Sugruejames55 don't get into that alright this is­ about rugby not if we hate the english, don't start­ another arguement

comment 45 - ''I'm fded up with the­ supremacy of the Southern­ Hemisphere teams who have­ everything going for­ themselves in terms of poaching­ natural talent from­ outside resources­ ''...please have a look at the number of south­ african players being bought by n. hemisphere teams.­ This is one of the reasons the prov. sides are­ struggling against the lions. There is great pride in­ our rugby and our competitions (currie cup,s14 and­ tri-nations). ''no place for an amateurish­ ritual in the­ modern game ''....now come on?­ im sure you will find a kiwi that will better explain­ the passion, pride and tradition around this topic. I­ find comfort in the fact that your opinion is not­ shared by other welshman.

Some people revel in victim status

firstchoicepm I think we have covered the issues­ between you and sugruejames quite adequately. Who do­ think should be in the 15? Not seeing the Sharks game­ I feel I am not clued up enough to make comment. I­ really want to how Mears, Heaslip, Jones, P'O­ Connell, RO'G, Fitzy and Roberts in particular­ played. I accept it is an evolving situation and too­ early to call.

Alex

Don't worry, some folk see racism in­ everything. What I don't understand is that; if­ someone doesn't know a term is racist when they use­ it - how can they be a racist?

To be honest I­ don't even understand what he/she is on about half­ of the time. All I know is they have apologised now so­ I'm happy.

I'm interested to know, how is 'oirish'­ racist? To me, it's just spelt to immitate the­ stereotypical Irish accent. To me it seems you're­ being over-sensitive and crying racism when no offence­ was intended. Is putting on an accent now racist?­ Please tell me if there is some alternate meaning to­ 'oirish' because, as I've said, I­ haven't heard one and I wouldn't like to­ accidentally offend anyone in my ignorance.

Donald D I take it you did not realise that the O word­ is racist. I am glad that I enlightened you. Otherwise­ your justification for racism would have been a­ disgraceful. Make of it what you will, no gobblegook­ involved, but a few commas would have helped. Let's­ move on. I commend your frankness and admission of­ guilt. 'bye. Another day, maybe. Come on the Lions!­ Much of what is said by many on these boards, including­ you, and I, is gobblygook, best get used to it. Cheer­ up.

Thankyou for your response roxycappo & I take on­ board what you say , but I have to defend my corner as­ far as me making racist comments , I am possibly the­ most anti racist person you could ever meet this is why­ I feel so strongly about sugruejames constant attacks­ on the English , his comments are more suited to the­ football forums. As far as hatred goes excuse me if I­ sound ignorant but would that be politically motivated­ , if so I have no real understanding of it . I read­ & comment on this site because I am a rugby fan 1st­ & foremost a game which I have always believed to­ be about being played hard & supported­ enthusiastically but also about respecting the­ opposition whether they are your fiercest rivals or a­ different nation win or lose .

firstchoicepm To your credit I do not know what­ nationality you are although being a Tigers supporter­ may be a hint.. All I know is that you find sugruejames­ biased and racist which is fair comment. I support­ Munster. I do not support Leinster this may be­ unpatriotic. But ask a Cardiff City supporter who he­ like to win if Swansea City are playing. Leinster are­ our closest rival. I support Ireland and wish it is­ full of Munster men the same with the Lions. But I­ accept that it is best that all 4 nations are­ represented, even if it is tokenism sometimes. Like­ Euan Murray and Mears I hope will play because Scotland­ and England might not be represented otherwise. Best­ have everyone gets behind the team and be seen to be­ evenhanded. Although Connaught have not been­ represented in Ireland since Eric Elwood and before him­ Ciaran Fitzgerald. If I do not champion my own who­ will. It's nature who is anyone to contradict what­ is natural. I do not always think I am right. I like a­ decent debate and hate to be put down as a Munster man­ with the implication that I am incapable of free­ thinking. Many of your comments are very magnanimous­ which I applaud. Like you I guess you would wish that­ the Tigers represented England I guess and the Lions if­ they had the 15 best players like Dynamo Kiev­ represented the Soviet Union in Football on occasion.
­ I am new to all this and I obviosly came in in the­ middle of some conflict between you and sugruejames­ which was not my business. Sorry!

"In common with your comment, comment 30 has no­­ regard for any unity of spirit with regard to our­­ common goal and no regard for fair play" ­ Gobbledegook.

.. and you spent sooo much time on that­ reply ;-)

Thanks for the apology.

hylmike #51

You're a half-wit

firstchoicepm I will try to keep my comments to a­ minimum. But some things you said I think are racist.­ Equally sugruejames's comment are a disgrace.­ Flutey is in the Lions squad and as for any Lions­ player let's support him. How anyone could agree­ with him flumoxes me. But the personal attacks against­ him are outof order. He does not deserve the airtime­ that he gets by his suppression.. Making him feel hard­ done by suits him. Remember being from Ulster he is not­ allowed to sit on the fence.. Let's ignore what he­ says. Nobody with any sense of decency would support­ his views. By demonising him he wins. He does not have­ any sense of proportion. Nor do many on the boards.­ it's sad to say. Me included sometimes. What I was­ also saying was that just because a player is Irish­ does not mean I have a natural affinity to fellow Irish­ men. Leinster men are the opposition as much as Cardiff­ men or those from Edinburgh or Londoners. To my mind­ Ulstermen are a law until themselves. Keeping old­ hateful views depending on what street they first­ lived. It's not rivalry it's unadulterated­ hatred. No compromise. Sorry! but I feel you feed his­ spiteful nature.

roxycappo as far as Im concerned a direct attack on­ someones nationality is racist , sugruejames­ overstepped the mark . I have Irish relatives who are­ fierce Munster supporters but can also indulge in­ lighthearted banter . I havent a racist bone in my body­ & am deeply offended to be accused of being so . If­ you had read my posts on this site over the last few­ months you would realise that . I dont care if the­ Lions team had 10 Irishmen in it , I am a rugby fan­ through & through & I would be cheering them on­ regardless . As for Irish teams dominating Europe over­ the last 4 years I agree & I was 1 of the 1st to­ congratulate Leinster on this site even though I was­ gutted being a Tigers fan but to me that is what rugby­ is about as a player & a supporter.

Donald D The trophy winning teams players usually­ prevail when getting into the Lions squads. I wonder if­ you or your ilk complained about the amount of English­ men in the last tour squad and then onto the team.
It­ was the undoing of the last tour squad, as many were­ not there on merit. Let's hope the same does not­ happen again.
If the racist cap does not fit you I­ humbly apologise.
I do not like the fact that some­ think 1 to 15 should be all Irish either, but neither­ do I believe that they should be not be picked because­ they are Irish. That goes equally for English, Scots or­ Welsh.
Having said that I find comment 30 as offensive­ as an Irish man as much as your naive (at best) O­ remark. In common with your comment, comment 30 has no­ regard for any unity of spirit with regard to our­ common goal and no regard for fair play.
As much as I­ hate racism, equally I support the Lions and hope the­ best 15 are picked throughh out.

Donald D. I can't help it if I abhor raacism and­ your O comment is racist. Call me a half wit for that­ if you please.

Heaslip is prety much penned in as no 8 now, wallace­ too. Could have had all irish back row if ferris hadent­ gone home. Looking to be between croft and possibly­ martyn williams for the last place in the back row.­ Roberts and o driscoll had another fantastic game­ together and byrne looking solid at the back. Have to­ say though O'gara was shocking last night. His­ descion to continually kick when we had over laps­ inside the 22 was awful and his defence is well below­ par for an international player. Dont know if anyone­ noticed but when we were a defending a scrum on their 5­ metre, he was moved to 13 and everyone else shuffled in­ because they new he couldnt tackle that big no8 running­ at him, now imagine whats going to happen to him if its­ pier spies running at him(rguable the best no8 in the­ world) apart from that they played very well. 2-1­ lions:)

hylmike

UKIP? - you half-wit. 'oirish' refers­ to those idiots who think it clever to write their­ posts in a mock irish accent. To answer your question -­ yes, I do predict another injury. Let's see if I­ am right again eh? (not that miraculous, as it happens­ on every Lions tour unfortunately) I am fully behind­ the Irish players in this Lions squad - they deserve to­ be there, but I have to disagree with those who think­ that irish players are the be all and end all.

And to­ answer your (naive) question 'whos censoring these­ threads?' it's the all the other users who are­ thumbing the posts down because they don't like­ them.

D'Arcy was outstanding in the Irish and Barbarians­ games while the Lions were already in the RSA. They­ went out of their way for him to go on tour,­ (eventually). There are other choices I admit but if­ they have to they can count on the Wexford man. Roberts­ would be a blow if he is not fit. But ...

realy don't think D'Arcy will get near the test­ team they didn't want him in the first place

I think we should put all parochialism behind us. As a­ Welshman, I am automatically interested in how my­ fellow countryman perform but the bigger vision is how­ the team performs. The one beauty about a Lions tour is­ that you can fully appreciate players who, for the rest­ of the season vowed enemies. To have BOD in your side,­ for instance is a pretty good feeling and even one can­ appreciate the skills of the natural enemy, the­ English. Nice to Have Vickery, Croft, Sheridan on board­ for instance. So let;s be objective about who we call­ for. Lee Byrne for example is the best fullback in the­ Northern Hemisphere and possibly the Southern as well.­ I find it incredible that other names are put forward,­ although I accept that the best two candidates for the­ fullback position are in the Lions party. I agree that­ Shane Williams is not at his best but I really hope he­ regains his form. Not because he's Welsh, but­ because he's small. He's a throwback to the­ golden days of rugby where size didn't really­ matter, if you possessed the skill and natural ability­ to compete. He's a confidence player, mainly­ because of his lack of size, and his career has been­ marked by peaks and troughs. I really hope he does get­ it back because, on his day, he's in a class of his­ own.
I'm fded up with the supremacy of the Southern­ Hemisphere teams who have everything going for­ themselves in terms of poaching natural talent from­ outside resources to being influential on the ­ international board that guarantees them changes of­ rules that suit their play. However, the end result is­ pretty mundane. How can you get excited about the­ Tri-nations and the Super 14 as well that emulates­ everything bad in Rugby League. Fortunately, in the­ Northern hemisphere we have something that resembles a­ worthwhile and romantic competition to win in the Six­ nations..
Whilst I'm at it let's get rid of­ the haka - no place for an amateurish ritual in the­ modern game and the Babas - high