Iron Zion Lion

Gutted that the lions tour will not be shown on Gringo TV. But happy that it's on Taff TV. Phew. I guess that we will have to turn the volume off & the radio up :-) 

Tough news for people outside Wales. Yet another reason why independence for Wales makes sense. 

P.S. I wish I hadn't bothered. It looked like none of the Lions had been introduced to each other, looked at the gameplan, and forgotten how to pass. I hope they get some team sessions in between now & the first test, or it could be a very sad affair.

Positive Postscript from the BBC:-

Connor writes off the Lions before they arrive - New Zealand 1971

It was Barry John's tour but it began badly. Hungover from an almighty boozing session in Hong Kong, the Lions took a hellish flight to Brisbane for a warm-up game against Queensland. Exhausted from the high-living and heavy travelling, they played appallingly and lost.

"I wanted to lie down and die," said lock Gordon Brown. "We had no idea what time, day or place it was," remarked Gareth Edwards. "I wouldn't say I was playing, but I was on the field," said McBride.

Des Connor was the Queensland coach. As a player he had won 12 caps for Australia and another 12 for the All Blacks. With the Lions now heading to New Zealand for the tour proper, Connor was euphoric.

"These Lions are hopeless," he trumpeted. "Undoubtedly the worst team ever to come here."

Er... By the mid-point of the tour the Kiwi public were shocked at how mesmeric the Lions were and by the end-point, with a historic first and still only Lions series win on New Zealand soil, they were eulogising them as the greatest team they'd ever seen.

Connor's epic mind game fail was a reminder that judging the Lions on early performances is unwise. It was daft in 1971 and, after Friday night's loss to the Pumas, Andy Farrell will be hoping that it's just as daft more than a half a century later.