Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

LIONS TOUR 2021: Lions put on a super show again as Gatland pragmatism is shelved…for now

Captain Stuart Hogg leads the Lions' charge in Johannesburg.
Captain Stuart Hogg leads the Lions' charge in Johannesburg.

Has Warren Gatland come over all sentimental in his old age? This Lions tour, although it’s very early days, goes against all the arch-pragmatist has done his entire career.

Last Saturday against Japan we had the spectacle of Dan Biggar throwing wide miss-passes to his wings. This week in Johannesburg there were off-loads galore, running in space, long lineout throws over the top, even passes behind their own line.

It finished 56-14 against the overmatched Sigma Lions in the first tour game proper. Perhaps against greater quality of opposition, starting with the Sharks this week, the Lions might revert to Gatland’s old staples of big guys bashing around the corner and bombs aimed at the back three.

Small moments but an inevitable landslide

The extreme looseness of the spell just after half-time might have been more severely punished but for a heroic last gasp tackle by captain Stuart Hogg.

But there are always these small moments in the opening games of Lions tour, and the result is invariably the tourists wearing down the opposition.

The biggest detriment to Josh Adams was gasping for breath because of the Jo’burg altitude as he scored four tries, reminding those with long memories of Andy Irvine’s five against King Country-Wanganui in 1977.

The Lions have been winners on the last two tours but apart from George North in Brisbane and the final test in 2013, and some brief moments in 2017, they haven’t been much fun to watch.

These were the Lions of our youth though. Well, those of us whose youth was in the 1970s.

Finn has fun on the high velde

Maybe it was Finn. The Scotland stand-off was allowed to play his natural game.

Apart from a couple of misjudged touch kicks, he scampered through the game in his usual fashion. There was the full repertoire – no-look passes, delayed deliveries, flat passes under his own posts, the works.

But there was also the kicking game. The pinpoint delivery to Adams for his second try and the one that finally broke the Sigma Lions’ resistance was exquisite.

His midfield partnership with Owen Farrell didn’t look quite test-ready yet, but serviced by BFF Ali Price, Finn looked as comfortable as he is in both shades of blue for Scotland and Racing.

Price was busy and bright, box-kicked superbly and scored the easiest try of his professional career. Hamish Watson pinballed about to great effect, especially for his try in the first half. He got man of the match despite Adams’ quartet of scores.

Harris marks his card impressively

Chris Harris, who Scots supporters have learned to love, was outstanding. He had three lineout takes on a set move the Lions eventually overused. His kick through for Louis Rees-Zammit’s try was perfect, and he carried and tackled effectively.

It’s still too early for test selections, even though we’re just four games away now. We won’t get even an idea of the way Gatland and his management team are thinking until – probably – next Saturday’s game against the Bulls in Loftus Versfeld.

It’s hard to find anyone who has actually harmed themselves so far. It seems to be still an open field for the three tests.