The latest rugby news stories in the wake of the Lions’ defeat to Argentina
Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, June 21.
Welshman Williams lays down Lions marker
Tomos Williams laid down an early marker for a place in the Lions Test team after an impressive appearance off the bench against Argentina on Friday night.
Williams replaced Alex Mitchell in the second half, injecting urgency and moments of class into the Lions play as they initially fought their way back into the match before succumbing to a 28-24 defeat. There were the usual deft touches and a real tempo to everything the Welshman did before a beautiful flat pass on the line sent Tadhg Beirne crashing over for a try.
Sky Sports pundits Conor Murray and Sam Warburton were both impressed, picking out Williams as one of the players who really impressed on the night. Mitchell’s service had been generally good in the first-half but his box kicking was loose at times. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Warbuton said: “I think Tomos Williams was very good and made an impact. It’s going to be so tight for that number nine jersey.”
Fans on social media backed Williams to force his way into the Test team despite arguably starting the tour behind Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park and Mitchell in the pecking order.
One said: “Personally, the one player to shine was Tomos Williams. He scanned everything, raised the tempo, cool, calm and collected. Accuracy and timing of passing. Got to be in the test team.”
Another added: “Tomos Williams’ distribution is catching the eye. He’s already putting his hand up for selection.”
Fellow Welshman Jac Morgan had a solid outing in the seven jersey, with one turnover standing out before being replaced by Henry Pollock early in the second-half.
Van der Merwe not bothered by slurs
Duhan van der Merwe says slurs against his right to play for Scotland and the Lions no longer hurt him, insisting he has worked hard to become a two-time tourist
The South African-born Scotland star is one of the current Lions players who have been targeted by some critics because they were born in different countries. He qualifies for Scotland on residency and has gone on to become the nation’s leading try scorer since moving there from his homeland in 2017.
He faced abuse on the last Lions tour to South Africa, with fans labelling him “Spring-Jock”, while some have again questioned his selection for this year’s trip.
Speaking to the Guardian about representing Scotland, he said: “When I speak about it, I get really emotional because it’s a country that has given me so much when I had nothing.
“I had a failed medical [at Edinburgh] and at that time it would have been easy for them to say: ‘Look, you’ve failed your medical – off you go.’ But they looked after me.
“I went over as a young boy and people don’t understand how hard it is, leaving your family behind, leaving everything behind, going to a country where you don’t know how things work.
“People don’t see the amount of hard work and sacrifice you put in because I wouldn’t be sitting here without it.”
On the abuse he has received, he added: “I always knew they were going to get stuck into me,” he said.
“There were a lot of personal messages on social media towards me.
“I just dust it off because I know how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am. You always have people on social media who are going to bring you down and slate you, but I’ve got to a point in my career where it doesn’t faze me at all.”
Itoje wants ‘tippy tappy’ rugby to stop
British and Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje has told his team-mates to stop playing “tippy-tappy” rugby and focus on becoming a powerhouse team opponents won’t be able to live with.
Itoje cut a frustrated figure after the Lions’ 28-24 defeat to Argentina and was disappointed with a lack of aggression and directness at times. Andy Farrell’s side coughed up possession on numerous occasions as they tried to force passes that simply weren’t on.
It all led Farrell to bluntly tell the squad some aspects of the performance were simply unacceptable as the famous team were given a stark reality check before heading to Australia.
Itoje said: “When we were on it, we looked good, we just need to do it more consistently.
“At times we were playing tippy-tappy rugby and that’s not what we want to be. We want to be an aggressive team. We were nowhere near as accurate or as consistent as we wanted to be. We only showed glimmers of what we can do.
“Argentina showed us where we are lacking. I am happy we had a hard-fought game.
“We live and learn. This is only match one.
“The fans were amazing and showed us a glimmer of what it will be like in Australia.”
