Latest news with #JamesToney
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Captain Itoje humbled by honour of a lifetime
By James Toney Maro Itoje has a reputation for choosing his words carefully – and he has just one to describe The British & Irish Lions squad he'll lead in Australia: tough. Itoje's leadership potential has been talked about since his schoolboy rugby days, and it has only been reinforced by two tours of duty with the Lions – in 2017 as the youngest player in New Zealand, and four years ago with a series of standout performances against the Springboks. Thoughtful and articulate, with an intense work ethic his schoolteachers once described as 'scary', he's a captain straight from central casting and the perfect choice for the raging furnace of a tour Down Under. 'The philosophy of the team and the style we play is down to the coaching staff, but I want this team to be tough,' he said. 'I look at this forward pack and I just see a group of really tough men. I want us to be tight, I want us to have each other's backs. I want us to play with the passion and energy that you expect of a Lions player. Your Lions 2025 squad 🦁📋 #Lions2025 #WeGoBeyond — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) May 8, 2025 'Our role is to make sure we give people something to cheer about. I want players to enjoy it – this is a unique experience. Who knows if this will be your last opportunity to wear this shirt? You never know what will happen. We just have to work hard and give all of ourselves. If we do that, with the talent we have, it will be a great tour.' Itoje was missing from training on Monday, leading to intense speculation among his Saracens team-mates that he'd already had the call-up. The truth was he was at his brother's wedding – not finding out that he'd become the 47th captain in Lions history until just 24 hours later. 'I've been talked about as a captain contender since I was 21, and more often than not, I haven't got it,' added Itoje, who was only named England captain ahead of the recent Six Nations. 'I've learnt you can't take speculation as gospel – just because people are saying something, it doesn't make it true. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The British & Irish Lions (@britishandirishlions) 'I never want to be presumptuous and just try and focus on what I can control. It means an awful lot; it's a tremendous honour. It's felt very humbling and surreal. It's been incredible and I'm very excited to get going. 'You never want to be the reason why it leaks, so I kept the circle as tight as possible: my fiancée, my brother and sister, mum and dad.' Itoje spent the night before coach Andy Farrell confirmed his 38-strong touring party having dinner with his predecessors – a red thread that dates back to Robert Seddon, who led the team to New Zealand on the boat SS Kaikoura in 1888. And he claims that his captains in 2017 and 2021, Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones, have given him a blueprint for the weeks ahead. 'Both had very different personalities. Sam wasn't the biggest talker, but he led through his actions – he was always putting his body on the line and was among our best players. His record speaks for itself,' he said. 'Alun was all pride, passion, and energy. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, he's very eloquent and very smart. Both were selfless guys and did what they had to do. 'It was just an amazing dinner, spending time with some of the giants of our game. It was the first time I've spent really good quality time with these people. The message from all the captains was: enjoy it, trust yourself, and remember to lean on the quality people you have around you.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lions contenders discover fate and receive greatest call of all
By James Toney Lions squad announcement has changed through the years but the meaning remains the same. The white smoke billowed and the men in red were finally in total unison, all roads leading Down Under rather than to Rome. After months of questions and seemingly endless debate, British & Irish Lions Head Coach Andy Farrell finally had his answers – though, of course, the real examination lies ahead in ten bruising fixtures, including three Wallabies Tests, from Dublin to Sydney. There are call-ups, and then there are Lions call-ups. The class of 2025 was revealed to a live audience of 2,000 fans at London's O2 to a fanfare like never before. Players waited at home or at training grounds to hear the news – no advance warning or privileged heads-up to determine whether they were in or out of one of the most exclusive clubs in sport. Even off the pitch, few things are more brutal and beautiful than Lions rugby, with its 137 years (and counting) of storied history. Your Lions 2025 squad 🦁📋 #Lions2025 #WeGoBeyond — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) May 8, 2025 And if the timeline of this story started in black and white, retold through yellowing sepia-tinted photos, this announcement was delivered in glorious technicolour. For many watching one-time Lions, a livestream was something you paddled in, and TikTok the sound a clock made. But while it looked and felt different from the past, what it meant was exactly the same – the tightly-bound red thread that joins cap one, Jack Anderton, to those heading for Australia remains as strong as ever. 'It's been a tortuous couple of weeks; it's the best news of my career and I'm just so pleased,' said England and Saracens flanker Ben Earl, who watched in his kitchen, while his heart was upstairs in the attic. 'I didn't sleep at all last night. I've been overthinking everything because it's out of your hands. Mum was crying, Dad was trying not to cry, my team-mates were jumping around – it was a special moment.' Back in 1968, it was very different for the legendary Gareth Edwards, who won ten Test caps across three Tours. His anxious wait wasn't for the TV pictures but for the postman – the most important letter he ever received arrived alongside the gas bill and some fashion advice. That's it. That's the moment. Ollie Chessum finds out he's going on tour with the British & Irish Lions. — Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) May 8, 2025 'Things are very different now with regards to the media focus and excitement around a British & Irish Lions tour,' he said. 'Back in my day, all the players were told they were selected by letter. I was there waiting for this brown envelope to arrive. 'I was so nervous I struggled to open it, but when I did it read: 'Dear Mr Edwards, you have been selected to tour with the British Lions to South Africa. Please find enclosed a voucher for two pairs of boots. We advise that you bring a heavy sweater with you as it can be chilly in the evenings in South Africa.' 'I felt such a thrill and so much anticipation – I was going to be playing alongside my heroes.' Current Lions chair Ieuan Evans learned of his selection via Ceefax, constantly refreshing page 370 – one for Gen Z to Google – before discovering his fate. 'I found out watching the television in my house in Swansea with my girlfriend and my best friend," recalls Leigh Halfpenny, selected in 2009 despite only making his Wales debut a few months earlier. 'We were all really nervous, and then when the announcement came through, I jumped up and nearly hit my head on the light above me. Everyone was in tears. I rang my parents straight away – they were in tears too.' They don't say this is the greatest call of all for no reason. Maro Itoje's selection for his third Tour certainly felt different – introduced as the 47th captain in Lions history, to a flurry of camera flashes and a sea of mobile phones, his megawatt smile lighting up the room. He was the only one of the 38-strong touring party to find out in advance, steadfastly keeping the secret in the same manner he hopes to repel the Wallabies this summer. 'I found out on Tuesday. I got a call from an Irish number – not many Irish people call me,' he said. 'I picked it up and heard a Wigan accent and put two and two together, though the signal was a bit crackly. 'It's hard to articulate what this means. It's just a tremendous honour and privilege when you think about the people who have held this position before.' Unburdened of his secret, the hard work now starts for Farrell and his team of tourists. It was afternoon of pride and relief in London but the real celebrations can wait – there's work to do half a world away.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Team GB confident 2026 sliding venue will be completed on time
By James Toney Team GB officials are confident next year's Winter Olympic sliding events will take place in Italy - despite a back-up plan to stage them 4,000 miles away. With one year to go until the 2026 Games, Italian organisers are working around the clock to complete the 1,650-metre sliding track in Cortina d'Ampezzo, with Lake Placid in the USA their 'plan B'. Bobsleigh and skeleton are shaping up to be two of Team GB's major hope hopes after a succession of World Cup podiums by their athletes this season, meaning their coaches are strategising on two scenarios for next February. "We're quite calm about it, but we can't do anything about it," said Team GB chef de mission Eve Muirhead, a curling gold medallist three years ago in Beijing. "Every time we've been there, we've seen progress made. They are working hard to make it work. If it doesn't go to plan, we change and tackle that. The team knows they need to compete on whatever track is put in front of them. "The organising committee are doing monthly checks on the sliding, and all is up to speed, and they are very positive. We've got to work with what we have in front of us, but we trust the organising committee, and we're focused on sliding being in Cortina." A second World Cup win of 2025 🤩Team Hall triumph in the spiritual home of sliding to close the gap on overall top spot - they go again tomorrow in search of a weekend double! — Team GB (@TeamGB) January 25, 2025 Team GB won five medals at the Games in 2014 and 2018 but returned from China with just two, both in curling and struck on the final weekend of competition. Muirhead expects a team of around 50 to compete in Italy, with teenage snowboarder Mia Brookes, who won the world Slopestyle title two years aged just 16, expected to be among the stars. UK Sport have invested £25m in a four-year programme for gold in the Italian Alps but Muirhead is staying coy on her medal ambitions. "We're not putting numbers on our ambitions, it's unfair to put that pressure on athletes," she added. "One year to go is a really exciting milestone, as that's when the tension builds up and qualification comes. I know what it's like in that pressure pot of qualification, and that's what everyone is going through in the next few months. Winter sports are very unpredictable—there are such small margins between winning and losing on the winter stage. "I've had every possible experience of an Olympic Games—the highs and lows—I want to listen and share my experience and be there as a support. "It's important the athletes get to do what they want to do. I want to listen, see what they need to perform under pressure, and make sure they get it. I've learned so much over the years, and I know how difficult and daunting it is."
