Sunday Social: Lions, injuries and heroic Harlequins

Colin Newboult
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It is time for Planet Rugby’s Sunday Social, your quirky recap of the serious and not so serious talking points from the past week’s action.

We, of course, start with the British and Irish Lions and the awful news that captain Alun Wyn Jones has been ruled out of the tour after suffering a shoulder injury against Japan. Everyone was quick to pay tribute to the great Welshman.

Scrum-half Conor Murray is a surprise replacement but there are certainly no doubts over his leadership qualities.

We built up to the first game by remembering Sean O’Brien’s legendary try against New Zealand in 2017, albeit with a slight difference. This is taken from Argentina with the brilliant Martin Altberg and Diego Albanese on the mic.

Unfortunately, Lions tours can bring out the worst in supporters as parochialism takes over, with wing Duhan van der Merwe bearing the brunt of it.

It means that this important message has disappointingly been forgotten rather quickly.

Van der Merwe responded in the best way possible, impressing on his first appearance and catching Japan unawares by scoring this try in the 28-10 victory at Murrayfield.

Concentrating on anything other than Covid-19 at least shows that nature is healing, as does morning drinking on the day of a match. We don’t think much of their beer of choice, however.

On the subject of beer, Murrayfield made the cardinal sin of running out of it during Saturday’s game. How do you allow that to happen for a rugby match?

There was one very important person missing from the game on Saturday with commentary legend Miles Harrison recovering after surgery for cancer. We wish Miles all the best and will certainly miss hearing his voice during the South Africa tour.

Although much of the focus was on the Lions, that game was eclipsed by the Premiership final as Harlequins stunned Exeter Chiefs 40-38 at Twickenham. Prop Joe Marler won man of the match and entertained everyone with yet another brilliant post-match interview.

There was also a lovely moment between Louis Lynagh, who scored two crucial tries in the showpiece event, and his father, Australian legend Michael.

On Friday, the Top 14 final took place with Toulouse overcoming La Rochelle to secure the double. It wasn’t exactly a classic but there was one standout piece of skill from Cheslin Kolbe, who did this…

Finally, there was a lovely moment as All Black duo Richie Mo’unga and Sevu Reece visited Papatoetoe High School.

British and Irish Lions