|
 |
 | | | You are in: Special Events: 2001: Lions Down Under |
|
| |  Saturday, 21 July, 2001, 12:35 GMT 13:35 UK Gibbs' Lions fatigue fears Scott Gibbs is a veteran of three Lions tours Weary British and Irish Lions players have warned that future tours are under threat unless the domestic season is cut short. Lions veteran Scott Gibbs and team-mate Neil Jenkins said the series defeat in Australia was a tour too far for many of the squad, coming at the end of a gruelling northern hemisphere season. "We were undone in the end because of our overloaded domestic fixture list, which starts in the middle of August and goes on until the following June," Gibbs told the Guardian.
"As players we have to make a stand and look to bang a few heads together. "It is no use complaining about the injured players who tried to push themselves through the six weeks, we have to make sure it does not happen again otherwise the Lions could well cease to roar." Peak Gibbs' comments were echoed by fellow Lions tourist Matt Dawson, the England scrum-half. "Some of the players were playing their 40th or 50th games of the season and were simply not at their peak," Dawson said.
"Players have to start putting themselves first because nobody else is. Unless they do, the Lions could become history," Jenkins said. The Lions suffered an horrendous injury toll in Australia, with several players dropping out and regular grumbles that they were being pushed too hard in training after a long season. | |
Top Lions Down Under stories now:  Links to more Lions Down Under stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|  | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
|  E-mail this story to a friend |
| |
| Links to more Lions Down Under stories |
| | | ||
 | ||||
 | | Back to top
| ||
| ------------------------------------------------------------ BBC News >> | BBC Weather >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |
