Summary
THE Lions were dreadful last week, but their management team has at least been successful in ensuring that more attention has been given to the "spear-tackling" of Brian O'Driscoll and the "failure" of All Blacks captain Tana Umaga to apologise than to the ineptitude of the Lions' performance. Evidently Woodward's decision to recruit Alastair Campbell to spin- master-in-chief has paid off.
Actually the matter is not quite as portrayed by the indignant Lions. First, O'Driscoll wasn't tackled. He was cleared-out of the ruck after a tackle. The distinction may seem slight to some, but they may appreciate it when they realise that, as one Scottish player said to me this week, "that's how we are taught to do it, get one arm under a leg and heave".See the full content of this document
Extract
O'driscoll Facts Lost in the Spin
What made it worse on this occasion was that two All Blacks came at O'Driscoll simultaneously in order to remove him from the vicinity of the ball, and leave it available for their side. It was hard and...
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