In today’s Six Shooter, the Lions tickets go like hot buns, Tom Shanklin enjoys Ronan O’Gara getting wound up at the weekend and the French issue a rallying cry.
Lions tickets sell out in minutes in Oz
While the Six Nations has had its first break and teams are taking stock of their tournament ambitions, many of the leading lights will be harbouring hopes of getting on the plane to Australia for the Lions Tour this summer. And excitement is building fast.
Given the influx of Irish emigrants Down Under in recent times, the tour should have no shortage of Irish support, and it was little surprise that the tickets sold out quickly. And by quickly, we mean 15 minutes.
The Brisbane allocation was sold within five minutes, while the fixtures for Sydney and Melbourne were snapped up in fifteen minutes. The Australian Rugby Union has said that they have not witnessed such demand since the 2003 World Cup Final.
Tickets are still available for the five Super League opponents and a combined mid-week side, though the way things are going, that might not be the case for long.
We reckon it will be the best supported Lions team in history given the number of ex-pats as the Lions chase a first series win since 1997.
Tom Shanklin has a laugh at a wound-up O’Gara on Saturday
Ronan O’Gara warmed up for his return to the international starting XV at the weekend with a below par performance in Wales, though all Irish fans will be hoping he will be back to normal service at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Munster lost out to Scarlets 18-10 and O’Gara had an uncharacteristic day in front of the posts, missing two shots in the opening six minutes and scuffing a routine kick in the second-half. Bloodied and bandaged from a knock during the game, he brought amusement to the Welsh commentary team covering the game after getting a little wound up with scrum-half Gareth Davies.
Former Lions team-mate Tom Shanklin had a good chuckle to himself, saying that “he does not like to be touched”.
He can probably expect plenty of up-close-and-personal attention from the Scots and in particular from their impressive backrow.
French issue rallying call ahead of trip to Twickenham
To say that morale is a little low in the French camp is a mild understatement. Their losses to what many considered the weakest team in the competition, Italy, followed by a home loss to a Welsh outfit that had lost eight in a row, is their worst start to a Championship in 31 years. And this weekend they travel to Twickenham seeking to change a dismal recent record.
“We must be in the right place mentally,” Freddy Michalak told the press, arguably the flakiest French player of the lot.
Head-coach Philiipe Saint-Andre is under huge pressure and while he said that he did not want to use the Top 14 schedule as an excuse, that is precisely what he seemed to insinuate.
“I do not want to get involved in the problem of our fixture calendar,” he said rather unconvincingly.
While the French will hope for a morale-boosting win on Saturday, with the Championship still all to play for, Welsh, Scottish and Irish fans too will all be shouting “Allez les Blues”. Or something to that effect.
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