Caught in time - Times Online

Wonderful story of real men playing a real game...the likes of which I doubt we shall ever see on a Rugby pitch again...there would be no place in a modern Rugby team for the likes of Willie John, Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennet, JPR & JJ. An interesting statistic: the average weight of the 1997 British Lions Backs was more than the average weight of the 1974 British Lions forwards...makes you think... However, is it a better game now? I don't think so. It is quicker...but no longer is there a position for all shapes and sizes.

Caught in time - Times Online: "The tourists then went off to the Kruger National Park for three days while their hosts licked their wounds. The Lions took two planes, one for the players and the other stacked with beer. The second plane came back a day later for a refill."

Stand Tall

This is nice to see (even for a Scotsman!). Here the winning SA Rugby captain John Smit is seen holding the 2 most precious things in his life right now - the William Webb Ellis Trophy, and his daughter. But there is another important feature; look at his wrist - he is wearing the green Stand Tall Wrist Band as promoted by the South Africa Quad & Para Association. Good to see...but then again, it is widely recognised that hookers are the most thoughtful of all rugby players (along with intelligent, good looking...modest, - did I mention where I played??)

SA RUGBY A 'PARAPLEGIC FACTORY

this is really worrying; I love rugby, even though it was the root cause of me becoming a wheelchair user. But this tells me that there is something really wrong with Rugby in South Africa. Some of the stories that are coming out are really frightening & I do feel that something needs to be done. I have heard of horror stories from my sons' schools of coaches playing injured players, suggesting that children take substances to 'improve their body mass' & even paying students to injure opponents on the field. I don't think that it is so much a problem with the laws (Rugby has laws, not rules) of the game; but more an attitude problem which starts at school level, and permeates through the whole Rugby culture here.

By Kashiefa Ajam, Melanie Peters and Tash Reddy, Pretoria News online

Rugby in South Africa is in danger of becoming a "paraplegic factory". The rugby season has only just begun, but already serious on-field injuries have cost one player his life.

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Scottish | Scottish Rugby axes Borders team

Oh dear, this is a sad reflection on the state of Rugby Union in Scotland:

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Scottish | Scottish Rugby axes Borders team: "The SRU board has decided it was unrealistic to continue running three professional teams."