Boks out to ‘boss’ Lions skipper

THE great Willie John McBride might just have dropped one of his successors as captain of the Lions into a bit of trouble in South Africa.

The 1974 second row Lions legend recently told the rugby world that he expected Paul O’Connell to “boss” Springbok second row Victor Matfield in the forthcoming Test series.

It was a claim that brought a wry smile to the face of Matfield at a press conference in Durban and brought a vehement response from his Bulls and Boks lock partner Bakkies Botha.

It means the touch paper has been lit for the series 10 days out and the Lions skipper will be an even bigger target when he leads his team into battle against the reigning world champions.

“Paul is a great player and he’s their captain. I see in the papers he had a lot to say to the Springbok locks when Bakkies and I didn’t play against him, so now we’ll see if he’s got as much to say to us,” said Matfield.

“Willie John must back his players and that’s a good thing. It’s going to be a good battle and we will only know after the three Tests who has bossed who around.”

Matfield has 80 caps and was one of the key figures in the Springboks’ World Cup triumph in 2007. He joined Toulon, after that triumph before returning to lead the Bulls to Super 14 triumph.

Now the Lions are firmly on the agenda, with his tussle with Munster’s inspirational leader a key battleground. But will O’Connell be able to “boss” the Springbok line-out boss?

“Boss around Victor? When you say that word, that’s my game,” said his Bulls and Springbok partner Botha.

“It is going to be a big challenge. Paul is a good leader and it presents a new challenge for me and Victor, but we want to measure ourselves with some of the best locks in the world.

“We are not finished yet. We are preparing ourselves to go higher and higher – that’s the motivating factor we take on every day.

“We don’t want to get to the point where we say we have done enough in world rugby. We want to achieve something that will one day let us be known as a great lock pairing.

“Victor is a class lock and class player. It’s just phenomenal the kind of player he is and I admire the way he has changed his game in recent years.

“He’s even been getting stuck into mauls and not just lining up at third centre. Being brutal up front is what Test rugby is all about and that’s what I love.

“The Lions have a good group of locks in their squad and we are preparing for anything – they throw at us.

“We have improved since winning the World Cup in 2007 and each day we are pushing each other to new limits. We knew after winning the world cup the Lions were coming and it was a big target after 2007. It’s a challenge we are going to grab.”