concept of the Lions is glowing in the aftermath of an exhilarating series, but give it a few months and the usual questions will return. One of the trickier ones is, what is the Lions for? It was, after all, born in the amateur era, when men were men, and jobs were inconveniences from which to take a three-month break for some rugby in a far-off land. Times have changed, and so have Lions tours, those long, immersive adventures through another country, building slowly and
Carl Hagelin Womens Jersey deliciously towards a Test series, now compacted into a furious six-week fling of suffocating intensity. Lions 2017: Guardian writers present their awards for the New Zealand tour Read more For all the pressures on the Lions idea, though, one thing will forever ensure its place in the calendar, and that is money. New Zealand have filled their coffers with this tour, as South Africa will in 2021. Australia cannot wait till 2025 for the same reason. Hopefully, they’ll hang on until then. All of which is as it should be. In this professional era, where the economically powerful in Europe continue to squeeze the southern hemisphere with lucrative deals for their best players and ever more comprehensive and sophisticated “pathways” for their own, it seems only right they should give a little back in the shape of a Lions tour every 12 years. But what of the rest of the world? Rugby desperately needs to break out beyond its traditional bases of the Commonwealth and France. There will come a time, and quite soon, when the question is asked why Lions tours are always to the same three countries. There are a number of others now striving nobly to further rugby’s
http://www.authenticducksstore.com/chris-stewart-jersey_c-430.html cause within their borders. What a fillip a visit from the Lions would be for them. Argentina is the rugby country furthest advanced. On their recent tour there, the England team couldn’t move without being asked by the locals if they thought the Lions would ever pay Argentina a visit. In fact, they have, three times, but in those pre-war years when any collection of touring Brits risked being called the Lions. More recently, the 2005 Lions warmed up for their ill-fated tour of New Zealand with a 25-all draw with the Pumas in Cardiff. Now rumours abound that Argentina might be invited to play the Lions on their 2025 tour of Australia – but in Australia, which is much like asking a friend to someone else’s for a drink and kicking them out before the party starts. Argentinians are hopelessly in love with football, but they were born to play rugby, and it is to be hoped that in time they come to realise this. Their forwards are as hard as Georgians, and their backs as quick and deadly as the Japanese. Composure is what they’re lacking at the moment, hence their current run of 11 defeats in 13. After two top-four finishes in the past three World Cups, their loss of form is perplexing, but one suspects temporary. Lions did themselves proud against New Zealand – a draw was a fair result Nick Evans Nick Evans Read more Not that it is a loss of form, exactly. They remain a fabulous side to watch, with a variety of ways to cause pain. Eddie Jones described the “speed of
http://www.nflbengalsofficialshop.com/Nike-Jake-Fisher-Jersey.html movements” in the first Test in San Juan last month as 10% faster than anything encountered in the Six Nations, and his assistant Paul Gustard confirmed this was not rhetoric but had been measured. Nevertheless, an exceptionally inexperienced England team managed to win the series 2-0. A Lions tour of Argentina isn’t going to be happening any time soon, and that’s probably just as well. That said, if this Lions squad had been touring South Africa or Australia this year, they would have won the series 3-0. Argentina are now used to taking a match off one of those a year. In 16 years’ time, which is the soonest a tour of Argentina could take place, who is to say they won’t have surpassed one or both of them in the world rankings? They would need more than just the one Super Rugby team by then, but even without that a tour of the Americas, taking in Canada and USA (what sort of level will they be at in 16 years?) before a Test series with Argentina, would surely appeal to any of the likely sorts in the market for travelling with the Lions. Because Argentina is a country to delight any rugby type, with its accent on red meat, wine, warm air and open shirts. Mountains, vast plains and fabulously brute-ish, concrete monstrosities for stadiums, which rock with passionate locals, lend a further twist of flavour. You might argue its suitability for the Lions now. Develop the depth of its rugby another degree, though, and the case becomes unanswerable. New Zealand, South Africa and Australia will fight hard for their 12-yearly windfall, but the amateur concept of the Lions must continue to evolve if it wants to survive in the professional era. Maintaining
Jeff Driskel Womens Jersey the same three destinations smacks too much of the old boy network. Argentina would breathe new life into the concept. They deserve to be given the chance
