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'The Lions will struggle for viewers playing like that' | Ronan O'Gara

Ronan O'Gara joined Wednesday Night Rugby to look back at a Lions tour to South Africa that disap...



Rugby

'The Lions will struggle for viewers playing like that' | Ronan O'Gara


Ronan O'Gara joined Wednesday Night Rugby to look back at a Lions tour to South Africa that disappointed both on and off the pitch.

His former Lions teammate Brian O'Driscoll told Off The Ball on Monday that he had struggled to get into this series.

"I never really got into it," O'Driscoll said.

"At no point was I booking the TV and making sure that the kids were in bed, that I had done my shift for the day, and 'now I'm watching the game.'

"That would be the norm if you are not out travelling the country, you would be sitting at home looking forward to every single game.

"I didn't watch many lives games before the test match, I watched them on catch-up. That is not normal either."

Ronan O'Gara

Lions South Africa 3

O'Gara believes that the rugby played by the Lions under Warren Gatland will only retain viewers while it is winning.

"It was such an unremarkable tour, very little happened on the pitch for the first two tests. All of the drama was off the pitch rather than on it.

"The infamous 'Rassie rant' which was against everything in the values of the game, and then the third game was good. But the responsibility is with the Lions in the fact that they are in nearly a win-win scenario.

"[Because] if you were to win the series in a certain way then you're heroes. But imagine if you were to win the series with an all-round game, where you have several points of attack, reading the game, trusting your instincts.

"Having a go because you are able to trust the best players in Britain and Ireland for 80 minutes, having been essentially thrown together.

"I would agree that if people had to sit through three tests like that again then they will lose a lot of viewers - maybe not supporters, but viewers."

TMO decisions

O'Gara also believes the ongoing discussion of whether there are too many delays in rugby is valid.

The La Rochelle coach reflected his experience of trying to coach a team under the auspices of ever-changing rules.

"I do [think that rugby is in trouble from delays in the match] - what we need now is a set of rules that are understood by everyone and that are refereed for a period of time, say 24 or 36 months.

"From my point of view in the last five years, there have been different rules introduced and taken away. It is hard to understand whether they still exist, whether we are playing this rule or that rule.

"For example, the interpretation around the tackle or the ruck, there are areas that need constant revision."

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