{"id":254638,"date":"2025-07-10T22:45:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T22:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/254638\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T22:45:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T22:45:33","slug":"some-lions-prep-is-back-of-the-fag-packet-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/254638\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Lions prep is back of the fag packet stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Had Tadhg Furlong not been on a British & Irish Lions tour before, he might be rattled \u2014 and worried \u2014 at this point. The Lions are looking clunky and tired after a relentless three weeks which have taken them from Dublin to Adelaide via Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra. <\/p>\n

This has meant the team have barely trained. They have certainly set no scrums other than in matches, to the point where Furlong has called the Lions\u2019 preparations \u201cback of the fag packet stuff\u201d. No wonder, then, that they still look underprepared for the looming Test series. The Brumbies match in Canberra was meant to be where the \u201cTest\u201d side made their statement in Australia, yet in Wednesday\u2019s 36-24 win they were still a bits-and-pieces team.<\/p>\n

However, Furlong, who started at tight-head, is not too concerned. The Irish prop, now on his third tour, said he did not really savour the 2017 trip to New Zealand where he made his name, as it was all too stressful, too taxing. Now, aged 32, he is more relaxed about the madness of a Lions tour, and is trying to impart this wisdom upon those in the squad here that have never experienced one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re kind of into the madness of a Lions tour with the three-day, four-day turnarounds,\u201d Furlong says. \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019re embracing but also it\u2019s something that takes you outside your comfort zone because it\u2019s way outside of what you\u2019re used to prepping for a normal game. <\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

Furlong played in the win against the Brumbies and is a likely Test starter<\/p>\n

DAVID ROGERS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the adjustment in your very core belief in how you prep for a game. Your week gets ripped apart. You\u2019re thrown out there. Your body might be a little bit sore. You\u2019re playing two games a week. You\u2019re travelling. You\u2019ve no down time. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re just thrown out there and you have to perform. You learn a lot about yourself. I\u2019m saying that to the young lads. I think they learn a lot about themselves coming off the back of the first Lions tour. It\u2019s something I reflected on massively after New Zealand, particularly about how this thing all works and what\u2019s really important.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose I was very young in the first one [24]. I didn\u2019t take a whole lot in. I didn\u2019t know a whole lot about myself or rugby and how to perform. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that I didn\u2019t enjoy it, I found it stressful the whole time because you\u2019re coming up against New Zealand scrums but you\u2019re trying to get into the Test team. I always thought if I go on another one it would be great. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo go on a third one is an absolute bonus. I suppose it\u2019s something you look on now and realise how privileged you are. You take everything in. It\u2019s an unbelievable thing and I\u2019m delighted to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

Furlong admits he \u201cdidn\u2019t take a whole lot in\u201d as a 24-year-old on his first Lions tour, to New Zealand in 2017<\/p>\n

GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Furlong realised through these experiences, in New Zealand and then South Africa four years ago, that he does not need extensive preparation to be right for the Lions Tests. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy body\u2019s changed,\u201d he says, having come through a season plagued by calf issues. \u201cI have to keep on top of stuff to stay on the pitch. What do I actually need to do in a week to get out there on a Saturday and play? What\u2019s really important for me? I have to boil that down further again here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to feel good in the scrums. I need to have it in the legs \u2014 just feel right. I don\u2019t go chasing it. Don\u2019t waste too much emotional energy on stuff. Stay nice and loose and play ball. You can\u2019t beat playing the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a usual week with Ireland Furlong says they would go through ten or 11 live scrums \u2014 drilling binds and \u201centries\u201d to set pieces on a Monday, three or four scrums on a Tuesday and six or seven on a Wednesday. Yet in Australia, they have been doing none at all in these two-match weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t get any scrums really in training, especially [with] these two games a week. We did one entry on Tuesday, which is kind of unheard of, really. It\u2019s kind of back of a fag pack stuff. It\u2019s a little bit mad,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Tadhg<\/p>\n

The Irishman likes Genge\u2019s aggressive approach<\/p>\n

DAVID ROGERS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

So it is credit to Furlong and the other front-row forwards that the scrum has been one of the Lions\u2019 best areas on this trip. Furlong likes Ellis Genge\u2019s aggression and Will Stuart\u2019s size. He feels they can crack on with their roles, as they are all experienced.<\/p>\n

The Irishman trusts that up front, and everywhere else, it will click soon. In 2017 he felt that happened when they beat the Crusaders 12-3 before the Test series. He has not yet felt that moment of clarity on this trip, but believes it is close. He also is sure the Test series against the Wallabies will be a cracker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a lot of people travelling out for the Tests. Everyone\u2019s kind of flooding in \u2014 my own family are flooding in on Thursday into Adelaide,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the special thing about the Lions tour. It brings all the fans together and brings the red. In terms of the game, we still are a little bit clunky because of the breakdown. We\u2019re maybe forcing passes, maybe we\u2019re not decisive at times. I think there\u2019s good growth there, and it feels like this thing is coming together. We\u2019re dialling this thing up. We just need to iron out the last bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t probably feel like we\u2019re there yet, but it doesn\u2019t feel like we\u2019re far away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Had Tadhg Furlong not been on a British & Irish Lions tour before, he might be rattled \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-254638","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114831368411630926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}