What price a ticket to watch the British and Irish Lions?

The tour by the Lions class of 2009 is in danger of sinking without a trace. There are no supreme stars besides Brian O’Driscoll and whilst the team do the scrums and lineouts very efficiently and their ball retention is at times phenomenal, one gets the feeling that the Boks might have too many gears and too much gas in the tank.

Then there is the other little factor of the financial outlay necessary to get a seat at the stadium. Approximately triple the price for seat to watch the All Blacks is just a bridge too far in these times of recession and real rugby value for money.

The buildup to the tests has been lukewarm at best as all the best SA players are being rested, leaving those past sell by and those yet to reach Bok contention to try and stem the red flow.

What this has done is build a false sense of security for the Lions, a misplaced belief in their own myth and the wake up call when it sounds in Durban on the 20th might be devastating for some people.

Lastly, the sports enthusiast has been spoilt for choice and I know pubs where cricket takes precedence over the rugby where in days of yore there was never so much as even a hint of a debate.

What exactly this might mean is that the Lions might be seen in retrospect as being simply a warm up for the Tri-Nations and not the 1 in 12 that they are alleged to be.

This does of course presuppose that the Lions don’t have another gear and players to step up to the plate when Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Victor Matfield and Jean De Villiers start asking questions.

Answer the question as to whether these Lions have what it takes to stretch the Boks and then find a place to bet the ranch. Somebody is going to win big and others might end up staying after school with lines, not powder but ink.

The Lions are in Cape Town to take on Western Province this afternoon and some people are talking up a storm. Can Province ignite the stuttering tour or will they also struggle to even score one try? Too many questions and not enough answers. The bell is tolling and it’s not picky and choosy, live up to the hype or die all hyped out.

There is a book out concurrently about the Lions and their history. ‘Once were Lions’ might be a better bet than watching the games live at the stadium. Return on investment is at least assured.

The media have done as good a job as they could have under trying circumstances and yet the knives could be out after the first showdown in Durban. Either a giant killing act or a walk in park. It’s as simple as that.

Dan Retief on the Lions