After or before depending on your preferences (all local)
Drink in the beer garden outside the Grand Stand side
Drink at the Forresters Arms or Forries as its called locally
Eat at Barristers Steak house (in my opinon in the top 3 in CT)
Eat at the Butchers Grill (5min walk from Newlands)

There are plenty of other places to eat and drink but If you like a sherbert or two in a couple of unique locations also try the following:
Brass Bell in Kalk bay
Red Herring in Noordehoek
Dunes restraunt Houtbay

You do know by the way that Stephen Jones is the main portrayer of doom saying for the last two months that the Lions will lose all three matches against the Boks. And after the Bulls win, is even more convinced of it.

1) Shane Byrne – owner of the greatest mullet to ever pack into a scrum

2) Anyone else notice the abundance of “cocks” on the field?
– Koch
– Jeacocks
well only two – but they got alot of ball…..

That said the Royal XV was also scratch and if the conditions were that hard then the BI Lions should have faded, not the other way around.

Bulls – home definitely, away highly likely
Chiefs – home definitely, away highly likely

Knives Out – “Respect is the core tenet of rugby and the majority of notorious correspondents tend to exist on a diet of tabloid antagonism and bitter vitriol” how true is this statement and another indictment is that rugby supporters come to the roar for some analysis of the players and the game plan, whereas this should be the diet that the rugby writers feed us. Spiro is our only popular insightful rugby writer the other writer makes Jones look like a genius.

Havent seen the game yet but have it on HDD might have a glimpse today but it doesnt sound like it worth sitting through.

You are the calm voice of reason. Can we pin that quote at the top of the Roar page in nice shiny letters?

What I am saying is that the man does not understand modern rugby. His match ratings are often so innacurate that I would genuinely argue that if he doesn’t not understand the game then he doesn’t actually watch games. Some of the things he has said over the past few months have been laughable: David Wallace isn’t a good flanker; Bakkies Botha isn’t a good lock (but apparently now he is); Morgan Parra is rubbish; Juan Martin Hernandez is the greatest player in the world; Marcos Ayerza is the best prop in the world; Louis Picamoles is rubbish; Josh Lewsey exposed the Lomu myth; Marc Lievremont has an obsession with Montpellier, and the list goes on and on. That he still has a job is a sad indictment of the ‘jobs for the boys’ amateur attitude that still pervades the upper echelons of rugby.

Them’s the breaks – it’s not as if they didn’t know it. The local boys will be far more acclimatised, but I figure it’ll be Saturday before they’ve all had a taste of it and got used to it.

Comment from from Mr Stephen Jones of the Times re the Bulls walkover against the Chiefs:

“There was no doubting the pace, the spectacle and the sense of occasion of the Super 14 final, which brought an avalanche of points and a smashing win by the Bulls. In terms of the pace, intensity, crowd noise and big-day atmosphere, it was all several leagues above the proceedings at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium….

Many of us watching on the television from Rustenberg and a few of our number who attended the game were left with a burning question, however. If that dire, talent-free lot representing the Chiefs were the second best team in the Super 14, then what on God’s earth were the bottom team like?”

That ought to get a few people shouting.

I was talking to a South African and he informed that where the Lions played on Saturday it was basically winter conditions. The SH rugby fan does not grasp how the average NH rugby player is affected by any form of heat or humidity.

I don’t think that was the consensus at all. Even the British and Irish writers who expect the Springboks to beat the Lions easily were surprised at just how poorly they played on Saturday. The are a number of reasons flying around, some of which are mentioned above, but almost everyone has written that any similar lack of intensity will be severely punished in future matches.

Martyn Williams is quoted on the BBC site saying:

“…The conditions were also a nightmare, some of the toughest I’ve ever encountered. As soon as I ran onto the pitch on Saturday, the heat hit me. Then when the game started, the altitude took the wind out of me and I felt very lethargic. It did get easier as the game went on though. The coaches have told us it takes eight days to get used to altitude, so the boys should be fully adjusted to it when they take on the Golden Lions on Wednesday…”

I hope that’s right but I think most Lions supporters are a little more nervous about how quickly the team can come together. I’m confident we’ll see better performances but the opposition will be getting better too and won’t give away a winning position as easily as the Royal XV.

Cons :
1) The bad game was very, very bad
2) They played without passion, intensity and structure
3) For the majority of the game they were outplayed by relative amateurs
4) The form of Rees, Shaw, Worsley, Wallace (albeit out of position), Blair, Earls
5) Poor rucking
6) Poor fringe defence

Only way is up but there will be serious lessons learned. Next game in Joburg should be a bigger test but lets remember how awful the Lions were in S14 this year. Yes, a big step up but teh B&I Lions should still win. Plus a large crowd will, I believe, help them. Most Lions fans on tour would have booked to arrive for this game so could be a great atmosphere.

van der Merwe, I couldn’t be bothered to debate you but I struggle to see how a scoreline could flatter the Lions when realistically they fluffed countless scoring chances.