Congratulations to our ex player Harrison Walsh on winning a Bronze medal for Wales in the Commonwealth Games last night not forgetting Bridgend boy Aled Sion Davies winning the Gold in the same event. Well done both
Did anyone see the sharks scarlets game on Friday? I only saw small parts of it but the scoreline didn’t reflect how good the scarlets were. At one point I thought they were going to get a win against a side packed with SA internationals.
Anyone seen Phil Steele’s interview with Dafydd James? Really poignant and raw interview shows how he suffered and is still suffering with his mental health. Really brave of him to do that and a reminder that there are likely a number of professional players suffering in silence. Article also mentions the great work Lloyd Ashley is doing in this space.
I’m guessing that ship has sailed @ospreysfanforum and that we’ll have to wait til after the WC. Not sure who we’d get if we changed coaches now or how quickly they’d be able to improve things. The team don’t look as if they know what they want to do and seem very passive in defence, but as we all know it’s not just the senior national team that are struggling.
Wales have been poor. Peyper has had a shocker - apparently you can scrummage with your elbow on the floor now. 6 and 8 have been anonymous. Adams in the centre just has not worked. McNicholl defends way too narrowly.
I know we are not allowed to use the Os..... word on this topic but extra special good luck to 3 players today Captain Dan, Vice Captain Adam and hopefully Debutant Dewi, obviously good luck to our other players and Wales.
It's a very tough ask with the number of cap holders missing, but just do yourselves, family, club and country proud.
Rhys Davies would be the logical choice I think having already been involved in the previous camp and having continued his good form. Fingers crossed for him.
Unless you are a die hard rugby fan the series as a spectacle was pretty grim. There wouldn’t be many converts to the game after the boring arm wrestle we witnessed .Rugby as a game is about running with the ball not battering each other half to death.
A shame to have lost, and I’d have hoped not have been lamenting a dodgy ref decision, but it looks to have cost us. but at least we can now start to focus on the new season and the ospreys. Agree gutted for AWJ.
Gatland paying even less attention to you!! No place in 23 for Farrell George Beirne and Faletau . Owens and VDM the surprise starters for me and some wildcards on the bench in Russell and Simmonds. Sinkler citing not upheld so he benches.
Boks with two big injury misses in de Klerk and Du Toit and neither Oxche or Vermuelen have made it back from injury. Four of their better players not on the field Saturday.
I’m so pleased for Adam Beard. I have always been unsure whether he was of International standard in the modern game as today’s 2nd rows tend to be far more athletic around the pitch. However, since he was dropped by Pivac, his form playing for the Ospreys was outstanding and his Wales recall was more than justified. His performances for Wales and for the Lions in the warm up games were excellent and silenced his doubters (and me) who questioned whether he was good enough for the Lions. I truly hope that when he comes on on Saturday he again shows us just how good he is and that there is always a need for the more traditional type of 2nd row in todays game. Good luck Adam.
So the Lions win the First Test mainly due to some Dan Biggar kicks, some fortunate TMO decisions (the LeRoux try should have stood & Watson should have seen yellow) and SA running out of steam on the hour mark.
Curry and Daly were the wrong selections - giving away at least 5 penalties between them in the first half alone and I think Faletau or Watson should have started/benched at 7 with Farrell or Aki in at centre.
I doubt SA run out of steam next week and going toe to toe is not the ideal game plan as the first half showed. The Lions barely played any rugby of note.
@Fiddler Yesterday was the game that I thought we would see last week but SA ran out of gas. I said then that the selection and tactics were wrong and I stand by that but I think that Gatland will be stubborn and make very few selection changes for next Saturday and that will ultimately cost the Lions the series.
I can't see Gatland picking Watson over Curry, likewise VDM over A Watson and Owens over George. Gats is a big fan of those English players whether anyone likes it or not.
@MorristonRhys I guess we will have to wait and see. I reckon that anyone who starts on Saturday is a good bet to not be starting the First Test unless Gatland uses it as a dry run.
Superb work from Beard at a SA A lineout and he pinches the ball. The Lions try to play from deep and win a penalty. Farrell knocks it deep into the SA A 22. This is likely the final chance for the Lions.
The Lions have not created many chances tonight against a very aggressive SA A defence. The levels have gone up but the Lions have not really played much rugby.
Half time 17-3. The Lions have to take advantage of their extra 2 men in the next 8 or so minutes. I think that Biggar is a massive loss tonight as the Lions are missing his control.
No try and a penalty to SA A for a double movement. The Lions probably should have taken a scrum and used their numerical advantage to greater effect but they persist with the pick and drive and end up with nothing.
Not a great start for the Lions but a superb Aki tackle stops a certain SA A try only for the ref to go back for the offside. Steyn slots the kick and SA A lead 3-0.
The Lions get a start in the game with a scrum free kick and then a penalty but they are penalised at the resulting lineout allowing the Bokke to clear.
A Farrell kick is charged down and Nkosi races away to score the first try of the game. SA A 8-0 with the conversion to come. The kick is good and SA A lead 10-0. Huge improvement required from the Lions.
Yes, the legend that is AWJ will return to the Lions Squad tomorrow, just 18 days after dislocating his shoulder and being ruled out of the series. Phenomenal.
Warren Gatland has said that AWJ could make a shock return to the Lions Tour after training with Wales this week. AWJ is set to undergo a double session with Wales on Tuesday and Gatland will make his decision based on the medical report after those sessions.
Ah right, I didn’t know that @ospreysfanforum . I’ve not really followed SH franchise rugby before as I’ve not had Sky Sports for most of the time. When I did have it, I never had the time 🙈.
Im really hoping the SA Sides drive up competition next year, as although it will make it that much harder for us it will increase the bar when it comes to general performances. Struggling against a poor treviso at home is simply not going to be acceptable if we want to be considered as a strong force.
Decent hit out for the B and I Lions. I believe the Sigma Lions are the weakest of the SA franchises, so interesting to see them play too ahead of the coming season.
40 seconds into the second half and Josh Adams scores a nice try, converted by Farrell, 28-5. Adams would go on to score three more tries for a personal tally of 4 tries, all converted by Farrell and Gareth Davies added a try as the Lions ran out 56-14 winners in the opening Tour game.
More good work from the B&I Lions leads to a debut try for Wynne Jones as he dives over the ruck for a close range 4th try but the TMO comes in for a clear out violation. Will the try stand?
A pre-planned lineout move leads to another try for the Lions as Price strolls under the posts. Farrell converts again but the SA Lions hit back almost immediately and score a try of their own. The conversion sails wide and it is 21-5 after 36 minutes.
Great start from the B&I Lions as LRZ scores a debut Lions try and as I type, Hamish Watson drives over for a second Lions try. Both tries are converted by Farrell and the Lions lead 14-0 after 7 minutes
Canada have scored? A speculative kick through sees the Canadian winger reach the ball before Tom Rogers who dithers slightly, TMO looks but it is a knock on.
Some 16 phases makes a mess of the Canadian defence and Nicky Smith dives over for a try. 24-5 and Sheedy adds the extras to make it 26-5 after 29 minutes. This is all too easy for Wales at the minute.
Wales are upping the tempo with a few good line breaks and after a clearing Canadian kick, Nick Tomkins puts in Foxy who offloads to Botham for Wales's 2nd try. 12-5 and Sheedy hits the post with the conversion. Could be a long day for Canada....
Leigh Halfpenny is stretchered off in the opening 90 seconds of the Wales v Canada game with what looks like a serious knee injury.
Wales then concede the opening try after 5 minutes when Canada take a quick tap and score in the corner.
Sheedy makes a nice break but it comes to nothing apart from a penalty that Tomos Williams taps and goes and scores. 5-5 after 7 minutes with the conversion to come.
Just saw a shot of AWJ on the bench (in the stands) and he did not 'look' like he had dislocated his shoulder when he moved both arms. Surely he would be straight off to hospital if it were something like a dislocation or fracture?
@Allthewaythere Nope both players have been ruled out of the Tour with Adam Beard and Josh Navidi called up to replace them. Connor Murray is the new B&I Lions captain.
Great start from the Lions with Adams and Van der Merwe scoring and as I type Henshaw scores. On a negative note both AWJ and Tipuric have gone off with what look like quite significant injuries, but it could just be precautionary.
Biggar with 3 great conversions and the Lions lead 21-0 after 24 minutes.
@Allthewaythere Yeah. For the Lions and the player it looks like it is bad news, just have to cross fingers and toes that it is not something serious that rules him out of the Tour.
@Allthewaythere Official news from the Lions (via Simon Thomas on Twitter) is that both AWJ and Tips have suffered shoulder injuries. Best case scenario for them is a stinger and worst case is dislocation and or a break.
In the Rainbow Cup Final where Benetton faced the Vodacom Bulls, most people would have picked an easy win for the SA team but when the teams were announced, I was shocked to see that the Bulls had named a largely Currie Cup team and not gone full strength with all of their SpringBoks. I won't post the result in case you have not seen it.
I will kick it off with the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals from yesterday.
Bristol Bears raced into a 28-5 half time lead against the Quins but the Quins were a much better team second half and came back to make it 31-31 at full time. Therefore two ten minute periods of extra time were required and although both teams scored a try each in the ET, it was Quins who benefitted from a somewhat dubious 'no head contact' call that allowed them to score the winning try and go through to the Final.
The other semi was a titanic struggle between Exeter and Sale and both teams would have been worthy finalists but there was only one winner and Exeter were just better on the day and go through to another Premiership Final where they will face the Quins.
It is fair to point out Quins were already in front 38-36 before they scored that try on the final whistle. It was a shocking decision by Barnes. He forgot that whilst it may not have been a card it was a clear and obvious penalty for an upright tackle. Still all Bristol could have done with the penalty was kick to touch and injury had reduced them to 13 men and they had used all their substitutes and lost their three main strike players due to injury so the odds against them scoring were quite high.
@Fiddler Yes that is entirely fair and we will never know what might have happened in that last minute had Bristol been given the penalty. The main takeaway from yesterday is that the game is not over until the final whistle and that you have to put the game to bed.
Does anyone know what the situation is in the Premiership this season with regards relegation, promotion etc.
Congratulations to our ex player Harrison Walsh on winning a Bronze medal for Wales in the Commonwealth Games last night not forgetting Bridgend boy Aled Sion Davies winning the Gold in the same event. Well done both
Did anyone see the sharks scarlets game on Friday? I only saw small parts of it but the scoreline didn’t reflect how good the scarlets were. At one point I thought they were going to get a win against a side packed with SA internationals.
Anyone seen Phil Steele’s interview with Dafydd James? Really poignant and raw interview shows how he suffered and is still suffering with his mental health. Really brave of him to do that and a reminder that there are likely a number of professional players suffering in silence. Article also mentions the great work Lloyd Ashley is doing in this space.
I’m guessing that ship has sailed @ospreysfanforum and that we’ll have to wait til after the WC. Not sure who we’d get if we changed coaches now or how quickly they’d be able to improve things. The team don’t look as if they know what they want to do and seem very passive in defence, but as we all know it’s not just the senior national team that are struggling.
Pivac has to go and go now.
Piss poor all round from Wales.
Wales have been poor. Peyper has had a shocker - apparently you can scrummage with your elbow on the floor now. 6 and 8 have been anonymous. Adams in the centre just has not worked. McNicholl defends way too narrowly.
Pivac has ruined Wales.
I know we are not allowed to use the Os..... word on this topic but extra special good luck to 3 players today Captain Dan, Vice Captain Adam and hopefully Debutant Dewi, obviously good luck to our other players and Wales.
It's a very tough ask with the number of cap holders missing, but just do yourselves, family, club and country proud.
Rhys Davies would be the logical choice I think having already been involved in the previous camp and having continued his good form. Fingers crossed for him.
Here are the Wales and Ireland teams for the 6 Nations opener on Saturday
Quite surprised to see Lake on the bench. Great to see 5 Ospreys involved.
Also Tshunzia is out of the 6 Nations with a hamstring injury so maybe Rhys Davies gets called up?
Unless you are a die hard rugby fan the series as a spectacle was pretty grim. There wouldn’t be many converts to the game after the boring arm wrestle we witnessed .Rugby as a game is about running with the ball not battering each other half to death.
A shame to have lost, and I’d have hoped not have been lamenting a dodgy ref decision, but it looks to have cost us. but at least we can now start to focus on the new season and the ospreys. Agree gutted for AWJ.
Well the Lions series is over and it was a case of missed opportunities as the Lions slipped to a 19-16 loss and a 2-1 series defeat.
The loss of Wyn Jones was huge as the scrum struggled after he went off - should that clearout have warranted more than what it did?
Sanjay should have passed to Adams who probably would have scored.
Curry was stupidly penalised for going in front of the maul when it seemed that a certain try would be scored.
Should the Lions have kicked a couple of those penalties instead of going for the corner?
Gutted for AWJ.
This time, I feel Gatland will listen to me and pick a more expansive team....
W Jones (if fit) or Mako
J George
T Furlong
A Beard
AWJ
T Beirne
T Curry
T Faletau
C Murray
D BIggar
J Adams
O Farrell
B Aki
L Rees-Zammit
L Williams
Reps
Mako (if W Jones is fit) or Sutherland
K Owens
A N Other if SInckler is banned (who is the next cab off the rank? Tom Francis?)
M Itoje
J Navidi
G Davies
S Hogg
R Henshaw
Kyler Sinckler cited for biting in the second Test - the only citing from the match.
Stuart Hogg alleged to have bitten Willie Le Roux but no citing.
Maro Itoje very very lucky to get away without a citing for his knee to the neck of a SA player.
Thanks
Does anyone know what is happening in the Welsh Premiership next season? Have players been allocated, has training started and is there relegation ?
So the Lions win the First Test mainly due to some Dan Biggar kicks, some fortunate TMO decisions (the LeRoux try should have stood & Watson should have seen yellow) and SA running out of steam on the hour mark.
Curry and Daly were the wrong selections - giving away at least 5 penalties between them in the first half alone and I think Faletau or Watson should have started/benched at 7 with Farrell or Aki in at centre.
I doubt SA run out of steam next week and going toe to toe is not the ideal game plan as the first half showed. The Lions barely played any rugby of note.
My 23 for next week would be
W Jones (if fit)
K Owens
T Furlong
Itoje
AWJ Lawes
Conan
Faletau
Price
Biggar
Adams
Henshaw
Aki
Van De Merwe
Hogg
Vunipola
George
Sinckler
Beard
Beirne
Simmonds
Farrell
Williams
I went 6/2 on the bench.
In what could be described as a risky selection, Gatland has picked this squad for the First Lions Test v South Africa on Saturday...
SOUTH AFRICA v THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) #783
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822
12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #824
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #843
1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) #842
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) #851
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) #825
5. Alun Wyn Jones – captain (Ospreys, Wales) #761
6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) #826
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) #853
8.Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839
Replacements:
16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829
17. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #840
18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England) #814
19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
20. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) #847
21. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790
22. Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) #780
23. Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) #833
Saturday 24 July 2021
Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 5pm (BST)
No Josh Adams, Toby Faletau, Sam Simmonds, Adam Beard and Jamie George are just a few of the surprises by Gatland. If he gets this selection wrong....
Based on what I have seen so far, my Test 23 for the First Test would be
W Jones
K Owens
T Furlong
AWJ
Itoje
Beirne
Watson
Faletau
Murray
Biggar
Adams
Farrell
Henshaw (Aki)
Van De Merwe
L Williams
Bench
Vunipola, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler, Beard, Simmonds
Davies, Aki, LZR
That is it. Despite a great effort from the Lions pack and a fluffed De Klerk pass, SA A manage to get the ball into touch and end the game 17-13.
Fagerson knocks on and that is likely it.
Superb work from Beard at a SA A lineout and he pinches the ball. The Lions try to play from deep and win a penalty. Farrell knocks it deep into the SA A 22. This is likely the final chance for the Lions.
Steyn goes for a drop goal but misses wide right. Beard has had an impact defensively at the SA A maul.
The Lions have not created many chances tonight against a very aggressive SA A defence. The levels have gone up but the Lions have not really played much rugby.
Another penalty to SA A but it comes to nothing.
Too many turnovers and ruck errors for my liking by the Lions. Costing them at the moment.
Henderson gives away a needless lineout penalty and Steyn steps up to go for 3...he pulls it though and the score remains 17-13.
Here comes Adam Beard.
LZR almost scores a great try but is pinged for a double movement and SA A clear to touch.
Penalty goal for the Lions 17-13 and SA A are back to 15.
Try time for the Lions after some good attacking play. Wynne Jones drives over after another quick tap penalty. 17-10.
Half time 17-3. The Lions have to take advantage of their extra 2 men in the next 8 or so minutes. I think that Biggar is a massive loss tonight as the Lions are missing his control.
Huge second half to come.
No try and a penalty to SA A for a double movement. The Lions probably should have taken a scrum and used their numerical advantage to greater effect but they persist with the pick and drive and end up with nothing.
Loads of pressure from the Lions and 2 SA A yellow cards leads to a potential Lions try. With the TMO now.
Daly kicks straight to Kolbe and he skins Harris before offloading to Am and SA A score another try that Steyn converts 17-3.
Faletau has a good run and SA A are pinged for slowing the ball down. Farrell steps up to go for 3 and slots the kick 10-3
Great scrum from Wynne Jones and the Lions pack as they win a penalty that allows Farrell to clear.
Liam Williams has failed a HIA so one of the 2 backs reserves (Daly) is on already.
Itoje offside at the maul again and SA A go to the corner.
Better from the Lions as Owens wins a turnover penalty but Farrell misses the corner and SA A have a scrum in a good position.
Not a great start for the Lions but a superb Aki tackle stops a certain SA A try only for the ref to go back for the offside. Steyn slots the kick and SA A lead 3-0.
The Lions get a start in the game with a scrum free kick and then a penalty but they are penalised at the resulting lineout allowing the Bokke to clear.
A Farrell kick is charged down and Nkosi races away to score the first try of the game. SA A 8-0 with the conversion to come. The kick is good and SA A lead 10-0. Huge improvement required from the Lions.
2 late changes for the Lions for this unofficial 4th Test as Liam Williams and Owen Farrell come in for Adams and Biggar respectively.
This is going to be some match. Win it and the Lions put down a massive marker but lose and the pressure will really be on.
What a legend! Truly phenomenal.
Superhuman. The true Lions tour captain.
Delighted for Al.
He's baaaaacccccckkkkkk, back again.
Yes, the legend that is AWJ will return to the Lions Squad tomorrow, just 18 days after dislocating his shoulder and being ruled out of the series. Phenomenal.
In other news, Scarlets shirt sponsor WRW have gone in administration.
Things have gone up several notches for the Lions as they prepare to face SA A on Wednesday.
Here is the Lions squad for the match:-
SOUTH AFRICA ‘A’ v THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
15. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816
14. Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby, Wales) #846
13. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) #844
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) #837
11. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby, Wales) #836
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821
9. Conor Murray – captain (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790
1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) #842
2. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England) #814
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) #825
5. Iain Henderson (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) #808
6. Josh Navidi (Cardiff Rugby, Wales) #854
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) #853
8 .Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales) #779
Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) #851
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) #787
18. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #848
19. Adam Beard (Ospreys, Wales) #852
20. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838
21. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) #849
22. Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) #850
23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822
Wednesday 14 July 2021
Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 7pm (BST)
South Africa have named a very strong A side as shown here:-
Kitsoff, Dweba, Nyakane, Etsebeth, Mostert, Van Staden, Wiese, Du Toit
De Klerk, M Steyn, Nkosi, Allende, Am, Kolbe, Le Roux.
By my count, 12 of those players have Springbok caps. This is a massive game.
Also Quins' Marcus Smith has been called up as a 10 as injury cover for Finn Russell who has an Achilles injury.
Warren Gatland has said that AWJ could make a shock return to the Lions Tour after training with Wales this week. AWJ is set to undergo a double session with Wales on Tuesday and Gatland will make his decision based on the medical report after those sessions.
Ah right, I didn’t know that @ospreysfanforum . I’ve not really followed SH franchise rugby before as I’ve not had Sky Sports for most of the time. When I did have it, I never had the time 🙈.
Im really hoping the SA Sides drive up competition next year, as although it will make it that much harder for us it will increase the bar when it comes to general performances. Struggling against a poor treviso at home is simply not going to be acceptable if we want to be considered as a strong force.
Decent hit out for the B and I Lions. I believe the Sigma Lions are the weakest of the SA franchises, so interesting to see them play too ahead of the coming season.
40 seconds into the second half and Josh Adams scores a nice try, converted by Farrell, 28-5. Adams would go on to score three more tries for a personal tally of 4 tries, all converted by Farrell and Gareth Davies added a try as the Lions ran out 56-14 winners in the opening Tour game.
Half time. 21-5.
The try will not stand as Courtney Lawes is done for a neck roll.
More good work from the B&I Lions leads to a debut try for Wynne Jones as he dives over the ruck for a close range 4th try but the TMO comes in for a clear out violation. Will the try stand?
A pre-planned lineout move leads to another try for the Lions as Price strolls under the posts. Farrell converts again but the SA Lions hit back almost immediately and score a try of their own. The conversion sails wide and it is 21-5 after 36 minutes.
Great start from the B&I Lions as LRZ scores a debut Lions try and as I type, Hamish Watson drives over for a second Lions try. Both tries are converted by Farrell and the Lions lead 14-0 after 7 minutes
Wales score one more try and finish the game at 68-12. Now for the Lions.
Canada do eventually cross again for their second try. 61-12.
Canada have scored? A speculative kick through sees the Canadian winger reach the ball before Tom Rogers who dithers slightly, TMO looks but it is a knock on.
Wales score two more tries to lead 61-5 after 62 minutes.
The second half starts in the same fashion as Wales score their 7th try after 5 minutes 47-5 after 46 minutes.
All too easy as Wales score again through Will Rowlands. 40-5 after the conversion.
Wales hit 31 points in 31 minutes as Dee scores a try after a penalty goes against Canada. Sheedy again adds the extras. 33-5.
Some 16 phases makes a mess of the Canadian defence and Nicky Smith dives over for a try. 24-5 and Sheedy adds the extras to make it 26-5 after 29 minutes. This is all too easy for Wales at the minute.
Another try for Wales as Holmes dots down in the corner after some good handling from the backs, 17-7, now 19-7 as Sheedy nails the conversion.
Wales are upping the tempo with a few good line breaks and after a clearing Canadian kick, Nick Tomkins puts in Foxy who offloads to Botham for Wales's 2nd try. 12-5 and Sheedy hits the post with the conversion. Could be a long day for Canada....
Sheedy slots the conversion to make it 7-5 Wales.
Leigh Halfpenny is stretchered off in the opening 90 seconds of the Wales v Canada game with what looks like a serious knee injury.
Wales then concede the opening try after 5 minutes when Canada take a quick tap and score in the corner.
Sheedy makes a nice break but it comes to nothing apart from a penalty that Tomos Williams taps and goes and scores. 5-5 after 7 minutes with the conversion to come.
A truly amazing Gallagher Premiership final saw Harlequins beat Exeter Chiefs 38-40.
One negative from the match saw Alex Cuthbert go off with a hamstring pull.
Just saw a shot of AWJ on the bench (in the stands) and he did not 'look' like he had dislocated his shoulder when he moved both arms. Surely he would be straight off to hospital if it were something like a dislocation or fracture?
Great start from the Lions with Adams and Van der Merwe scoring and as I type Henshaw scores. On a negative note both AWJ and Tipuric have gone off with what look like quite significant injuries, but it could just be precautionary.
Biggar with 3 great conversions and the Lions lead 21-0 after 24 minutes.
Justin Tipuric starts for the B&I Lions on Saturday against Japan in the warm up Test with AWJ as captain.
In the Rainbow Cup Final where Benetton faced the Vodacom Bulls, most people would have picked an easy win for the SA team but when the teams were announced, I was shocked to see that the Bulls had named a largely Currie Cup team and not gone full strength with all of their SpringBoks. I won't post the result in case you have not seen it.
I will kick it off with the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals from yesterday.
Bristol Bears raced into a 28-5 half time lead against the Quins but the Quins were a much better team second half and came back to make it 31-31 at full time. Therefore two ten minute periods of extra time were required and although both teams scored a try each in the ET, it was Quins who benefitted from a somewhat dubious 'no head contact' call that allowed them to score the winning try and go through to the Final.
The other semi was a titanic struggle between Exeter and Sale and both teams would have been worthy finalists but there was only one winner and Exeter were just better on the day and go through to another Premiership Final where they will face the Quins.