Archive July 5, 2025

In the face of their disappointment at the Allianz Stadium, the British and Irish Lions tried their best to talk up the positives of their unconvincing 21-10 win over the Waratahs, but it was the hardest of hard sells.

Head coach Andy Farrell said that the 50-point victories against the Western Force and the Queensland Reds weren’t what real touring was all about.

“The 50-pointers aren’t reality, really, are they? ” said Farrell. He sounded like a man who thought they were real enough when they happened.

“It was a different type of game [against the Waratahs] but we are we glad that’s happened to us,” he added, before saying: “It is good, isn’t it? “

The Lions got turned over so many times and became helter-skelter in attack. Farrell owned that to an extent, but his complaints about the pitch being watered were a touch cringe-inducing.

“The pitch was very wet and I was asking Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing,” said Farrell of the former England international who is now on the Waratahs coaching staff.

“I mean, that’s good tactics from them, isn’t it? That the ball’s slippery. “

He was asked directly if he believed the Waratahs deliberately watered the pitch before the game to make it harder for the Lions.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I mean, Catty just laughed. We’ve seen that done plenty of times. I don’t know whether the pitch needed watering. “

As a piece of excuse-making it was wildly out of place. Maybe that’s why Farrell started to row back subsequently.

Was he not aware that the pitch at the Allianz is infamously greasy because of terrible drainage? Did he not know that they’re intending to dig it up soon? Did he not know that a ‘bomb cyclone’ hit Sydney earlier in the week?

“We know all that,” said Farrell. “But we have been here for two days now and it has been glorious. The pitch was OK and we are not complaining. “

It very much sounded like he was. Lock forward Scott Cummings, who made an impressive return to form, said later that the pitch was “a bit boggy”. It really wasn’t.

But even if it was, so what? These are the British and Irish Lions we’re talking about. The elite. A wet ball? Who cares?

Waratahs coach Dan McKellar had a bit of fun at Farrell’s expense when talking about the rain that fell on the city.

“Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn’t pleasant in Sydney, that’s for sure,” he said.

The power of Owen Farrell is something to behold. When the cameras panned to him at the Allianz on Saturday, the entire crowd reacted, some with pantomime booing, others with cheering. The one thing they weren’t was indifferent.

Farrell, who arrived in Sydney on Friday, took it well, smiling and laughing. The guy is pure box office. We’re all still talking about why he’s been parachuted into this squad. The coach’s son, yes, fine, we get it. But what else is going on here?

Some observers say that this was always going to happen and that Farrell will definitely be in the Test 23 for Brisbane. They’re convinced of it. The intrigue is fantastic.

His father’s official explanation in midweek is that he felt his squad was a little short at inside centre with Sione Tuipulotu and Bundee Aki the only options. Terrific ones, in fairness.

Is there more to it? Does he have doubts about Fin Smith’s readiness to back up Finn Russell on the bench? Does he have issues around the leadership of the squad – is everyone too nice and/or too quiet?

If those are views he shares, then Saturday might have only reinforced them. Smith struggled in running the backline and the direction of the team was all over the place for most of the evening.

So, enter Faz Jnr, but when? Not on Wednesday against the Brumbies, says his father. He might still be getting over the jet-lag.

Next Saturday in Adelaide against the invitational Australia-New Zealand team? All things being equal, definitely.

What about after that? If you believe that Owen can step into a Lions Test match squad (covering 10 and maybe 12) after not playing in nine weeks, having not played particularly well before that and having not featured in an international game for 20 months, then you’re convinced that he can return to his best stuff at the mere sight of the red jersey, as if the last year doesn’t matter.

Playing for Toulouse gives you a certain aura, especially when you’re holding down a place every week and have just won back-to-back French titles.

Blair Kinghorn, who arrived in Australia on Monday, played nicely on the left wing but he will be in the 15 jersey come the Tests, unless things go badly awry.

The Waratahs had a depleted squad on Saturday but gave the Lions a mighty scare. What was McKellar’s gameplan?

“We wanted to put them under a lot of pressure with our press defence,” he said before the match.

“They’re an outstanding team but they’ve got two arms and two legs and if we take away their time and space, and if we back that up with accuracy in our physicality, then we can create turnover opportunities. “

And, boy, did they create turnover opportunities.

Charlie Gamble, who we can be safe to call an unheralded openside, won turnover after turnover. The Lions were routed on the floor. They coughed up possession 20 times and gave away 13 penalties.

The Waratahs severely dented the Test match hopes of a number of Lions.

Hugo Keenan was praised by Farrell for playing the game – maybe the effects of a bug were still with him to an extent – but he had a really rough night.

Mack Hansen, praised to the hilt by Farrell after his performance in Perth, probably took a step back.

Huw Jones and his partnership with Sione Tuipulotu had its moments, but what’s with all the touchline-to-touchline rugby from the 28-year-old? He’s devastating when going direct. Is this lateral movement part of Farrell’s grand plan?

“We made line breaks the whole time when we were direct and it didn’t matter if we were playing off nine or off 10,” said Farrell. “When we were direct we were good. ” So why not go direct more often?

The call between ‘Huwipulotu’ and ‘Ringaki’ (humble apologies, Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki) is as tight as a drum.

Does Farrell go with his trusted Irish pair? Jones bounced right back into contention with his two tries. He looks like he’s regaining his edge again after injury.

We picked a prospective squad in this space last week and there are a few changes.

Online, somebody thundered that this writer should be sent home because Jac Morgan was left out of the 23. Time is running out and emotions are running high.

Test squad: Kinghorn, Freeman, Jones, Tuipulotu (Aki), Lowe, Russell (F Smith*), Gibson-Park (Mitchell); Genge (Schoeman), Sheehan (Cowan-Dickie), Bealham (Furlong), Itoje, McCarthy, Chessum (Beirne), Van der Flier, Conan (Pollock)

Lancashire Lightning moved top of the T20 Blast North Group with a second victory in 24 hours as they comfortably beat bottom club Derbyshire Falcons at Emirates Old Trafford.

After the hosts posted a solid 178-6, Red Rose bowler Luke Wood took two wickets in the first two balls of a Derbyshire reply that never got out of second gear.

Victory by 42 runs moved Lancashire four points clear of second-placed Durham with five games to go before the quarter-finalists are locked in.

Doomed Derbyshire, meanwhile, already face a scenario where even winning all of their five remaining games might not be enough to progress to the last eight.

In contrast, Lancashire are on a roll having won their past four Blast fixtures and will go into their final five games with a spring in their step aside from Liam Livingstone, who batted with a runner, adding 35 in 22 balls after pulling his hamstring.

The leg spinner did not appear for the second half of the game.

It did not much matter after Wood’s pacey in-swingers delivered the two-wicket burst in the first two deliveries of Derbyshire’s innings, having Caleb Jewell caught at slip and bowling Martin Andersson with a perfect off-stump yorker.

Wayne Madsen briefly threatened to make the match interesting with 53 from 40 balls but when he became the second victim of Chris Green’s second over, the Derbyshire reply rather fizzled out.

Billy Dodds was part of the Rangers legends dream team chosen to revitalise the Ibrox side after Philippe Clement was sacked in January with his side 13 points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.

With Barry Ferguson as head coach, and Dodds and Neil McCann as assistants, Rangers still finished 17 points adrift in second place.

They nevertheless impressed in Europe, reaching the Europa League quarter-finals, but that was not enough for Ferguson and his team to be given the job permanently by the incoming US-based consortium.

Dodds believes Ferguson’s staff “would have had to nail every result” to be given the job permanently.

He revealed that “right up to the last moment”, when they drew 2-2 away to Hibernian, they were unclear about their futures.

“Barry had the interview during the week and on the Sunday or Monday morning Barry phoned to give us the news that he wasn’t getting the job,” Dodds revealed.

“It was disappointing, because I think we certainly brought something to Rangers on the training ground – the big tanker was slowly turning,” he said.

“We went in and it was really flat, but when we left, they were thriving. “

Dodds did not wish to speculate on what had caused the atmosphere to be low when they arrived.

However, he recalled that chief executive Patrick Stewart and chairman Fraser Thornton said they had “invigorated” the training ground within a couple of days.

“I was like ‘what’? We’ve given two of the most basic training sessions, but people were speaking again,” he added.

Despite the improved atmosphere, Dodds believes the “mentality” of some Rangers players meant they were “so vulnerable” and unable to handle adversity.

“Right away, I thought there were a few weak ones,” he revealed. “Good boys, good players, but some of them lacked the mindset.

“When you go to a club, you tend to find that 30% of signings are not right and 70% are, and that 70% pulls the 30 along. But at Rangers it was probably the opposite.

“Too many players you could see going into their shell. You could see there was no response either in their eyes or in their brain – they couldn’t handle going behind.

“Some who were tidy players who were probably not quite the level of Rangers and never had the right mental strength to win games that were ugly.

Striker Hamza Igamane has beenj linked with a £15m summer move to Lille.

Dodds, who admits the Moroccan’s lack of English made coaching him difficult, thinks that “is good money” for a 22-year-old who arrived from AS FAR in his homeland in July 2024.

“He’s got so much talent, but he’s got to do more for the team. He has a bit to learn,” he said.

Cyriel Dessers is another striker who has been tipped for a summer sale.

As a pundit, Dodds had been one of those who thought the striker needed to be more clinical and, as his coach, encouraged the Nigeria international to take fewer touches before striking for goal.

“The big man is brilliant, a gentleman,” he said. “He is a sponge and wants to learn.

“If you look at his physique, you would think he would like holding the ball up. He hated it. He wanted to run in behind all the time.

Dodds also had praise for central midfielders Nico Raskin, Mohamed Diomande and Connor Barron.

He revealed that he, McCann and Ferguson had to work hard to turn Belgian international Raskin into a highly effective box-to-box midfielder as “he wanted to sit as a six”.

Dodds also did not realise how good Diomande was until he started to work with the 23-year-old.

“An absolute dog of war,” he said. “Technically quite good – not brilliant, but decent – and just an all-round good player. “

Dodds thinks the competition for a place in Rangers’ defence “is going to be fierce” for captain James Tavernier, especially with the arrival of fellow right-back Max Aarons on loan from Bournemouth.

However, he was “amazed” at how Tavernier “was willing to learn” at the age of 33 and was surprised when the Englishman said nobody had previously sat him down and told him he had to improve defensively.

Ferguson dropped Jack Butland after the England-capped goalkeeper suffered a loss of form and Dodds said that, while the 32-year-old was hurt, he understood.

“He has the powers of recovery – he is a top goallie,” he said. “We put him back in for the last couple of games of the season and he was excellent. “

What now for Rangers and Martin?

Dodds says the arrival of a couple of centre-backs, and the possibility of another, was an indication of where Rangers were weak last season.

Meanwhile, the addition of midfielders suggests there could be some players leaving Ibrox, while at least one striker and a pacey wide player are the priorities.

Dodds pointed out that, when opponents sat deep, “maybe there wasn’t enough creativity, especially in domestic games”, so he could understand why Rangers hae signed the Joe Rothwell from Bournemouth.

He thought it was the kind of “resilience and mental strength” from British or Scottish players that he, Ferguson and McCann would have liked to introduce themselves this summer.

Dodds thinks there have been “too many changes at Rangers”, from new chairmen, directors, chief executives and team managers in recent years.

“I just hope they get a bit of stability now,” he said. “If they get all that, they would not be too far away.

Jasper Philipsen will wear the Tour de France’s yellow jersey for the first time in his career after winning stage one of the 2025 edition.

A sprint finish was expected after a flat stage beginning and ending in Lille, and Alpecin-Deceuninck’s lead-out train delivered the 27-year-old in the perfect position to claim the stage win.

The Belgian beat Biniam Girmay by a comfortable margin to claim his 10th stage win on the Tour, with Soren Waerenskjold third.

The peloton split about 17km from the end of a chaotic opening day, with general classification contenders Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic caught in the second bunch.

Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, who is expected to be his main rival, were in the lead group along with most of Philipsen’s team-mates.

“It’s really amazing,” said Philipsen. “My 10th victory is something I will never forget.

“It was a perfect team performance. I think we were there all day in a really nervous stage but we knew it could be our day and we had to be at the front when the split happened.

Philipsen claimed four stage wins in 2023 and finished that edition of the Tour with the green jersey as the points classification leader.

He said he had “dreamt” about wearing yellow.

Already I had the green jersey from two years ago but to have the yellow jersey hanging somewhere in my house is amazing,” he said.

A five-man breakaway was caught with more than 100km to go on the 184. 9km loop route, which was affected by crosswinds and featured multiple crashes.

Ineos Grenadiers rider Filippo Ganna was forced to abandon after going down with British debutant Sean Flynn, and he was soon followed by fellow time-trial specialist Stefan Bissegger.

Benjamin Thomas will wear the polka-dot jersey as mountain leader after winning two of the day’s three climbs, wiping out Matteo Vercher as he lunged for the line to claim his second mountain point.

Then came the split, which resulted in Roglic and Evenepoel crossing 39 seconds after Pogacar and Vingegaard, and the latter’s British team-mate Simon Yates struggled.

The Giro d’Italia champion got a puncture and tried to recover but ended up coming in more than six minutes after the lead group.

Jasper Philipsen will wear the Tour de France’s yellow jersey for the first time in his career after winning stage one of the 2025 edition.

A sprint finish was expected after a flat stage beginning and ending in Lille, and Alpecin-Deceuninck’s lead-out train delivered the 27-year-old in the perfect position to claim the stage win.

The Belgian beat Biniam Girmay by a comfortable margin to claim his 10th stage win on the Tour, with Soren Waerenskjold third.

The peloton split about 17km from the end of a chaotic opening day, with general classification contenders Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic caught in the second bunch.

Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, who is expected to be his main rival, were in the lead group along with most of Philipsen’s team-mates.

“It’s really amazing,” said Philipsen. “My 10th victory is something I will never forget.

“It was a perfect team performance. I think we were there all day in a really nervous stage but we knew it could be our day and we had to be at the front when the split happened.

Philipsen claimed four stage wins in 2023 and finished that edition of the Tour with the green jersey as the points classification leader.

He said he had “dreamt” about wearing yellow.

Already I had the green jersey from two years ago but to have the yellow jersey hanging somewhere in my house is amazing,” he said.

A five-man breakaway was caught with more than 100km to go on the 184. 9km loop route, which was affected by crosswinds and featured multiple crashes.

Ineos Grenadiers rider Filippo Ganna was forced to abandon after going down with British debutant Sean Flynn, and he was soon followed by fellow time-trial specialist Stefan Bissegger.

Benjamin Thomas will wear the polka-dot jersey as mountain leader after winning two of the day’s three climbs, wiping out Matteo Vercher as he lunged for the line to claim his second mountain point.

Then came the split, which resulted in Roglic and Evenepoel crossing 39 seconds after Pogacar and Vingegaard, and the latter’s British team-mate Simon Yates struggled.

The Giro d’Italia champion got a puncture and tried to recover but ended up coming in more than six minutes after the lead group.