Proud tradition to lift Lions
2 Jul 2009
Lions No 8 Jamie Heaslip says the pride and history of the jersey will inspire the tourists to win the last Test.
The Lions were shattered after the loss at Loftus Versfeld, a loss that signified a series defeat. The result renders the Ellis Park fixture a dead rubber, and after a bruising tour, the visitors must be struggling for motivation.
The players trained for the first time on Tuesday after Ian McGeechan gave them several days to forget that defeat. Heaslip, who was inconsolable at Loftus, said the mental break had done them good. The Lions will now look to salvage something from a disappointing tour.
‘Saturday’s about out and out pride,’ he told keo.co.za. ‘I don’t think we’ll have any problem replicating the desire you saw last week. It’s got nothing to do with what you think as an individual, it’s about pride, it’s about the jersey.
‘Many great players have come before us and some have ended up on the losing side. There have also been players who have come here and won. We owe it to both sets of players to avoid the whitewash.’
The Irishman admitted this was the most intense rugby he has ever experienced. Even though the Boks have made a number of changes to their starting line-up, Heaslip expects another onslaught.
‘They’re very brutal in the forwards, and as you can see by our players’ injuries, the backs as well. I’ve been involved in a few tough games, but I’ve never experienced that kind of match.
‘We have to keep up the intensity,’ Heaslip continued. ‘We made two mistakes last week and they punished us, that’s what world champions do. I do think we will be up for this game.
‘We have to reduce the mistakes, and we have to stick to our multi-phase game. I think you can see that when we’ve done that, they’ve battled to keep up with us.’
Heaslip will be joined by Joe Worsley and Martyn Williams in the back row, with David Wallace and Tom Croft dropping to the bench.
By Jon Cardinelli, in Johannesburg
24 Comments
2 Jul 2009, 17:50 pm
Can any London-based Bok fan out there get hold of the Mirror, Saturday 27 June, page 66. I haven’t seen it myself but according to bloggers on Shane William’s blog in the Telegraph it shows a photo of O’Driscoll gouging Bismark.
Come on Keo – do a bit of digging and let’s see it!
2 Jul 2009, 18:09 pm
#1 rich1:
I’ve seen the photo in question. It does look like BOD’s finger is on its way towards the face, about an inch or two away from it.
However, BDP (I originally thought it was Botha) is crushing his wind-pipe with his forearm (they’re on the floor, BDP on top.)
Google Images: O Driscoll Du Plessis
Its not quite the same as Schalk on Fitzer.
However, I am certainly happy to say that if there is another photo out there showing BoDs finger in his eye, then banning him is the only answer. Its gotta be stopped.
2 Jul 2009, 20:44 pm
#1 rich1:
I too asked about the image earlier think if you want to have a look its at
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2009/6/20/1245525166932/Botha-ODriscoll-001.jpg
Is that the picture you mean?
2 Jul 2009, 22:42 pm
Whats there to be proud of you have not won a series since 1997 do you know how many talented rugby players have come and gone, the Lions lost in Australia 2001, then were dealt to by a talented All Black team 2005 and now the Lions have lost this series 2009, so this guy must be deluded with too much alcohol.
2 Jul 2009, 22:52 pm
#3 Thameside Bok fan: Looks like Pierre maybe? Not bissie or Botha…
#4 marvinb: Win or lose, their players fought the good fight (if not their press). You can give them that. We are not bad winners.
2 Jul 2009, 22:54 pm
Since 1997? Well, how many Lions tours have their been in the last decade, then? And the Boks haven’t won a series in NZ since 1937 … that’s a whole lot longer between drinks, isn’t it?
2 Jul 2009, 23:38 pm
#6 TheTackler: Do they play series in NZ any more? When was the last Bok tour? 1981 I think, doesn’t the Lions tour every four years. so 1997,2001,2005,2009 looks like a 3-1 series lost, not a good look.
3 Jul 2009, 00:02 am
#3 Thameside Bok fan:
Well if thats the picture and if were BOD getting strangled i would be gouging both eyes.Loss of air means death.Loss of eyes dosnt.
3 Jul 2009, 00:45 am
that guy doesnt look like bismarck at all….the elbow to the throat is def a bismarck type of action but the nose belongs to spies or botha but he doesnt have spies’s robo-arm brace..i wonder if this isnt a photshop job designed to destroy the image of SA rugby.An evil attempt by the Poms to turn the whole world against us…
…I def think that evil frog from ‘Flushed away’ is behind this whole thing!!
3 Jul 2009, 01:16 am
Wonder what the 2 mistakes are he refers to? O’Gara’s missed tackle and brain explosion at the end?
3 Jul 2009, 09:23 am
#3 Thameside Bok fan: Errr, that’s Bakkies not Busmarck.
3 Jul 2009, 09:30 am
#5 SjamBok: Any moron can see it’s Botha, both Busmarck and Spies have dark brown to black hair, this man has light brown, it’s Bakkies.
3 Jul 2009, 09:31 am
#12 Breakdown Boy:
It is Pierre.
3 Jul 2009, 09:31 am
Even the link shows (Botha-O’Driscall)
3 Jul 2009, 09:35 am
I refer to my comment#9…….. I still think the frog is behing this.
3 Jul 2009, 09:38 am
#13 Pietman: Are we talking about the link at post #3, then you mistaken as Spies had a scrum cap on the whole game. And again black not light brown like Bakkies in the picture.
3 Jul 2009, 09:44 am
http://www.scrum.com/PICTURES/CMS/6100/6136.jpg
Sie this is how spies looks like?
3 Jul 2009, 09:44 am
#13 Pietman: dude if u google images ‘schalk eye gouge and see the pic of him doing the deed…u will see spies in a similar position that ‘he’ is in to this picture were talking about…believe me u can see the difference..its bakkies..spies’ right arm is packed with muscle that bakkies is lacking in the pic.
3 Jul 2009, 09:47 am
click on the link to see what spies looks like as opposed to the chap in question..
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/shanewilliams/100000208/lions-2009-schalk-burger-deserved-a-red-card-and-a-year-ban-at-least/
4 Jul 2009, 02:34 am
#7 marvinb: Every time you play more than one test in either country it’s technically a series. France played two in NZ this year and, had they beaten the ABs in the 2nd test, could claim a series win. That is how France were the first test team to win a 20th Century away series on SA soil in 1958.
The ABs won their 1996 series in SA to record their first ever away series versus the Boks. Last year there were 2 tests in NZ and therefore it was a series. SA won the second test at Carisbrook, squaring the series after their first test defeat in Auckland.
This year NZ play two tests in SA, in Durban and Bloem, making it a home series for the Boks.
Yes, it’s not the old style “long tour” of yore, with provincial midweek games and all, but it’s still a series.
4 Jul 2009, 02:42 am
#20 TheTackler: I don’t think two games as part of a 3N comp is classified as a series.
4 Jul 2009, 04:01 am
#20 TheTackler: Thanks for the low down of a series definition I thought it had to be three tests I wish it was,the rules tend to change as the years go by, for example losing the trophys to the French on points difference, but comparing the Bledisloe when it was a drawn series this would be retained by the Holder as was done with the Wallabies when they last held it and the drawn series was held by the team who came into the series holding it.
4 Jul 2009, 05:02 am
Bledisloe is different — the advantage was all the way with the holder as, in the past, it was settled in an annual two-game home-and-away contest and the challenger would have to win BOTH these legs to wrest it off the holder.
Then, in 2008, it became a best-of-three and this year it’s a best-of-four contest, which actually makes it easier for the challenger as you can now lose a leg and draw another but still win the Bledisloe by winning the remaining 2 out of 4 and emerge a clear winner. And the “home and away” has gone out the window as Bledisloe tests are now being played on “neutral” grounds like Hong Kong or Tokyo.
(Different rules applied to the silverware part of the Gallagher Cup (NZ v Fra) trophy, where a points differential applies to who owns the cup after a shared two-test series. But, had France won both legs of their contest with the ABs, they would have added a series win on the record as well as taking away the silverware.)
A series can consist of anything from 2 tests upward.
4 Jul 2009, 06:01 am
#23 TheTackler: Thanks I never knew that about the Bledisloe, excellent Tri Nations this year.
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.