Temperature of Lions series not helped by times we live in

There was a moment in the build-up to the first test of the series between the Springboks and the British and Irish Lions that might not have been picked up by the television cameras but which might have struck a poignant note for those who value the camaraderie rugby is renowned for but which is missing from this series.

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South Africa’s national director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was standing near the halfway line of the Cape Town Stadium watching both his own team and the opposition go through their final warm-up routines before kick-off. As he was doing that, Lions coach Warren Gatland came over, the pair shook hands and smiled at one another. They then engaged in friendly conversation.

What?!! Gatland and Erasmus being friendly with one another. Surely not? Okay, so it was before the temperature of the series was raised to an incendiary level by the aftermath of that test match and Erasmus’ leaked video that was directed at World Rugby and issues he felt the global guardians of the sport should be concerned about.

BIGGEST CELEBRITY WATERBOY SINCE ADAM SANDLER

But it was still after Gatland and Erasmus had done some verbal sparring in the media, with Erasmus responding to the Lions coach’s complaints about the colour of the card that Faf de Klerk was shown for a dangerous tackle in the South Africa A game against the Lions. And also after Gatland had made some snide remarks about Erasmus’ role as the biggest celebrity waterboy since Adam Sandler starred in the 1998 movie.

Outsiders who have witnessed the furious battles that get waged on Twitter and other social media platforms, and who take at face value the hype that surrounds the almost cliched mainstream media headlines about wars of words and off-field battles that are heating up, wouldn’t imagine that two coaches could have a friendly conversation.

Yet Erasmus did the same thing with Eddie Jones before the World Cup final in 2019, and would have done it on countless other occasions that can’t really be listed because they happen so often. Speak to South African coaches from the Super Rugby era and they will tell you they became good mates with their New Zealand counterparts through the interactions they had after games. As an example, Robbie Fleck and Scott Robertson had dinner together two nights before the tempestuous battle between the Stormers and Crusaders at Newlands in 2019.

Not that it was just confined to Super Rugby. Interactions between coaches, and often a sharing of ideas too, happen the world over. Coaches you would think are sworn enemies interacting in a friendly manner is the norm, for coaches understand each other and the pressures of the job, but in this series it somehow feels more relevant to point it out because the social media shouting match between media and fans has buried a lot of facts amidst the noise and chaos.

Facts such as the real narrative of Erasmus’ video, which is not an attack on the Lions or Gatland but an attempt to address a concern that there is an unconscious bias among officials. It is not something that is new. It was something that Erasmus highlighted in media conferences at the start of the 2019 World Cup when the Bok opponents were New Zealand, and which Kiwi writers say was a concern in the Lions series that was riddled with refereeing controversy in that country in 2017.

In turn Gatland, perhaps rightly, is concerned that he has been misrepresented after it was reported he was “fuming” at the appointment of South African Marius Jonker as the TMO for this series after the initial appointee had to pull out. It did come across that Gatland was casting aspersions on the professionalism, neutrality and therefore integrity of Jonker, but if instead it was a bleat at World Rugby for not having a contingency plan in place, that is completely understandable.

EXTRAORDINARY TIMES EXACERBATE THE NOISE

It does seem that all modern Lions tours are accompanied by controversy, but maybe the reason this series seems particularly spiteful is because the extraordinary times we live in, with both squads and the respective coaching teams living in a bubble cut off from the rest of society. With the rugby as the only focus, the usual surround sound to the series has been intensified and exacerbated.

In normal times Erasmus and Gatland might not just have had that one chat next to the playing field. They might have seen each other at a function, or mixed after the game in a way they can’t do now, and they might have had a conversation that would have helped them understand each other better. They might even have found themselves being in agreement on certain issues.

ADVERSERIES STEW IN THEIR BUBBLES

You won’t get that now because everything and everyone is kept separate because of the Covid protocols, there is no socialising and mingling, and after a defeat the respective adversaries are just left to stew in their respective bubbles. And it wouldn't be surprising if bio-bubbles became echo chambers.

Would Erasmus have made the video that has so infuriated the travelling media, and that term is used expressly as we don’t really know how much it might have infuriated the Lions, if these were normal times and he wasn’t holed up in a hotel on Cape Town’s foreshore? Any answer would be entirely speculative, but the narrative that Erasmus has let down rugby’s spirit of brotherhood is ignoring the fact that in these times there is no brotherhood, there isn’t the usual interaction that gives rugby it’s identity as a special sport. The pandemic has forced isolation to be the norm and the fun has been taken away from the sport by the absence of fans and chances to react with the broader public.

And that might extend to the media, both mainstream and those who raise the temperatures with their social media spats, too. In a normal tour, or at a World Cup, the local media and the travelling press corp would get a chance not only to mingle before and after press conferences, they'd also have an opportunity for a more human and direct contact with the subject matter, in this case be it Erasmus or be it Gatland. There might just be a chance for a conversation that would sway opinion and spark that "Now I get it" inspirational moment.

When it comes to the different media packs themselves, there may be disagreement between the parties on some things that are written, but there’d also be a humanness to the interactions that separates the social from the professional. There’d be humour.

EASIER TO BE CAUGHT IN VORTEX OF HOT AIR

In the current environment, with everything done online and therefore in an albeit slightly different kind of bubble, it is easy for the tribalism that sometimes hijacks common sense among sportswriters to take over. As we are now no longer any closer to being proper eye witnesses than the average fan is, it is easier to get caught up in the vortex of hot air.

This was always going to be a different Lions tour, it was always going to be a more challenging Lions tour for everyone involved. Little things that are different might actually be big things. Some regard the travel aspect of tours, meaning the frequent packing of suitcases, checking out and heading to the airport to be the hardest part of touring, but some might now be finding that the sameness of being in the same hotel room for four weeks is far harder to deal with.

The point not being that all the controversy and spitefulness we have seen in a tour where the sideshow has become the dominant show is just caused by the different normality ushered in by Covid, but that it may have played a big part in exacerbating it and pushing it beyond the pale. The fun aspect that came with playing in front of full stadiums and having parties of well-wishers to deflect the intensity of your focus is no longer there and with it has gone the salve to frustration and anger.