sight of an onrushing Sonny Bill Williams is not necessarily a thrilling one for defenders but the Lions centre Robbie Henshaw cannot wait to bump into the multi-talented All Black at Eden Park. The Irishman was a big schoolboy fan of Williams and describes the prospect of making his Lions debut against his one-time hero as “pretty
Brett Hundley Authentic Jerseysurreal”. While the multi-talented 31-year-old Williams – who has boxed professionally as well as playing both codes of rugby – is by no means the sole threat in an attack-minded Blues backline, he will be Henshaw’s direct opponent and is set to provide the 23-year-old with a good indication of where he sits in the international midfield pecking order. Lions battling on two familiar fronts before second tour match against Blues Read more A good game would also propel Henshaw within touching distance of a Lions Test jersey but swapping shirts with Williams would be almost as exciting. “I was a big fan of his when I was a kid, whether it was performing in league or for the All Blacks,” says the physical Leinster player. “To be coming up against him is pretty surreal. It’s going to be tricky but I’m looking forward to playing against him and having a go.” Henshaw is also vowing he and his team-mates will take the game to the provincial sides they encounter, rather than allow their hosts to take the initiative. “We need to come with an attack mentality here,” says Henshaw, who scored Ireland’s final try against the All Blacks in last autumn’s win in Chicago. “We can’t sit off and let these boys play because they can tear teams up in the blink of an eye. Our mentality is to go after these teams, show them we’re coming here to play and go after them in defence as well.” Warren Gatland is also inviting his backs to take calculated risks – “If it’s on to throw a 60/40 offload he’s encouraging us to do that,” says Henshaw – and his players have stopped using jetlag as an excuse for sluggishness. “We have settled in nicely, we are feeling really fresh and are pretty much
http://www.greenbaypackersauthorizedstore.com/bryan-bulaga-jersey-elite raring to go,” confirmed Henshaw. “That [jetlag] is out the window now.” Advertisement As someone who studied Gaelic in his youth, Henshaw has already risen to the challenge of speaking in the language to Maori elders at the squad’s official welcome in Waitangi last Sunday. After receiving some tips from his sister Ali, a primary school teacher, he fulfilled his ceremonial duties having received the nod ahead of his team-mate Tadhg Furlong. “As I played in the west of Ireland with Connacht and it’s an Irish-speaking area, I was directly in line for it,” he says. “I was asking Tadhg a couple of days before if he wanted to go for it but he had to prepare for the opening game – so I had to take it on.” With Ben Te’o having made a promising start to the tour, the onus is now on Henshaw and his defensive partner Jared Payne, who used to play for the Blues, to keep Williams’s offloading game quiet: “It’s obviously the top, top level of the sport for us and to be in this position is unbelievable. I just want to go out there and do myself proud, do my family proud and do the best I can.” It has also emerged the Lions will face a series of hakas before all their provincial games, in addition to the Tests and the fixture against the Maori. For the first time in the Blues’ 21-year history, the team will perform a pre-match haka entitled He Toa Takitini which translates as “(The Strength of Many)”. “All credit to the Lions for embracing the opportunity to face a haka before kick-off,” said Nigel Cass, New Zealand Rugby’s general managerTeam New Zealand capsized during the run-in to the second race
http://www.sandiegochargersauthorizedstore.com/craig-mager-jersey-elite of their America’s Cup challenger semi-final against Great Britain’s Land Rover BAR in Bermuda. All crew members were later reported safe. Great Britain’s Land Rover BAR fall 2-0 behind in America’s Cup pursuit Read more After winning the first race on Tuesday against Sir Ben Ainslie’s syndicate to move 3-0 ahead in the first-to-five contest, the New Zealanders were heading towards the start line under strong winds when the boat rose up on its foils and plunged forward into the water. Ainslie said in a statement on BAR’s official Twitter feed: “In 30 years of racing it is the most full-on, exhilarating sailing I have ever had. The most important thing is that everyone is OK on Team New Zealand after their capsize. We look forward to seeing them back on the race course.” At a press conference Ainslie added: “I am sure they will recover from that and be out racing tomorrow or the next day.” Racing is scheduled to resume on Wednesday if weather conditions permit. BAR were awarded the win as a result of the incident, which now means they trail 3-1. The Team New Zealand
http://www.sandiegochargersauthorizedstore.com/dan-feeney-jersey-elite helmsman, Peter Burling, told the press conference the capsize was “was fully our error” because the crew were “trying to get off the start clean”. Burling believes the “fair bit of damage” to the AC50 – which appeared to include a top section of the wing smashed – would not prevent his team resuming racing. The winners are set to progress to the challenger final and whoever wins that takes on the defending champion, Team USA, for the America’s Cup itself. In the other semi-final series Team Japan won both runs against Sweden’s Artemis Racing to move 3-1 ahead[code]?[/code]
