Lions tour report card: Forwards
With the British and Irish Lions class of 2021 now finally finished in their work, we took time out to deliver the report card on the players.
Today, it’s the forwards.
Forwards overall
There’s no bigger test for a forward in world rugby than facing the world champion Springboks in their back yard. The sheer size and physicality of their behemoth pack needs at least parity to be achieved if you’re going to have even a sniff of beating them, and despite some manful efforts, you can only really say that the Lions won two halves of a six-half Test series.
The scrum was mostly serviceable, never dominant and, at times, a real problem. The lineout was a source of hope, and in the first Test, Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes dismantled that area of the set-piece in performances that were pivotal in the win.
But there was a lack of gain line power, and no real player such as a Billy Vunipola or CJ Stander to offer a sanctuary of guaranteed metres with ball in hand.
It’s pretty telling that out of 22 forwards who were involved with the tour, you could suggest that only one, Itoje, would be close to the starting Springbok XV, with Lawes and Tadhg Furlong not so far behind.
Props
Zander Fagerson: Despite an excellent Six Nations for Scotland, the massive Glasgow tighthead never really managed to impact himself on the tour. He struggled in the provincial games, getting bent in two and generally, at 6’3”, struggling to adapt to the lower and more compact provincial looseheads. Not the tour he was hoping for, despite limited opportunity. 4/10
Tadhg Furlong: Jukebox Tadhg was a rock of front-row excellence in a sea of propping mediocrity for the 2021 British and Irish Lions. His calm nature off pitch is contrasted with his warrior-like qualities and for three Tests he was the anchor of the tight and a powerhouse in defence, but if you were churlish, you’d want to see more of the big carries he makes in the green of Ireland. He’s a world-class player and a likeable bloke; what more could you ask for? 8/10
Wyn Jones: The portly prop from Wales suffered with shoulder and back injuries all tour but was easily the best of three very average looseheads on view. Jones has a nuisance value in the loose, a nose for the try line, but even when he was the only number one to get his side up and going forward in the Test scrums, he still conceded penalties when under pressure. Nevertheless, a positive tour for a streetwise forward. 6.5/10
Kyle Sinckler: Tried manfully to keep his side in the games when Furlong was subbed off, but perhaps still needs to make sure he’s giving referees a better picture of legality than he’s currently managing. Always an asset in the loose, his tour was maybe a hair below par and he’ll want to re-establish himself as a Test level scrummager next season. 5/10
Rory Sutherland: Called up on the morning of the first Test to replace Jones, he started with determination but struggled to cope with the power of two world-class tightheads in the Springbok ranks. Penalised more than any other prop on the tour, he’ll be disappointed with a below par showing on the biggest stage of all. 4/10
Mako Vunipola: Big Mak had a strange old tour. In the first Test he added huge momentum as a replacement, but he struggled thereafter. He wasn’t bad – in fact at times he was great in the loose – but he wasn’t ‘reliable’, and that, in the dark world of the front-row, is the key attribute required to win Test matches. 5/10
Hookers
Luke Cowan-Dickie: Rumbustious in the loose, consistent in both aspects of the set-piece, the man simply known to all as ‘Dickie’ produced a strong try-scoring display in Test one and was solid in all aspects in the other two. A gifted player, this tour will have done him the world of good and he emerges with credit. 7/10
Jamie George: His darts are something else and his lineout work was easily the best on tour, with 28 completed throws out of 29, with 75% of those going middle or long. He never quite got the chance he deserved at Test level, but that was more down to the excellence of Cowan-Dickie and the solidity of Ken Owens. Nevertheless, he didn’t let anyone down. 6.5/10
Ken Owens: The Sheriff of Scarlets has probably ridden his last Lions horse and he signed off with a busy, try-scoring day at the office in the third Test. After a dreadful 20 mins in the lineout as a replacement in the second Test, he was picked in the last game due to his club partnership with prop Jones. He ceded nothing around the park and his score of seven shows that hooker was not a position that let the Lions down at any point in the series. 7/10
Ronan Kelleher: Called up but didn’t play. N/A
Locks
Adam Beard: A few were puzzled when the big Welshman was called up as emergency cover for Alun Wyn Jones early on in the tour, but he sacks mauls, he’s a formidable lump in the lineout and he carries his heart out in the loose. He’s not yet the finished article, but he’ll benefit hugely from his experience and deservedly grabbed a Test cap in the final moments of the series 6.5/10
Iain Henderson: ‘Hendo’ did what he does: he provides a spiky, intelligent locking option to every side he plays in and he was really unlucky not to win a Test cap. Had Alun Wyn not made his Lazarus-like recovery, he would probably have ended up with three, but alas, he’ll go down as one of the best Lions in recent times not to be capped. 6.5/10
Jonny Hill: A very similar player to Beard and a similar tour but, with slightly more big game experience than the Welshman, you kind of expected more from the giant Ludlow lamppost. He’s getting better the more he plays at this level, but still drifts in and out of games. His focus needs to be on consistency from here on in. 6/10
Maro Itoje: The battle between Eben Etzebeth and Itoje reminded you of the heavyweight contests between Ali and Frazier, the rumbles in the jungle where neither conceded an inch of territory or an ounce of power. It was three halves each to the two massive protagonists and they are both already greats of the locking game. Itoje was absolutely brilliant in Test one and, when he had dominance, so did the Lions. Easily the most influential player on the list of 41 tourists. 9/10
Alun Wyn Jones: When Alun Wyn took his exit from the pitch on the 66th minute mark, so a massive chapter in British and Irish Lions history closed behind him. His sheer will power and durability saw a recovery from an injury that would have decimated any lesser mortal and he came back to anchor the scrum, skipper the side, field the press conferences and act as a father figure to every other person on the Lions staff. As age has caught up, his on-pitch work may not be as explosive as it once was but his contribution to the Lions can never be understated and he will go down in the elite category of a double figure Test Lion. For this and many other reasons, the key one being his absolute personal honesty to all around him, he gets 8.5/10.
Back-row
Tadhg Beirne: With his versatility on the tour almost handicapping him into the role of replacement, it’s perplexing that he didn’t get more opportunity at Test level, but unfortunately for him, Courtney Lawes was the person for whom a selectorial coin toss favoured. Looking back, you wonder what he could have produced in attack and carry for the Lions forwards, and it’s a shame we never saw his bullocking runs. Nevertheless, he let nobody down and he can walk away knowing he had a lot more to give if he had been given the opportunity. 7/10
Jack Conan: Selected for his accuracy and his carry, he was solid without ever being spectacular and walked away with three Test caps, a testimony to his consistency. But eight is a key carrying position, especially in this series and despite it being difficult to find fault in his game, you can’t help but wonder if there was just a little more needed at the back of the scrum. 7/10
Tom Curry: His workrate and physicality is never in doubt and his standards of fitness and training set the bar for every player around him. However, after 36 Test matches, we’re still waiting for the performance that defines his play, a game like Peter Winterbottom in Wellington 1993 or like Richard Hill in Brisbane 2001. His workrate is so committed that his discipline let him down at times but he tried his hardest in a battle of monumental proportions on the gain line 6.5/10
Taulupe Faletau: Toby hasn’t been in the best of nick for either Wales or Bath in the last few years. His form has been frustrated by injury after injury and it seems that some of his match sharpness and pace are missing right now. Warren Gatland selected him out of loyalty, but this was probably a tour too far for the great Welsh eight, despite him never letting the team down. 5/10
Courtney Lawes: Big Courtney missed only 18 minutes of the Test series and was a giant in every aspect of the games he played. Magnificent in the first Test, superb in 40 minutes of the third clash, Lawes showed that his move from lightweight lock to heavyweight flanker is complete and he’s sure to be a cap centurion by the end of next season. Alongside Itoje and Furlong, the Saint was easily the Lions’ most combative forward and a superb series from an unsung hero. 8/10
Josh Navidi: Called up to replace his broken team-mate, Justin Tipuric, the big Welsh utility back-row looked sharp and powerful in his limited chances. When the game got physical on the gain line, and when Tom Curry was struggling with legality in his Test performances, many felt Navidi might have been worth a try at seven or even eight. He had a lot to offer but very little opportunity to demonstrate it and he can rightly leave the tour with frustration and pride in equal measure. 6.5/10
Sam Simmonds: Simmonds was a specialist pick for the hard grounds of the Highveld yet was faced with the ploughed field of the Cape Town stadium surface. He was rather like a dog straining on a leash to get free, all huff and puff and never quite managing to break the shackles of either the provincial or Test defences. Nevertheless, he let no-one down and hopefully, the tour might just reignite his test career with England. 6/10
Justin Tipuric: Selected and played 32 minutes v Japan before injury but a certainty to have played a part in the tests. N/A
Hamish Watson: Little ‘Mish was incredible in the opening tour game against the provincial Lions: scoring tries, carrying and running himself into the ground. He was pilloried for his spear tackle in the first Test and dropped thereafter, never quite getting the opportunity his provincial performances deserved as Warren Gatland and Steve Tandy chose the more destructive but less creative style of Curry at openside. He can look back with real disappointment at the Test opportunities he had and maybe in retrospect, he could well have started at least one of the three big games. 7.5/10
Lions Player of the Series
We narrowed our choices down to Robbie Henshaw, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones and Courtney Lawes.
Alun Wyn was pivotal off pitch and his influence on proceedings was huge. However, in the Tests, two men stood out physically and metaphorically, defining the Lions’ fortunes; Lawes and Itoje, with due respect to the considerable efforts of Furlong and Henshaw.
But in the final analysis, the series was defined by the battle between Eben Etzebeth and Itoje and for that reason, combined with the fact he is the only Lion you could realistically say would get into the world champion Springbok side, we believe the most influential player in the 2021 Test series was the Saracen superlock, Maro Itoje.
What next for The Lions?
Mark Smith and Adam Kyriacou from the Planet Rugby Show discuss what comes next for the British and Irish Lions following their series loss to South Africa.