Abolish the lions?

[leinsterlank]

Just wondering peoples opinion on this. If this tour is a whitwash again ,which i firmly believe it will be should the lions be looked at? I know its draped in tradition and clearly still a big honour (e.g. nathan hines) but is it feasible in the modern professional game? I still havent made my mind up but i just wanted to see the debate get going as its inevitable i feel.

[thecoolfreak]

Simple answer, no.

[Danthefan]

No.

[orfeo]

No, this bunch will surprise a lot of people ,it won't be a whitewash,

[Skinfull]

I'm not a fan of the lions at all. I usually watch the games though only for the rugby rather than the "team" but I never buy the merch as it were. I do enjoy seeing my leinster men off season playing but not enough to actually care if this goes ahead or not. Dont really care if they win or lose.

[tackle-bag]

Simple answer, no.

Agreed, the Lions is an integral part of the game of rugby union. Saying we should abolish it is akin to saying we should abolish the World Cup because the lesser nations tend to stink it up.

[gfo]

I'm not a fan of the lions at all. I usually watch the games though only for the rugby rather than the "team" but I never buy the merch as it were. I do enjoy seeing my leinster men off season playing but not enough to actually care if this goes ahead or not. Dont really care if they win or lose.

i feel exactly the same. fun to watch, not really pushed about the team as a whole

[thecoolfreak]

I'm not a fan of the lions at all. I usually watch the games though only for the rugby rather than the "team" but I never buy the merch as it were. I do enjoy seeing my leinster men off season playing but not enough to actually care if this goes ahead or not. Dont really care if they win or lose.

I'm the complete opposite. Get every bit as excited about a Lions match as I do for an Ireland or Leinster game

[suisse]

I'm not a fan of the lions at all. I usually watch the games though only for the rugby rather than the "team" but I never buy the merch as it were. I do enjoy seeing my leinster men off season playing but not enough to actually care if this goes ahead or not. Dont really care if they win or lose.

26,000 people from the UK and Ireland are expected to land in South Africa by Sunday. Another lump will come over the next 14 days. In total over 40,000 will head down. The Lions expect to sell more merchandise this year than the All Blacks. And that's with confidence low. It's a huge honour for the squad, the Lions are making money, and the players receiver about €38,000 each. Plus, look what it does to the local economies of New Zealand and South Africa. It's bigger than the RWC to the Springboks. A win-win situation all round!

I absolutely love the Lions, and cherish the whole squad build up, and the matches. Getting up for a big dirty 12th Lock fry in Castleknock for the 7am games in New Zealand. My biggest rugby regret is I'm not on this tour. I really, really hope they take this one!

[Dave Cahill]

I'm not a fan of the lions at all. I usually watch the games though only for the rugby rather than the "team" but I never buy the merch as it were. I do enjoy seeing my leinster men off season playing but not enough to actually care if this goes ahead or not. Dont really care if they win or lose.

I'm the complete opposite. Get every bit as excited about a Lions match as I do for an Ireland or Leinster game

ditto

[Vamos los azules]

I love the concept of the Lions and the way it is still going strong today. It would never happen with the equivalent football teams.

[Danthefan]

With the game being professional and all these days, the Lions tour generates far too much money to be scrapped anyway.

[Leinster Exile]

History , tradition, every 4 years , 4 nations come together to play for a very very special team.

In the words of someone "Wheres your fYYking pride!"

[Livestrong7]

No, no you couldn't its to special.

[ronk]

I don't really see any case for abolishing the Lions, except for clubs that don't want to have to release players and see so much interest in an aspect of the game that they don't themselves control.

[Munsterboy]

I'm a big supporter of the whole thing but I'll admit I had my doubts. I was pretty pissed off with the last tour because I felt Woodward had not kept to the spirit of the Lions with his huge squad, his spin doctors and his massively biased selections.

Now that Geech is back in charge my faith has been renewed that this is a great event for the players, the fans and the game of rugby (not to mention the economy of the host country). It's the last of the great rugby tours and even if they lose 3-0, it's still something unique and engaging.

Besides, if it wasn't for this we'd have nothing to do for the summer but invent rumours about new signings. By the way, did you hear Richie McCaw has signed for Connacht?

[tackle-bag]

I'm a big supporter of the whole thing but I'll admit I had my doubts. I was pretty pissed off with the last tour because I felt Woodward had not kept to the spirit of the Lions with his huge squad, his spin doctors and his massively biased selections.

Now that Geech is back in charge my faith has been renewed that this is a great event for the players, the fans and the game of rugby (not to mention the economy of the host country). It's the last of the great rugby tours and even if they lose 3-0, it's still something unique and engaging.

Besides, if it wasn't for this we'd have nothing to do for the summer but invent rumours about new signings. By the way, did you hear Richie McCaw has signed for Connacht?

That's true. I also hear that William Webb Ellis has come back from the dead and is going to help Waterpark to improve on their position in AIL Division 3.

[gfo]

Getting up for a big dirty 12th Lock fry in Castleknock for the 7am games in New Zealand

i absolutely love that pub, even if i can almost never manage to get food there

[leinsterlank]

Largely the response I expected. I understand the economics of it. My view is that what constitues a lions tour these days is far removed from what it used to be. There's a lack of community and acceptance on the recent tours. The tour has become overly professional and forgotten that it is about a coming together of people from different countries and integrating with the host nation off the pitch. The successful tours are the ones where this has happened because the experiences shared by the team are memorable. I really enjoyed reading that some of the players visited a township because thats what the lions is in essence. Its a cash cow for all involved but is that truly what the lions is about? I love the lions and thats what it gets to me when we get hammered so much! However good we will be this year, and I will gladly eat my words if I'm wrong, the south africans will be much better!I reckon this SA team is better than the one that won the world cup. A tour like this also impacts on the players for the whole of next season, regardless of the layoff. I dont ant it to be abolished because I love the tour and it keeps rugby on tv for longer but maybe its for the best?

[Comer Toes]

I'm not a fan of the lions at all. I usually watch the games though only for the rugby rather than the "team" but I never buy the merch as it were. I do enjoy seeing my leinster men off season playing but not enough to actually care if this goes ahead or not. Dont really care if they win or lose.

i feel exactly the same. fun to watch, not really pushed about the team as a whole

Wouldn't feel exactly the same but close enough. I certainly struggle to refer to the Lions as 'we'. I think I was probably more into it before Woodward made a joke of it four years ago. That said, I still find the tour and the selections hugely intereting and I love seeing the Irish lads do well so rarely miss a minute of it. With the amount of supporters that travel there is no way it will be ditched. Logical alternatives to the Lions would be a world club series but that just wouldn't get people travelling in remotely the same numbers.