British & Irish Lions
• What did the South Africans ever do for us?
What did the South Africans ever do for us?
It’s almost a Monty Python line, although in their case it was the Romans!
But South Africa have done a lot for Irish Rugby, it hasn’t just been the year when Leinster took Heineken Cup glory, or the year when Ireland won their first Grand Slam in 61 years… It was a Lions year….
The experience gained by some of the younger players out there is outstanding, Bowe and Kearney both showed they can be stars in their own right… Fitzgerald and Heaslip stepped up to the mark at a southern hemisphere international level and did so with pride.
Others were outstanding too, Ferris only ruled out of a test place through injury and Earls who will have learnt so much from this trip.
Wait, they were just the youngsters, we’ve got some true world class players already in that squad – O’Driscoll, O’Connell, David Wallace.
Then there’s those who missed out O’Leary and Flannery – and both will be determined to get on top form to show what they could have done in South Africa.
Three autumn internationals are ahead Australia, Fiji and South Africa, and the tough end of the stick in the Six Nations with away trips to Paris and Twickenham.
But with Kidney, Gaffney and Smal all guiding this team where can it really go? They have to be playing full scale rugby – no more the underdogs…