Of all the calls and signals ever made in rugby, and there are millions made every week at all levels of the game, the most famous call ever uttered is unquestionably the call of “99”. This was the call to arms that members of the 1974 Lions used to bawl out when they felt that the home teams were cutting up rough and the call inevitably set off a gigantic and nasty brawl.
Most members of that party recall that the most enthusiastic participant in the 99 code was JPR Williams. Phil Bennett used to say that JPR drove him mad. Whenever the great full back heard even a tame call concerning the lineout on that 1974 tour, he came rushing up to ask if it was the 99 shout.
What strikes me on this 2009 Lions tour to date is how incredibly different things are. All three matches have been played in an excellent spirit, there has been little or no violence or ill-feeling on or off the field.
Rather charmingly, since there are superfluous presentations after every game, the teams tend to stay on the field and mingle together. Indeed after the match against the Golden Lions at Ellis Park, the teams even posed for a joint photograph, arms around each other and chatting quite happily. No doubt the Lions forgot to mention the score.
I have mixed emotions about all this. Last night, I was watching some DVDs of the 1974 Lions and some of the scenes were dire and were incredibly brutal. Nothing was worth that and in this later era, with sensibilities so much more sensitive, there would have been hell to pay if there were similar outbreaks.
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On the other hand, there must be a question as to whether rugby has become too sanitised. There is no doubt that the game has been adversely affected by the nanny state strictures which mean that no boots on bodies are allowed in rugby at present. The fact that players lying on or near the ball can no longer be encouraged to move with an exploratory tickle of the studs has made the game slower and has made the breakdown area, all too often, horrendously static.
The strictures have also taken the ruck clean out of the game. It is absolutely amazing how few players lay on the ground killing the play, when they knew that four or five opposition forwards were about to arrive to smash the opposition off the ball and to run straight over them.
It must also be said that the even temper of this tour to date has been caused in part by the lack of bite surrounding the games. This is also a reason for the smallish attendances. You sense that the home teams are simply fulfilling a fixture whereas if they had their international squad players they might well have given it a massive crack to see if they could damage the Lions.
Am I calling for an all-out battle in Durban tomorrow evening? Not really. In fact, not at all. But rugby no longer provides so intensely a physical and mental challenge as it once did. Players can now happily go through their pretty patterns, in safety.
Just now and again, the psychology of sporting war needs to pervade this newly calm sport spectacle.
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Sheridan v Jenkins
Latest discussions in and around the Lions camp surround the identity of the loose-head for the forthcoming Test series. The argument is rather obvious in one sense. Do they go for the incredible power of Andrew Sheridan, the man who sent the Lions scrum rocketing forward against the Cheetahs last Saturday?
Or do they go for Gethin Jenkins, whose defence in the middle of the field against the Golden Lions was so remarkable? The point is that Jenkins is nothing like as powerful a scrummager at Sheridan. He is not a bad scrummager, just not a ferocious one.
On the other hand, Sheridan is not nearly as active in the loose play as is Jenkins - although the ability of Sheridan to carry along the hard yards is significant.
In one sense, the choice is aggravating. The Lions are truly world class in only some positions, so just their luck that two of their genuine forces are ranged in the same one.
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The answer to the question seems obvious. They will both make the Test squad. I would let Sheridan loose against John Smit, who is only a conversion job at prop. Then I would bring on Jenkins after the heavy scrummaging has been done.
Favourite to start in the camp at present, by a narrow margin, is Jenkins.
A bit fishy
After extensive investigation, here are my restaurant recommendations for supporters in Durban this week. For those connoisseurs of the East, and how well you are served in this city, then The Ulundi restaurant in The Royal Hotel is excellent.
Secondly, if you are on a slightly limited budget - like me - then the restaurant mall allied to the Suncoast Hotel on the Durban seafront, is outstanding and the Cape Town Fish Market establishment in the mall provides fine food and the fine service of friendly Natasha.
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There - don’t say we don’t provide a public service.
Double dose of responses tomorrow to all the recent incoming missives.