saturday. Was he asking Itoje to consider dipping his toes into politics? 'No, no … he has some world issues to try and sort out before that.' Ask Itoje about his future vision for the Lions, however, and his manifesto is crystal clear. This tour has been the England captain's third in a red jersey and with every passing year his personal appreciation of the Lions continues to grow. 'It's been without a shadow of a doubt one of the highlights of my career. When I am old and grey these occasions and these tours are going to be one of the experiences I look back on with extreme fondness.' He also firmly believes that, for every top player, representing the Lions is a light that will never go out. 'I would be surprised if you can find a British and Irish rugby player who says they don't want to be a Lion. This is something the players will continue to want for decades and for as long as rugby is being played. It's something I know provides a huge sense of excitement in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. And it adds an extra bit of spice and intrigue to the Six Nations when it's a Lions year. So I am struggling to see the negatives. It is a great event and long may it continue.' Coming from a man who is now one of just six living individuals to have captained a series-winning Lions squad – the others being Willie John McBride (1974), Finlay Calder (1989), Martin Johnson (1997) and Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones (2013) – it is a significant rallying cry. There are occasional moments, particularly in the ever-more detailed modern game, when the Lions can feel like an anachronism but nothing gives the concept more of a boost than an enjoyable series win. Interestingly, Itoje is also of the opinion that the quadrennial Lions tour rota should not be casually altered, amid increasing support in high places for a potential tour to France one day. 'I thought about this at the beginning of the tour. There's a strong sense of history and tradition … part of me is keen for it to continue to rotate among the three countries it does. Also it wouldn't feel the same if we took a short-haul flight. It needs a long‑haul flight!' With a simply stunning view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as the backdrop to the Lions' first fitness session since clocking back on after 48 hours of celebrations, Itoje's logic was easy to follow. There are many worse places to spend a week with a major series already in the bag but, as their captain was swift to reiterate, the Lions are still over here on business. 'We want to be part of something very special,' Itoje said, brushing aside any notion that he might wish to sit out the final Test. 'Winning a Lions Test series is obviously extremely special but what would be an absolute dream would be to go out, perform to the level to which we think we can perform and win the third game. 'While the first two games have been great, there's still a feeling that we haven't put it together in a way we know we can. We want to chase down the performance we've been searching for. The Wallabies will be hungry and up for it but we also want to make some history this weekend.' Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion When he eventually sits back and reflects on this tour, however, it is not just the on-field glory that will stand out. As recently as last month, for instance, he would never have guessed he would be spending time with Ireland's Jamie Osborne, let alone greeting the latter by his nickname. Itoje said: 'I now know that whenever I play against him in the future I can call him 'Showbiz' and he will have that little smirk on his face. 'I also have a lot of admiration for Jac Morgan, who is a very, very talented player. I've respected him from afar and being alongside him has been amazing. Finlay Bealham is another one. I never thought we would have a good relationship, but he's absolutely hilarious and a very endearing person. I can go through so many others.' Even at the end of a marathon season, consequently, Itoje sounds like a captain who doesn't want the tour to end. 'It has been said before but, in many ways, it shouldn't really work. You have four different nations, four different ideologies, several different ways of how to play the game and how to think. It is not a homogenous group but people buy in, you forge great relationships and you build bonds. That's what makes it special.'
The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
Garry Ringrose out of third Test with concussion as Lions set sights on whitewash
Garry Ringrose will miss the third British & Irish Lions Test against Australia on Saturday due to concussion, but the coaching staff have vowed to pick 'the best team available' as they attempt to complete a first unbeaten series since 1974. Ringrose reported concussion symptoms just before Andy Farrell was due to name his side for the second Test and that triggered a 12-day stand-down period, ruling the Ireland centre out of the game in Sydney. In better news for Farrell, Joe McCarthy, Mack Hansen and Sione Tuipulotu all took a full part in training on Tuesday and are in contention. Farrell sought to blow off any lingering cobwebs from the second-Test celebrations with a Squid Game challenge at the start of training. It was a version of 'green light, red light', a survival game based on stealth and the Ireland tighthead prop Thomas Clarkson was the first to be eliminated, but the Lions were soon down to businessh. Farrell and his coaching staff will meet on Wednesday night to finalise selection, but he is not expected to make wholesale changes given the Lions' pursuit of history. Maro Itoje is likely to captain the side again even though he has surpassed the mandated 30-game limit, dictated by the Rugby Football Union. 'For this time of tour it's amazing how many people we've got available,' said assistant coach Andrew Goodman. 'Unfortunately, Garry has been ruled out of this Test match, but we have Mack, Joe, Sione all out there running today. 'We had a Squid Game challenge, green light, red light, the whole field was covered in different things they could hide behind, and they had people in the top tier keeping an eye. It was a good craic. '[The motivation to win 3-0] is huge. It's everything for us as a group to get excited about. It was 1974 the last time a Lions team went through the Test series unbeaten, so there's huge motivation for the group. '[It will be] the best team available to win the series. That might look like some changes, that might look like consistency. We will see how the boys go through their recovery process over the next couple of days and whatever 23's picked will go out there and do the best for the team. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion 'You've got to reward form when guys have been playing well and are match-hardened in those Test matches. It is a balance and I'm sure we'll have some good discussions as we always have.' Ringrose has been widely praised for speaking up about his symptoms last week. 'He's disappointed as you can imagine,' said Goodman. 'Garry was playing some amazing rugby through this tour and someone who it's been a dream of his for so long to represent the Lions and he's managed to do that. But he wanted to be a Test-match Lion so it's been devastating for him. 'He's disappointed for himself, but he's getting around everyone and making sure he helps prepare everyone as much as he can.'
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
James Haskell hits back at Wallabies coach's reaction to controversial flashpoint that secured the Lions a series victory against Australia: 'That is utter c**p'
James Haskell and Mike Tindall believe Joe Schmidt has no reason to feel aggrieved by the contentious last-gasp decision that has overshadowed the British and Irish Lions ' 29-26 victory against Australia on Saturday afternoon. The Australia coach lashed out at officials and World Rugby over why the Lions match-winning try from Hugo Keenan was allowed to stand after Jac Morgan appeared to clear out Carlo Tizzano, while making contact with the Australian's neck. 'In a world of player welfare… It's what they are there to enforce. A player who dives off his feet and is clearly beaten to the position over the ball, makes neck contact,' Schmidt fumed after the match. Schmidt used World Rugby's Law 9.20 to justify his point, which states that players cannot enter a ruck and make contact with a player above the shoulder line. 'You just have to read Law 9.20, then listen to the referee's description and watch the vision. A player who dives off his feet, is clearly beaten to the position over the ball, makes neck contact - it's a tough one to take,' the coach, who has previously worked as a technical advisor for World Rugby, fumed. The incident has divided the rugby community, with Tindall and Haskell both arguing on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby Podcast, that Schmidt wouldn't be making the same claim had the coin flipped in the other direction. When asked by Alex Payne if Schmidt was right to feel aggrieved, Tindall replied, 'No. The pair then jointly said: 'Absolutely not.' Haskell then proceeded to deliver an impassioned rant about the comments, with the former Wasps and England star, claiming that the real foul was Tizzano's alleged 'dive' and that if they had penalised Morgan for the clear out, they 'may as well have just disbanded the whole game'. After Morgan made contact with Tizzano, the flanker appeared to fall backwards and has been blasted for an apperent 'dive' by some members of the English media. 'The only bit of foul play nonsense in that incident was that Australian player [Carlo Tizzano] diving,' Haskell said on the podcast. 'That should have been red carded, because that is utter c**p.' He then went on to delve into the technicalities of the incident, claiming World Rugby's current laws don't allow players to remove a jackler in any other manner than how Morgan pushed Tizzano away. 'I'm telling you now, there is no physical way to clear out a player who is that low over the ball, without... the only other way that you used to be able to do it is if you put your head underneath him and go head-on-head, because when you're that low over the ball you've got a small window... You've got to get your head underneath him. 'But if you can't get any space to do that, and it would be head-on-head because you just lead with your head, you have to hit where he hit. That was a clear out I did every game, every week for 20 years...' Summarising his point, Haskell, who toured with the Lions in 2017, said the game would have serious questions to answer had Morgan been penalised over the clear out. Haskell added: 'That is the only way to do it. Because if you come in at the side at an angle, you'd end up doing a croc roll. It is utter, utter b*******. It is people clutching at straws. When a player is over the ball so low, what we used to be taught to do is I come in and I put my hand on the ground underneath him and lead up with my hands and hit him. 'All of that was just a rugby thing and the only foul was the Australian diving.' While Haskell praised the Australia coach Joe Schmidt as a 'great bloke' he fumed at how Schmidt had 'the audacity' to question the decision. Tindall replied: 'Again, if he's on the other side of the coin, it's not even a debate. He's going: 'That's what the game is'.' Haskell isn't the only person to have slammed Tizzano following the incident. Writing in his column in The Telegraph, Oliver Brown, 'Stop moaning, Australia, your player dived.' 'Tizzano clearly milked the incident, collapsing with a melodrama that could easily have persuaded some officials to chalk off Keenan's try,' he added. Andy Farrell, meanwhile, praised Morgan for securing the ball so well. 'I thought it was a brilliant clear-out, didn't you?' the Lions coach said, before admitting: 'It depends on what side of the fence you come from.' However, the refereeing decision has left one ex-Wallabies star livid. Morgan Turinui, who won 20 caps for Australia, hit out at the officials over the contentious call. 'That decision is 100 per cent completely wrong,' he said. 'The referee got it wrong,' Turinui said after the game. 'His two assistant referees got it wrong.' He then explained that the referee needed to be brought before World Rugby's Match Official Manager, Joel Jutge. 'Joel Jutge, the head of the referees, is out here on a junket. He needs to haul those referees in and ask for a please explain. But World Rugby cheif executive Alan Gilpin has claimed that they were standing by Piardi (left) and his team following the incident 'Dan Herbert, the chair of Australian rugby and if I'm Phil Waugh, the CEO, I'm sorry I'm asking for a please explain. 'He did have a good game, but the refereeing group, when it counted, got the match-defining decision completely wrong. 'It's a point of law. It's in black and white. It's not about bias. It's not about colouring. 'There's nothing there. Get away from the fact that it's a wrong call. It's a penalty sanction. It's not a yellow card. It happens. 'The try must be disallowed and we should be going one-all to Sydney.' But in a fresh turn of events, World Rugby has since made clear their stance on the matter, refuting Schmidt's claims before stating that they were throwing their support behind Piardi and his team of officials. World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin said: 'It is disappointing when the reaction is, 'this means player welfare isn't taken seriously', because everyone knows we are putting player welfare, in its broadest sense, at the top of the agenda. So, that part is challenging, in terms of the player welfare statements (by Schmidt).'
