Several Wallabies will not play for their franchises against the Lions
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Australia's Test players will be unavailable to play for their Super Rugby franchises in tour matches against the British and Irish Lions.
The Australian Rugby Union confirmed that a 25-man Wallabies squad will go into camp on June 2, well ahead of the three-Test series against the Lions which starts on June 22 in Brisbane.
This despite concerns from Australia's franchises who hoped their international players would be available for their own matches against the Lions.
ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said the preparation mirrored the approach to the last Lions tour in Australia in 2001, which the Wallabies won 2-1, and reflected "the primary objective to win the three-Test series."
However, Pulver revealed that some players might be released to play for their franchises as two potentially vital Australian derbies are scheduled to take place the weekend after the Test squad assembles.
The Brumbies face Melbourne Rebels in Canberra on June 7 and the Waratahs host the Western Force in Sydney two days later.
"If those Super Rugby matches have significant bearing on the competition standings, and finals spots are at stake, ARU will take that under serious consideration," Pulver said in a statement.
The Lions tour the southern hemisphere once every four years, alternating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
In Australia, the Lions will be play nine matches, including the Tests and games against all five of Australia's Super Rugby franchises.
Comments
melkdave says...
@ToAll
I should qualify that Richards original sigel was leopards ,but he changed it to Lions late in his reign..
Posted 01:25 04th March 2013
melkdave says...
@Stellenbosched2
Why L;ions and not a native creature of the UK and Ireland ,It goes back to Richard the lionhearts personnal sigel,and the personal sigel of the scottish kings.Richards is assumed wrongly to be 3 lions on a red background ,in fact they are leopards,while the scottish kings is a red lion rampant on a yellow background..When the two countries where joined as one ,thus actuall giving birth to BRITAIN as a nation.The Lion was chosen as the national animal for the reasons above.Thus in the 18 th century British army colours where all topped with a golden lion.France had eagles as did Prussia ,Austria ,and Russia .This practice continued to fairly modern times ,so BRITISH Lions describes anything hailing from these islands .Off topic i know but hope it clarifies it for you.
Posted 01:17 04th March 2013
TVaddict says...
@TheGreatOne
Oh dear oh dear. Still holding grudges from the time we owned you? Shame, we've moved on. Oh, you do know fairies don't exist right? You seem to be getting so much wrong it's hard to know.
@Stellenbosched2
lol! I think I'd prefer badgers to weasels, they've got a bit more of a nip to them.
Posted 17:46 01st March 2013
TheGreatOne says...
@TVaddict: Correction. Pom is used to describe any rosy cheeked, pasty fairy from any of the Mud Isles. Again, the Irish are perfect candidates.
Posted 08:03 01st March 2013
Stellenbosched2 says...
I'm starting to wonder if the Lions tours are there only for the pleasure of the UK and Ireland fans. Local SH supporters seem to be given the left-over seats at prices they cannot afford given exchange rate differences. To be fair, the tour does help local tourism.
One last thing, why call the team The Lions? Only SA should have the rights to that name. Call them something with more of a UK link. Like The British and Irish Weasels.
Posted 04:55 01st March 2013
TVaddict says...
@TheGreatOne
I assume that's your attempt at humour? Just in case it's not I should let you know that the origins of where the name pom came from are unknown, though there are many theories. It is commonly used to refer to English people, however it does however refer to British people in general. As surprising as it might be to someone so obviously as intelligent as you Ireland is not actually part of Britain.
Posted 02:25 01st March 2013
DavidCartwright says...
This is such a non-story
Posted 01:11 01st March 2013
ABlack says...
Good work Patrick H...!
Posted 20:34 28th February 2013
honestpom says...
Great shame that the Aussie franchises can't be bothered to put out their strongest teams, also borders on the disrespectful to the Lions teams and the supporters of both the Lions and the franchises. For me, as much as i will get wrapped up in the series come summer, the Lions is outdated and should be stopped anyway. All it does is boost the coffers of the host whose gutter press seem to want to sensationalise any misdemeaners by the tourist who are expected to visit every backwoods area on the continent to promote the game in places the home union can't even be bothered to do anything about. I wish England or any of the other 3 home unions or even the Lions team itself would send a full squad to Argentina ( and why not into Chile and Uruguay ) where the whole concept would be appreciated more.
Posted 20:14 28th February 2013
TheGreatOne says...
POM (a corruption of the phrase Prisoner of Her Majesty). I'd say that describes the Irish, Scottish and Welsh just perfectly
Posted 18:32 28th February 2013
melkdave says...
A non news story really,of course the host test players are going to be rested ect .They have been everytime the Lions or a NH team tour,so what wil be different this time.This is old hat,,and been going on even before profesionalism came to the game .To those knocking the idea of the Lions ,obviously you just dont understand,how the players feel both NH and SH .They see it as the pinacle of their careers,to play for or against the Lions.Also a good series lifts the host and home nations sprits,and rugbys profile around the world enormously.Aswel as genarating alot of income for the host nation,and Lions.
Posted 16:14 28th February 2013
Capedcrusader says...
and another point. When the SH select their squads for a tournament that's their squad. The ONLY games the players are involved in are games within the tournament duh.
Posted 15:09 28th February 2013
Capedcrusader says...
No change then. For as long as I can remember 3N's have never ever made their internationals available for lions tours - why would they
Posted 14:37 28th February 2013
GCP_jones says...
@Irishzimbabwean....
I think you will find that I'm not the only one who would say that the Lions tours need to end. If its the peak of a players career as you put it which is YOUR opinion, then it seems to me that it should be at least run probarly.
@lawynd...
If its such a wonderful tradition then they should tour Argentina, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, and not play against Western Force School boys.
Your taking a leap there saying I'm in favour of everything else you spouted(ok then I think the Baa's-baa's should be confined to history too).
I tell you what I'm not in favour of its players getting flogged to death.
Posted 14:30 28th February 2013
OzinLondon says...
Michtymauler
Firstly, I apologise on behalf of whichever Aussie or southern hemisphere type stole your girlfriend.
Secondly, it has been a pleasure to watch all the Test players from the Home nations playing in mid week games for their clubs against SH teams in the last 5 years... Oh, hang on, no Test players played in any of those games because (shock horror) they were not released during the Autumn international window.
If a combined Aus/NZ/SA team toured the UK do you really think ANY of the Test players would be released by their national coaches to play in a warm up game? If so you're kidding yourself.
I assume you are vehemently opposed to the Home Nations Test players all being withdrawn from club games for the duration of the 6Ns. Or is that different?
I'm also glad to hear that there is absolutely no foul play occurring in the NH and it is all down to those nasty SH types.
Get down off your high horse buddy.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 3 Lions tours... but they were made all the sweeter for SH supporters because of the 3 or 4 months of constant whinging, moaning and complaining (by the minority I admit) about the host country and its people... followed by 4 years of excuses (and whinging and moaning).
Supporters like Armchairgeneral are what make Lions Tours brilliant. I suspect its the supporters like you that sour things.
Posted 14:23 28th February 2013
lawynd says...
@GCP_jones - presumably if anything outside of professionalism belongs in a 'by-gone era' (sic), then you're in favour of scrapping the summer and autumn test series', any kind of tours, the Barbarians and are a-ok with club sides buying success? How about players feigning injury and back-chatting to the ref to try and obtain a competitive advantage?
Frankly, you're a plonker; half of what remain the core values of rugby are there solely because we cling fiercely to our past and what is has given us in terms of our sport. I can only assume you've only watched rugby for a decade or so, otherwise you'd know this.
Posted 13:56 28th February 2013
ChrisInCrete says...
@peewee2
The Lions will play some different combinations in the matches leading up to the first test with a view to building to their top team (it certainly won't be a b team). During the test period there is a midweek side that is effectively the "b team", still selected from within the Lions group - 35+ of best players from Great Britain and Ireland - and every single one will get a chance to play.
Any team, national or provincial, playing any Lions team (test or midweek) will relish trying to knock them off. The Lions will want a series win, but the midweek side will want to win every match. It's not just about the Tests. It is something altogether special.
It's good for the Lions to face the full strength franchise teams - the Lions learn about the Aussie squad players and the Aussie squad players about the Lions. It would be good if the Aussie management would leave them there, but they have decided that the tests are very important so they are wrapping them up - with a little downside that they will not be so match fit. It's up to them.
For the Great one: just to make it absolutely clear. The Lions are selected from the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales and all Ireland (Northern and the Republic, who contrary to national boundaries play together for that island)
One of my saddest moments was a house fire that consumed my video recordings from all the matches of the Lions tour of SA in 1997. Some of the best moments were in the provincial matches (John Bentleys try?)
The 2013 Lions tour will be great and hopefully will help get the Aussie public back into the stadiums.
Posted 13:41 28th February 2013
PatrickH says...
2 Aussie farmers meet each other on the road. One is carrying 2 sheep. The other asks him, "ya shearing mate?" which the one carrying the sheep replies, "Nah, gonna f**k the 2 of em meself!"
Posted 13:39 28th February 2013
Trader2 says...
Given the "strength" of the Oz Super Conference I would have thought the Wannabie players would be well rested.
Posted 13:36 28th February 2013
makemehappy says...
Never agree with this approach, certainly if there isn't strenght in depth. Give a squad a hard time in each game always is the best philosophy as it impacts upon squad morale.
Posted 13:12 28th February 2013