Paul Ackford insists the Lions were listless and uninspiring in their opening tour victory over the Royal XV, read his thoughts in the Sunday Telegraph.

"If the Lions took any plusses out of this match, they came in the shape of Lee Byrne and Jamie Roberts who had fine matches. Byrne, in particular, was magnificent. His solo effort, when the Lions were behind 25-13 with 10 minutes to go, rescued his side. Roberts provided the physical presence, dragging defenders over the gain line, which the Lions were seeking, and there were some fine touches by Shane Williams who enjoyed the space the Royal XV’s kicking game offered him.

"But that was about it. The rest was very mediocre and, cruel thought it might seem, some players’ tours may already be over in the sense that they ruled themselves out of consideration for the Tests. Keith Earls fits neatly into that category. The youngest Lions in the party had a shocker, making four big mistakes inside the first 20 minutes. Earls rallied later but, with only five games to go before the first Test, that may have been his best opportunity to impress."

The Sunday Times' Stephen Jones reports from the Lions unconvincing victory over the Royal XV in Rustenburg.

"With only 13 minutes remaining of this vibrant but often alarming occasion on the parched Highveld at the Royal Bafokeng stadium, the Royal XV were leading by 25-13; they needed only a quiet few minutes to seal a famous win and to send shudders down so many British and Irish spines that it would have measured on the Richter Scale.

"As it turned out, the Lions flatly denied their valiant hosts that quiet period. They came with a desperate and yet also impressive late charge, which brought them three tries and 24 points in that last 13 minutes, and sent them on to Ellis Park, for the game against the Golden Lions on Wednesday, in better heart. And in the knowledge that they will have to improve mightily."

Lions centre Brian O'Driscoll reflects on the tourists' opening victory against the Royal XV, read his thoughts in The Observer.

"Most of the mistakes were minor, the result mainly of jitters and unfamiliarity. They will reduce in number the longer the tour goes on.

Keith Earls spilled a few passes, and I sought him out afterwards to tell him how impressed I was that he did not let his head drop. He tried to overcompensate after an early slip, but his defence was always strong and he never tried to hide from the ball. He remains a young man with a huge talent that will be seen on this tour.

"Playing in your first match for the Lions is a daunting experience. While you may know some of your team-mates – that was not the case for Mike Blair, the only Scotsman in the 22 – you are surrounded by the unknown. It is something you have to experience to truly understand, and even players who have won a number of caps find it unique."

Lions manager says his job is to help players to be content and believe in what they are doing, writes Paul Rees in the Guardian

"The Welshman is one of the most ­celebrated figures in the history of the game. A sidestepping wing with instant acceleration, he scored 20 tries, then a record, in 46 Tests for Wales between 1966 and 1978. After his retirement he worked in the media, giving up a column in a national newspaper last year after being appointed by the Lions. While many of his predecessors regarded ­journalists as an occupational hazard, Davies appreciates how they operate.

"Having twice toured with the Lions, to South Africa in 1968 and to New Zealand three years later, he understands the importance of combining work with relaxation and he has not burdened his players with a list of dos and don'ts for the next six weeks. In 2001 and 2005, Lions players complained about being worked too hard in training and having too little down time."

The 2009 Lions have some ground to make up and it begins today, amid the heat and dust of what used to be northwest Transvaal (now Bojanala), at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng, writes David Hands in The Times.

"There is unison among these Lions, players and management, that they are farther down the road to the creation of an effective team than they expected after nearly a fortnight together, but it all means nothing until they have played their first match.

"Gerald Davies and his coaches have precious little time to establish a XV good enough to overcome South Africa in the three internationals, the first of them three weeks today. For the moment, they have just one priority: to start with a win and, if possible, avoid the kind of tour-ending injury that has plagued the Lions in so many opening matches. The players themselves know that if they seek a place in the XV to play the Springboks, they can afford to waste no opportunity."

Wales wing Shane Williams offers an insight into the Lions camp ahead of their tour opener against a Royal XV in Rustenburg. Read his thoughts in the Daily Telegraph.

"I was chuffed to bits to have been selected for the first game of the tour. I was a bit worried at the start of the week because I had a sore throat and a bad chest when I arrived. There has been a lot made about the effects of the high altitude here and I have struggled to find any air, to be honest. But I am okay now and I can't wait to get out there.

On the Lions tour in 2005, I found it difficult because I wanted to play more often, so this time I just want to get out there, burn the lungs, give it everything and enjoy it. Gerald Davies, our tour manager, is going to hand out the shirts on Saturday before the game and that will mean everything to me. He was my idol when I was growing up and just to be sitting having breakfast or a coffee with Gerald is still surreal for me."

Left out of the touring party, Mike Blair was ready to book himself a holiday – but a late call-up has him dreaming of a Test cap, he tells Chris Hewett in The Independent.

"Two days before Ian McGeechan and the rest of the British and Irish Lions hierarchy were scheduled to announce their tour party for South Africa, the Edinburgh scrum-half Mike Blair was still giving himself an even-money chance of making the cut. It was a far cry from the odds-on status he had enjoyed at the start of the season, when the world and his wife considered him to be both an automatic selection and the Test No 9 in waiting, but when a Six Nations Championship goes as wrong for a team as this year's tournament did for Scotland, only the luckiest of captains emerge with reputation intact – and Blair had not been in the least bit lucky.

"I thought it was touch and go," he recalls. "Then I read that Jim Telfer had made a few comments about me. They weren't terribly positive, and as I assumed he had an inside track, I went from thinking in terms of 50-50 to thinking 'five per cent'."

Eddie Butler is pleased to see a more relaxed atmosphere developing around the Lions after the PR nightmares of 2001 and 2005, in The Guardian.

"On Lions tours, time is supposed to be so pressing that every second counts in the construction of a defence, the deconstruction of the tackle area or the rehabilitation of players involved only last weekend in European finals. And yet, here we are, with the Lions having had a day without training this week and column yards being devoted to general thumb-twiddling.

"We were even reduced to discussing ghost writing. Will Austin Healey never sue Eddie Butler? In 2001, I told so many lies trying to protect the little maestro from Graham Henry's thought police that I personally wouldn't believe a word either of us ever said again, except to say that Austin provided a glimpse of an over-managed, secretive world. And perhaps it was a little more interesting than how long Donncha spends in the shower.

"The point is that time doesn't seem quite so pressing after all. The Lions are relaxing, and good on them, before tomorrow's game, an opener that will be won at a canter against an invitation team based around the Griquas. Making comparisons about relaxation levels in 2009 and 2005 are meaningless until every tourist has a game under his belt and the medical team have assessed the damage from the first encounters. We shall have to twiddle our thumbs a while longer."

In The Daily Telegraph, Brendan Gallagher casts his eye over some of the Lions' past tour openers.

"The last British and Irish Lions team to lose their tour opener was the 1971 party coached by Carwyn James, but they went on to become the second greatest squad ever to leave these shores, so, clearly, all is not lost should the Lions suffer a similar fate in Rustenburg on Saturday, when they take on a Royal XV.

"The 1971 defeat to a fired-up Queensland, on the tour of Australia and New Zealand, was amateurish and careless in the extreme, but, in retrospect, acted as the perfect wake-up call for the talented squad.

"The tourists had stopped off in Hong Kong on the way there for a night out and arrived in tropical Brisbane only 36 hours before kick-off. A mix of jet lag and hangovers saw the out-of-sorts Lions lose 15-11.

"They were little better a few days later when scraping a win against New South Wales, but during the old-style, three-month tours a team had time to play themselves into form. The Lions' struggle to beat a modest Australian side led the Kiwis to become overconfident."

As the Lions get acclimatised in South Africa one of the key facets of the tour could already be unfolding - Springbok skipper John Smit's move to tight-head.Smit is bullish and predicting a rout as he talks to Chris Hewett in The Independent.

"There was a smidgen of good news for the British and Irish Lions as the majority of the squad continued their hard yakka on the training field while a small handful of those not required for this weekend's tour opener against an invitation side in Rustenburg – Brian O'Driscoll, Gethin Jenkins, Ugo Monye and Nathan Hines among them – headed off to an impoverished township to inaugurate a new rugby pitch at Masibambane College, a seat of learning set up at the request of the great anti-apartheid campaigner Walter Sisulu, no less.

"The glad tidings concerned John Smit, who led South Africa to the world title in 2007 while confirming himself as one of the finest hookers in Springbok history. Smit pretty much confirmed that in the forthcoming Test series, someone else will be doing the hooking while he continues in his old-new position of tight-head prop, the role he performed in age-group rugby. It is not a policy that convinces everyone in these parts – perhaps not even Smit, calmness personified as a general rule but a trifle prickly on the subject yesterday. When the 31-year-old forward from Limpopo province was asked whether it might not be a little late to start chopping and changing, he replied: "It would be if I thought my career was nearly finished." Which he doesn't, apparently.

"Smit will play at prop when a Springbok side shorn of their Bulls, who play in the Super 14 final on Saturday, take on a Namibian XV in Windhoek tomorrow by way of warming up for the important business ahead. And there was plenty about the captain – a glint in the eye, an edge to the voice – that left no one in his presence in any doubt as to the South Africans' burning determination to avenge the defeat by the Lions a dozen years ago."

Jonny Wilkinson has touched down in France and The Times' Mark Souster sees the budding seeds of 'Jonnymania'.

"Jonny Wilkinson arrived in the South of France yesterday to start house hunting in preparation for his new life on the Côte d’Azur. He will today be formally presented to an expectant public in Toulon who still cannot quite believe that one of the world’s greatest players is joining them next season.

“I don’t think Jonny appreciates how excited people are by him coming here,” Tom Whitford, the Toulon team manager, said. “He is an icon. The town is so unbelievably passionate about rugby and for him to be here is a real coup for us and the region.”

"Anthony Hill, the general manager at nearby Nice, was less circumspect. “The place is going bonkers at Jonny’s arrival,” he said.

Wilkinson, who was 30 on Monday, admits he is not sure what to expect this lunchtime at the Stade Mayor. He will, however, take it in his stride and feel genuinely humbled that people care so much about him. Jonnymania is about to begin afresh but this time around he is keen to embrace it rather than try to run and hide."

Peter Bills, writing in The Independent, believes that the referees for the upcoming Lions Tests could cause unwanted headlines.

"Beyond much argument, the three best referees in the world are Mark Lawrence and Jonathan Kaplan of South Africa plus Alain Rolland of Ireland. Perhaps in that order, too. They are smart, switched on, in control, calm and assured. Everything you want to see, in fact, in a top class official.

"The good news is that all three will referee matches on the Lions tour. Lawrence will take charge of the June 13 match between Western Province and the Lions, Kaplan officiating at the tourists' match against the Sharks three days earlier. Rolland will do the game between the Emerging Springboks and the Lions at Newlands, Cape Town.

"Alas, the bad news is that the closest they will be to the action when it really counts, in the three Test matches, will be on a seat somewhere in the grandstands at ABSA Stadium Durban, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria and Coca Cola Park, Johannesburg.

"Some of the best players in the world from South Africa and the countries of the British Isles and Ireland will be refereed in the crucial Tests by second rate officials."

Lions captain and his Springbok counterpart know that immortality or ignominy awaits according to Hugh Godwin in the Independent on Sunday.

"Paul O'Connell and his British and Irish Lions will hit Johannesburg tomorrow at dawn. A few hours later, John Smit will pass through on his way to join the Springbok squad in Pretoria before Friday's warm-up match in Namibia. Two captains from different hemispheres on common ground; each of them well aware of the weight of Lions history and the crushing effect it has on the losers.

"...The Munster lock insisted that it won't be the altitude at five matches, including the Second and Third Tests, which gets his men, and the squad have been told the height above sea level at which they will be playing is not significant, though it has been catered for in training."

Six weeks and 10 games to achieve greatness. That's the challenge facing the 2009 Lions as they set off for South Africa on Sunday evening writes Paul Ackford in the Sunday Telegraph.

"The 36 players take with them 7,500 pieces of kit, ranging from shoe bags to monogrammed wallets, and will earn a basic fee of £38,000, plus a bonus of £10,000 if they win the series. All this for doing something they love. I hope they realise how lucky they are.

"A Lions odyssey is the last of the great adventures. The recent Grand Slam-winning tours of Graham Henry's All Blacks come close, but in this truncated sporting world, where nations slip in and slip out to play their two Tests, a Lions extravaganza stands supreme."

Is there any glory in defeat for the Tigers? Stuart Barnes asks that very question in the Sunday Times.

"On the right side of a tight one at Twickenham last Saturday this time around the rugby gods or whoever decides the fates that hang in the balance of Heineken Cup finals turned their backs on the English.

No, defeat was anything but glorious. Glorious defeat is for losers and although the Tigers were on the wrong side of this match the reason they made it through the ever-tightening tension of the quarter-final with Bath and that unbearable shootout in Cardiff is because the club are winners."

Stephen Jones was impressed with Leinster's triumph in the Heineken Cup Final at Murrayfield - read his thoughts in the Sunday Times.

"A fantastic finale to the European season, an absolutely brilliant contest in which Leicester had by far a better attacking ability and class in the back division but Leinster had more heart and devil. It was such a shame that a game of this magnitude was decided by a random penalty award that could have gone any of about six ways. Johnny Sexton put over the winning kick in the 70th minute and after that Leicester were uncharacteristically panicky when they still had the time and ability to win.

"Leicester’s midfield made a total mockery of their relatively short standing in the sport at present and it was no fun for the Lions to see Brian O’Driscoll completely unable to make an impact and hobbling his way through the closing stages. But there is a new star in Europe, a new club to join the elite, and Murrayfield has seen celebrations like this on few occasions of late."

The Lions will be embraced if not cheered when they face the Springboks next month according to Eddie Butler in the Observer.

"South Africa is different, if only because there's no jet lag to blur the front and back of the six weeks spent there. It was here that the Lions came in 1997, on the first tour of the professional age, when the whole notion of hammering one team out of four in just a few short weeks was being seriously questioned.

"Coached then, as now, by Ian McGeechan, the Lions swept the doubters aside. In fact, they made the Lions hot property. On all fronts, from re-establishing rugby credentials to developing new business opportunities, there is a cosiness to relations with South Africa."

Writing in the Observer, Michael Aylwin reports from Leinster's Heineken Cup Final victory over Leicester at Murrayfield.

"Ireland's year then, no question. There is a new name on the Heineken Cup, and it is that of Leinster, so long ­dismissed by the rugby cognoscenti as flash Harrys who did not have a stomach for the fight. They have now put that theory to bed. But what a game ­Leicester made of it, a surely exhausted outfit pushing their Irish rivals to the brink without ever quite threatening to win the game.

"Leo Cullen was able to step and ­collect the trophy, holding it high above the heads of the team that many felt had been the making of him as a player, Leicester. He and his team-mates were as unrelenting, indeed, as those ­Leicester teams of yore. Despite dominating throughout, Leinster managed to find themselves behind for around 20 minutes either side of half-time, as if to prove that they had the hardness now to thrive in adversity."

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Richard Loe argues that it is time to open up Super Rugby to overseas players.

"There is an opportunity to build on this now. They must change the eligibility rules and go the whole hog in taking the franchises away from their provincial union roots. That means allowing players from anywhere to play for franchises in other countries - but no more than five or six from other nations.

This is necessary for two reasons - Super rugby needs to find new appeal and, secondly, I don't think New Zealand and Australia can sustain things long-term on the current basis."

Richard Cockerill has never been lacking in the claims-to-fame department, from chinning Austin Healey to turning the Haka into a war zone. Peter Jackson writes in the Daily Mail.

"He was the first to greet Healey the old-fashioned way during The Lip's inaugural Leicester training session; the first to generate a pre-match fury at Old Trafford, the like of which has not been seen there since; the first, and last, to be sent into Test exile for telling it as it was with England.

"Before nightfall tomorrow, he could be celebrating something else that has never been done before, winning the European Cup five weeks after being appointed head coach. In that event he can expect a congratulatory message from Sir Clive Woodward, who excommunicated him from the England squad for daring to say something interesting in an autobiography."

On the eve of this season's Heineken Cup Final clash with Leicester and with another Lions tour looming, Owen Slot of The Times catches up with Leinster and Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll.

"Given the heap of honours that Brian O’Driscoll may win at this season’s end, it seems strange to relate that, at its start, he went out of his way, for the first time in his career, in search of help from a sports psychologist. O’Driscoll is a straightforward guy and likes to tell you so. “I am not Jonny,” he said, in reference to Jonny Wilkinson, his former Lions team-mate in the No 10 shirt. “I don’t overanalyse.”

"He will also tell you that he is “very sceptical” of sports psychologists and that he has “come across a fair few cowboys in my time”. But he does not mind explaining that, in the autumn, after the most average season of his career, “I felt I needed something to kick-start my game again, to just get me back thinking positively and reinforce something that somewhere inside me I knew about myself. I didn’t want another season to just go by the wayside.”"

The Irish side have a simple mission – overturn Leicester's enviable record in finals, and prove the doubters wrong. Robert Kitson writes in the Guardian.

"Where is Carol Vorderman when you need her? Only a consonant here and an extra vowel there separates Leicester and ­Leinster on paper and today's Heineken Cup final could be a similarly close call on the Murrayfield scoreboard. Brace yourself for an intensely physical game of Scrabble, a battle of wits and slender margins.

For Leinster it is also another high-­profile chance to brandish two fingers at those who have typecast them, among other things, as "ladyboys" and "serial ­chokers". The former Irish international lock Neil ­Francis was even moved to describe them in print as "spiritually bankrupt" before their quarter-final against Harlequins, since when the squad have proved to be anything but. A first European crown, after too many."

Paul O'Connell is constructing an argument as to why his Lions can beat South Africa. Paul Ackford writes in the Daily Telegraph.

"O'Connell's analysis is not bad as far as it goes. In my book the Lions are light in important areas such as raw talent and charisma, but there is no doubt that they will arrive in South Africa with more know-how of what it takes to win games and, given the length of the tour, that is a precious commodity with which to travel.

"The 6ft 6in O'Connell has matured noticeably since he dwarfed Ian McGeechan when introduced last month as the Lions skipper. He has always been an authoritative figure in the teams he has represented, but that day he seemed a touch cowed by the honour and responsibility. As the Lions set off, he appears more comfortable in the role and determined to do things his way."

It is the final that should feel a bit flat but Will Greenwood insists this year's Heineken Cup Final has the potential to deliver. Read his thoughts in the Daily Telegraph.

"Leinster will have their work cut out after what has been a fascinating campaign. Their total demolition of Wasps made you sit up and take notice in October, despite the realisation that it was not the Wasps of old. The group stages were negotiated with some dramatic fluctuations in form, but then, come the knockout and the boys in blue have been wonderful to watch. At The Stoop, their travelling support showed they can hold their own against the Thomond Park fans and the players gave everything to beat a Quins team that had looked to be heading for a first semi-final.

"I don't want to dwell on it too much here because the semi against Munster was so unbelievably good. But at the Stoop, Leinster's front five showed steel away from home: Leo Cullen's line-out work, Stan Wright's all-round contribution from the front row so complete that at one stage he tackled Ugo Monye out wide. Then there was Shane Jennings at the breakdown and Gordon D'Arcy back to his defensive best in the centres. But it was in the semi-final that Leinster took giant leaps forward, and started to be recognised as being on a par with their fierce rivals at Munster."

He played for New Zealand as a boy, but a lot has happened to Riki Flutey since then. He explains to Brian Viner in The Independent why pulling on a Lions shirt fills him with pride, and recalls the jail incident that kept Bin Laden off the front pages back home.

"His dark-brown eyes glitter even now at the recollection; even as an England player about to visit South Africa with the Lions, he is too honest, or guileless, or both, to play down the passionate desire, that bubbled inside him for years, to play for the All Blacks. Nor did it ever seem as if that desire would remain unrequited. He played for the national team at every age level, for New Zealand schools, and for New Zealand Maori. His schoolboy team-mates included Aaron Mauger, Kevan Mealamu and Richie McCaw, all destined to wear the Silver Fern at the highest level. But not Flutey. He joined Wellington Hurricanes where he was a victim of his versatility, wearing 9, 10, 12 and sometimes 15, never nailing down one position as his own.

"In the end, like a Kiwi Dick Whittington, he decided to seek his fortune in London (first with London Irish and then Wasps, although next season he will play for Brive). And with his selection first for England and now the Lions, the decision to switch hemispheres, which took much soul-searching and the encouragement of his mentor, the former All Black hooker Norm Hewitt, is triumphantly vindicated."

In his Rolling Maul, blog for The Times, Stephen Jones think's it's about time that the Heineken Cup final was a classic contest.

"The Heineken Cup as an event is still bubbling beautifully along but the final itself has gone off the boil, with only two of the last five considered classics. However much we admire commitment and tribalism, there must be more for the neutral if the Heineken final is truly to take its place amongst the elite European sporting events, such as the Champions League final.

"The last true, all-time epic was the stunning Wasps-Toulouse match in 2004. Last year’s final, when Munster beat a shocking Toulouse, was magnificent from the Munster point of view and had a great atmosphere but was a tiresome experience for any neutral.

"Leicester and Leinster do not have to bother about the wider perspective. Victory is everything for them, quite rightly. Leicester’s chances depend on how well they bounce back from the Guinness Premiership triumph last week when they often looked tired and how well they can target a Leinster front row unrated by serious judges anywhere in Europe."

Ian Malin, on the Guardian Sport Blog, believes that Danny Cipriani is too good to be ignored by England.

"What has Danny Cipriani done to upset people? Does he steal his team-mates' wallets when they're out training? Or perhaps he has an overdeveloped sense of humour and can't stop himself pouring Superglue into their boots. "Whatever," as young Dan might have said to himself when it was confirmed today that he will be travelling to Denver later this month with the England Saxons squad, instead of being chosen by Martin Johnson for a squad to play a couple of Tests against Argentina.

"Instead of facing the Pumas, the man who is head and shoulders above any English fly-half (if you discount Jonny Wilkinson) will be playing in Colorado, alongside the Saracens luminaries Brad Barritt (who is South African) and Alex Goode (who doesn't often play in the first team) and in front of an exclusive bunch of late-night armchair obsessives on Sky.

"Cipriani is actually better than any other fly-half in Europe, and that includes the No10s the Lions are taking to South Africa, Stephen Jones and Ronan O'Gara. This is not good enough for Johnson, who has picked Sam Vesty and Andy Goode. Vesty has been in tremendous form for Leicester since the turn of the year and Goode is a better footballer than many give him credit for. But they are not in Cipriani's league."

With Jonny Wilkinson heading to Toulon, Gavin Mairs commends his decision in The Daily Telegraph.

"The only sticking point to his move, having given 12 years of service to Newcastle Falcons, had been whether Toulon could secure their place in the French Top 14 for next season, which they did recently with a heralded victory over minnows Dax.

"But Toulon also had their own concerns, despite the fact that they believe Wilkinson's signature alone will prove a marketing coup for French rugby similar to David Beckham's move from Manchester United to Real Madrid back in 2003.

"Most pertinently, they were worried about Jonny's knee. Wilkinson hasn't played a game since dislocating his kneecap last September while playing for the Falcons against Gloucester and endured a number of setbacks as he attempted to return before the season to put him in the mix for the Lions.

No doubt Toulon would have preferred for Wilkinson to have proven his fitness before they offered him a reported £700,000 per season, two-year deal."

John Connolly, writing on Rugby Heaven, believes that despite a poor Super 14 the Wallabies will be a handful this summer.

"In the next 10 days Robbie Deans will announce his 30-man Wallabies squad for the four June Tests and I expect it to be the strongest team in many years.

"With the amount of talent on show this season and the strong form of some of our best players, I expect the Wallabies selectors to name an experienced squad, with strength in the forwards and incredible flexibility in the backs.

"The two games against Italy won't be great challenges, but they'll be well used by Deans to rotate his team and get them into a good rhythm ahead of the Tri Nations.

France, meanwhile, are apparently committed to sending a full-strength side, but will be backing up from playing the All Blacks two weeks before. Still, this will be a very worthwhile hit-out."

Alyson Rudd travels to the Ospreys' cafe to run the rule over Lions wing Shane Williams in The Times.

"The café at the Ospreys academy in Neath is busy, but a few players stand out. Lee Byrne and Ian Evans stride around confidently, say hello, let me hold a tape measure to their throats. Somewhere among them is Shane Williams. I cannot see him at first. He is the shortest and the shyest and even though he is the one player who has been warned that there is a reporter with a tape measure on the loose, he looks the most perplexed.

"Wrapping a tape around Williams's bare chest is among the most surreal of many odd moments in my career. We have barely exchanged words and I am pinching his biceps and shouting out to the photographer that his left thigh is bigger than his right. But gradually we both see the funny side and he admits he is not feeling too awkward, although he would be if he was not in top physical condition.

“One of my fears is getting embarrassed in public, making a fool of myself,” Williams said. “I'm probably more confident on the rugby field than I am anywhere else. It took me a long time to be comfortable with people. Sometimes I find it very difficult meeting and greeting for the first time. That is something I've had to overcome. It really was a phobia of mine.”

The Chiefs, Hurricanes and Crusaders will contest the Super 14 semi-finals. The New Zealand Herald's Gregor Paul looks at how these three teams became top four contenders and whether they have what it takes to go all the way.

"In an age when there is an obsession with squad management, Chiefs coach Ian Foster has cleverly kept his combinations intact for most of the competition and tinkered only at the edges. His halfbacks, midfield, locks, back three and loose forwards have been given time to gel, to work in partnership. The quality of their contribution is as much about their cohesion as it is their individual component parts. Under pressure against the Hurricanes, the units all held up well - there were no misunderstandings or defensive failings."

Leicester's success provides the perfect template for 'clubs' like Leinster, writes Brendan Fanning in the Irish Independent.

"Back in 1995/96 when Leinster were European Cup semi-finalists operating out of a portacabin in Donnybrook, the Tigers were not even in the competition. They were, however, better tooled than most for the demands of professionalism. The proof is in their position now: this game is about turning their fifth appearance in a final into their third win, which would lift them alongside Toulouse.

"Leinster's journey has taken them down a few more unapproved roads. Some of those diversions have been caused by the IRFU, who were doing the navigating, and were also paying for the petrol. The idea of our provinces being 'clubs' and having a degree of autonomy is still fairly new in Irish rugby, and the remarkable thing is that we are now in sight of having the third of our big three added to the list of European winners despite the different agendas."

The task for the Lions is daunting and success no more than a dream. But Ian McGeechan is a man who inspires daring dreams, writes Patrick Collins in the Daily Mail.

"But the huge landmark is already looming; the selection of the first Test team. ‘That’s got to be a really hard job,’ he says. ‘Because if it’s hard, then I’ll know that everyone’s in the frame. ‘Come Test week, I want to have to make difficult decisions. It’s the turning point of every tour. You see, every player has to believe he’s got a chance of making the team. That’s why he’s on the tour. But the real strength of a Lion comes after I’ve picked the side. And I’ll find it in the players who don’t get picked.’

Yet again, his experience raises its head. ‘Best example of that?’ he says. ‘Jason Leonard. He was a Test player in ’93, but in ’97 he wasn’t picked for the first Test. All he did, he made sure that the chosen props, Tom Smith and Paul Wallace, had everything they needed to perform in the Test match. 'Now that to me is the ultimate Lion. You can be a Test Lion, that’s easy. But to be like Jason Leonard, to hide your disappointment and help the cause: that’s the ultimate’."

Forget the enduring indignation over MPs' expenses. This was also the week when rugby mislaid its moral compass and forfeited any claims to sound governance, writes Paul Ackford in the Sunday Telegraph.

"Monday's topic was cheating. Tuesday delivered news of an Australian sex scandal. By Wednesday eye-gouging was high on the agenda. Thursday brought confirmation of another cock-up by the International Rugby Board over which laws applied where and to whom. And on Friday Wasps formally ditched Ian McGeechan nine days before he is due to lead the British and Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa. Has there ever been a week like it?"

Leicester Tigers boss Richard Cockerill has every reason to believe that another triumph is awaiting him in the near future according to Stuart Barnes in the Sunday Times.

"Cockerill has been lucky in the first few months in charge. Lucky in the sense that injuries forced him to select the superb Sam Vesty when the original first choice as recently as the Heineken Cup quarter-final was Toby Flood. Injuries to the England fly-half and Aaron Mauger opened the door to the Leicester lad and he has booted it down supremely well and revamped the Tigers backs.

"Some coaches get punched in the face by good luck and fail to notice. The good ones take advantage of everything that comes within their grasp, and the new head coach fits that category. On the balance of his first few months as director of rugby, Cockerill seems blessed with good fortune and ability."

The apparent decision not to replace Tom Shanklin is a big gamble by the tourists according to Stephen Jones in the Sunday Times.

"The Sunday Times understands that the Lions have decided not to replace the injured Tom Shanklin and to tour with a party of 36 instead of 37 - letting loose for the outside-centre position the triumvirate of Leigh Halfpenny, who has played only 24 professional games, Keith Earls, with two caps, and Luke Fitzgerald. None of them is widely known in the world game.

"The idea in increasing the original size of the party from 36 to 37 was to give cover in the event of Munster, with their large Lions contingent, reaching the Heineken Cup final. Now, with the powerful Shanklin out of the tour, the Lions will leave the party as it is. This is a big gamble and will also mean that with Brian O’Driscoll the only top-line outside-centre in the party, the illustrious Irishman could be wrapped in cotton wool for the whole tour, appearing sparingly, possibly as rarely as twice before the first Test.

"The likely appeal by Alan Quinlan, the Irish flanker, against a 12-week ban for gouging is a major complication."

Leicester are hitting form at the right time to take smile from the eyes of Brian O'Driscoll's Leinster according to Eddie Butler in The Observer.

"Leinster, the dames of the game, the Dublin pretty boys, have hardened up. Three years ago they danced all over Toulouse away, only to be crushed by Munster in the next round. Not just crushed in one act; back and forth went Munster over a team flattened into Rizla paper.

"This season, Leinster exacted a spectacular revenge, fronting up and giving Munster a taste, and then some, of their own mincemeat. And then they ran them off their feet. This was revenge with a twist and a flourish. This was Leo Cullen rising to the occasion in the second row against Lions elect, Brian O'Driscoll rising higher than anyone in the European game, and props like Cian Healy and Stan Wright preparing the base for the age beyond O'Driscoll.

"This could have been a one-off, an inspired uprising against their tormentors. But Leinster had already revealed a steely core in their 6-5 victory away at Harlequins in the quarter-final. This was a serious workout for the defence that will have to hold firm against the Leicester Tigers at Murrayfield."

New Zealand and Australia should agree to support South Africa as host of the 2015 Rugby World Cup when the issue comes up for a vote shortly says Wynne Gray in the New Zealand Herald.

"England are making a concerted push for the next event and speaking glowingly about the soccer stadiums they will use and the marvels of Twickenham. No thanks. Of the world tournaments so far, those in the UK in 1991 and 1999 were probably the least memorable because of the lack of hype and the absence of facilities.

"They can bang on as much as they like about shifting matches, gaining huge crowds and coining it at Wembley, Old Trafford and Co but they are grounds without any great rugby connections. Twickenham, at least, is a rugby arena with a huge capacity and atmosphere. But it is not a favourite, you are just too far away from the action in comparison to several great venues in France and the great cauldrons in Cardiff and Brisbane."

Once an electrician, Toby Booth has taken London Irish to within touching distance of the Premiership title. Ahead of today's final, the coach tells Chris Hewett of The Independent how he gave the Exiles their spark.

"Booth's first season in the big chair could hardly have been more impressive: London Irish strung together half a dozen consecutive league victories to establish a position towards the top of the Premiership, then recovered from a scratchy period through the Six Nations to secure a place in the play-offs. Even when they were playing badly, they never missed out on a losing bonus point; even when they looked beaten at half-time, their superior fitness proved that looks can be deceptive. As a consequence of all this, they take on Leicester in this evening's Premiership final at Twickenham. Not bad for a club with a small professional staff, operating on a less than extravagant budget.

"Now 38, Booth played his rugby in Kent, for Folkestone and Blackheath. For much of the time, he was a back-row forward; for some of it, he was a hooker. He was also an electrician by trade, although "rugby always came first". In the mid-1990s, he enrolled as a biology student at St Mary's College in Twickenham – "Rugby and studying was better than rugby and being a sparky" – and it was here that his coaching took off. He quickly became involved with the England Students set-up, followed by England Under-21s, and from there he joined London Irish to help oversee the new academy set-up."

Mike Catt's many faces have not changed in 16 years. If you want to know how his team are doing, do not look at the scoreboard, look at Mike, writes Will Greenwood in the Daily Telegraph.

"Against Harlequins he was a walking barometer, his mug working like Peter Snow's Swingometer, telling you everything you needed to know about the ebb and flow of the Guinness Premiership semi-final.

"There is no poker face, no hiding behind a solemn expression. For him rugby may be a job, but it is also a hobby and just as amateur tennis players or golfers live and breathe every poor shot, every lovely strike with anguish or triumph so does Mike. He will always be in rugby, modestly saying he does not know what else he would do. The real truth about why he will never leave the game is that he loves it so much."

England manager Martin Johnson always knew it was going to be a lot more complicated than his playing days when he took the job, writes Matt Dickinson in The Times.

"If one casualty of a bruising first season as England team manager has been a little of the aura around Martin Johnson, the man himself is quite relaxed about that. As he squeezes his vast frame into a chair at RFU headquarters at Twickenham, Johnson seems at ease if the world now sees him as a man rather than “a myth”.

He is talking about his alter ego: Johno, the World Cup-winning captain, the superhero of the English game, the man who could subdue opponents with a menacing glare. It is part of him, a big part, but Johnson seems happier to leave that persona behind than some of those fans who have been yelling at him to sort out England's faltering players with a few choice words or by pinning them to the wall. By being Johno the indomitable, in other words."

It has gone down in Lions folklore - the infamous battle cry that saw the 1974 tourists fight fire with fire against a team hellbent on physical intimidation, as Welsh great JPR Williams remembers in The Independent.

"Among the multitude of soundbites on the deeds of the British and Irish Lions, the great JPR Williams needed just one word to describe the victorious All Black-defeating class of 1971: "resilient".

When asked for one word to sum up their 1974 counterparts, Williams had no hesitation in firing back: "aggressive"."

The best attack versus the best defence. That's the way Shaun Edwards sees the Leicester versus London Irish in the Guinness Premiership grand final - read his thoughts in the Guardian.

"The figures show that London Irish have scored two tries more than Leicester in the regular season, but I'm looking at current form across the board, and since Christmas the Tigers have been inspirational. Think Cardiff in the Heineken Cup. Think the first half against Bath – it's probably the best they have played this season.

"On the other side of the coin, you have to take your hat off at the way Barrie-Jon Mather has gone about marshalling the Irish defence and here the facts support perception. Irish, along with Sale, went through 22 league games in the regular season conceding just 36 tries and – as I said last week – never lost a game by more than seven points which is why they gathered nine losing bonus points."

Stephen Jones is not convinced by rugby's obsession with playoffs in his Rolling Maul blog for The Times.

"What is the best format to find the champion club of the Guinness Premiership, the Magners League and the Super 14?

"This is the time of year when I start to feel uneasy, the time when the best club of the season in England tends not to be crowned champion, the time when we question the system under which a team can finish top of the hardest, tightest, most competitive league of all (and all the stats prove it) and yet not win the title.

"The same can happen in the Super 14, when the lung-bursting campaign can throw up a team at the summit which is then usurped in the play-offs - although with such vast distances involved, naturally the concept of home field advantage does convey a terrific bonus. If there is one extra problem with the Super 14 - and this season it has often been superb when the tap-and-go rubbish subsides - it is the predictability of the closing stages. The Magners is the only league of the three which names the team first past the post as its winner. Munster are the best team in it. Why? Because the table cannot lie."

Mick Cleary, in his blog for The Daily Telegraph, believes that Ian McGeechan's future at Wasps has no bearing on his job with the Lions.

"News that Ian McGeechan is being moved aside at Wasps will come as a surprise to those relishing the thought of him leading the Lions into battle into South Africa. There could be no man better suited to the task.

"Why, then, the turn of events at Wasps ?

"Club rugby is an entirely different set-up. It's a time-consuming, relentless slog. There is no respite, no down time. There is little doubt that Wasps made a pig's ear of their arrangements with regard to McGeechan and Shaun Edwards being on duty with the Lions and Wales respectively.

"The notion that everyone could do all jobs without any knock-out impact was plain daft. It's not possible. The previous Wasps board agreed to those terms of reference, grateful in parlous times for the club that a few hundred thousand pounds worth of salary was being picked up elsewhere. McGeechan's wages over this season have been picked up entirely by the Lions. But there was a price to pay for that."

Donacld McRae catches up with England manager Martin Johnson ahead of their summer tour to Argentina in The Guardian.

"Martin Johnson takes a big bite out of a small biscuit as he considers the stark difference between being a legendary rugby player and an inexperienced team manager. "I'm clearly still learning," he says, crunching thoughtfully, "because it's a new role for me. It's also pretty interesting to look at the contrast because it tells you a lot about the particular challenge a manager confronts."

"In an otherwise empty boardroom at Twickenham Johnson demolishes his last mouthful and pushes aside the Rugby Football Union's plate. "When I played you could simply feel what was happening in a game," he remembers with a suddenly concentrated gaze. "You could feel if their intensity was dropping. And then that great feeling comes when you know you've got them, when you know you've broken them."

"His eyes glitter at the memory of the deadly instinct that surged through him as a player. Yet Johnson is such an intelligent and pragmatic man that he reverts quickly to the more ambivalent art of management. "It's not that simple in the grandstands," he says ruefully. "In one of my first games as England manager, against Australia last November, I thought I could see what they were feeling on the pitch. At half-time I said, 'Can you feel it? Can you feel how they've lessened their intensity?' I thought we'd reached a point where we could impose ourselves."

"At half-time England trailed Australia by a point but in the end they were beaten comprehensively – with that 28–14 defeat being followed by a record 42–6 loss to South Africa. Had his players not felt the same when he told them they were on the verge of winning their battle against Australia? "They said they shared my view but sometimes are they just saying that because it's the thing to say? As a player it's more instinctive. You're eye-to-eye to with the opposition and you can feel whether they're weakening. I'm still learning to do that as a manager but, ultimately, you make your decisions and you have to trust your players."

The Independent's Peter Bills believes that the Lions could do with learning a thing or two from London Irish's veteran fly-half Mike Catt.

"It comes to something when a 37 year-old South African is the star of the English rugby Premiership's play-off semi finals weekend.

"Mike Catt's performance for London Irish in their match against London rivals Harlequins was audacious. He steered the club to this weekend's final and a meeting with Leicester with a brilliant playmaker's display. Catt's vision tormented Harlequins, putting the ball behind them and dropping it into touch deep in their own 22 time and time again. He orchestrated their demise with an elegance and panache that put him in a class of his own.

"It was a wondrous spectacle, a thoroughly heart-warming display which reminded us of Catt's supreme skills and rugby intelligence. He finished off a virtuoso display with an interception and a walk-in try under the posts that sealed Harlequins' fate. If ever there was an example of 'once you've got the skills, you always have them' this was surely it."

Brian Moore, writing in The Daily Telegraph, believes that Richard Cockerill's Leicester have got what it takes to claim a dramatic double.

"Richard Cockerill and Dean Richards would not be in anyone's top-10 list of sexy Mourinho-like coaches. Richards' nickname of 'Warren' refers not to any likeness to the Hollywood actor, rather 'Warren ugly -------'.

"Neither would be on a top-10 list of academics within rugby, but both have survived the proving ground of Welford Road and both are at the head of the list of English coaches. On Saturday the challenges facing their respective teams were of a different order and one, Cockerill, successfully negotiated a path to the Guinness Premiership final.

"The resilience shown by the Leicester Tigers, after the emotion and energy-sapping dramas of extra-time and a penalty shoot-out last week, was remarkable. Cockerill's management of his resources and the tone he has set at the club maintains Leicester's traditions of doggedness, pragmatism and unsentimentality.

"Bath were on the end of another lesson in efficiency and in truth were never in the hunt. Though stars such as Geordan Murphy stole the headlines, it was the players of lesser fame that were the core of the win. Sam Vesty and Dan Hipkiss are not members of the regular internationals clique, but they reflect what Leicester have always turned out – hard working, selfless, team-players."

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, John Connolly issues a warning ahead of the showdown SANZAR talks in Dublin this week.

"The single most important meeting in recent rugby history will take place in Dublin on Thursday when the three SANZAR nations - South Africa, New Zealand and Australia - decide the future of the code in the southern hemisphere.

"...The South Africans' decision will decide the ultimate make-up of Super rugby. If they pull out as they've threatened to if things don't fall their way, Super rugby will be without its strongest nation.

"One thing that can't be underestimated is the bond between South Africa and New Zealand. There's a great respect and rivalry between the two nations that stretches back 100 years, and with nine of 14 NZ provinces opposed to change, the Kiwis could yet side with the Springboks, leaving Australia to fall in line. South Africa are the world champions, they have two teams on top of the Super 14 table, and their influence on world rugby is huge."

Willie John McBride and Gareth Edwards offer their thoughts on the Lions' chances in South Africa in the Sunday Telegraph.

"What did you make of the party? Is it one you're happy with? McBride: If anyone knows anything about the Lions and South Africa, it must be McGeechan. He's been through this all before and knows what he wants to get out of the tour. But I do have some concerns.

I'm not sure how many of these players have experience of South Africa because it's only when the sun is blazing down, the ground is as hard as hell, it's dusty and the air is thin that you know what you're up against. In those circumstances you don't want too many players on the wrong side of 30 and the Lions have plenty of those.

I'm talking particularly of the back row. I was 34 when I was last there, and I was lucky that there were guys who carried me. I used to train in the morning and go to bed after lunch. Professional players know how to pace themselves, but too often I've seen – and it happened in Australia – that players were whacked by the time the second or third Test came along. They weren't ready to play.

Edwards: I thought Tom Croft should have made the squad, but the Six Nations was so ordinary that nobody really stood out. Right up until the last game people were still wondering who should be going on the trip. Very few players put their hands up. I couldn't really tell you who the scrum-halves should have been, let alone the props."

French rugby is being flooded by talent in pursuit of record wages, but local resistance to the invasion is growing according to Ian Borthwick in the Sunday Times.

"With Jamie Noon and England Sevens skipper Ollie Phillips joining the trend last week, and Jonny Wilkinson about to sign for Toulon, France is looking more and more like rugby’s El Dorado. A fatter pay cheque, a better lifestyle, the rugby boom in France and the prospect of a wider variety of styles in “le Top 14” mean France is the destination of choice for many of the world’s best players.

French rugby clubs have been affected less than their English counterparts by the credit crunch. The sums offered to the game’s stars continue to hit record levels. Perpignan paid All Black Dan Carter €750,000 for seven months, reduced to two when the fly-half was injured. With Juan Martín Hernández (Stade Français) on €440,000, Byron Kelleher (Toulouse) on €460,000 and Kiwi League convert Sonny Bill Williams (Toulon) on €500,000, seven of the 10 best-paid players in France are foreigners."

The former Springboks coach Nick Mallett has predicted a series defeat for Ian McGeechan's British and Irish Lions when their tour of South Africa starts at the end of this month. He talks to Peter Bills in the Independent on Sunday.

""I just think they'll find it tough, really, really tough," said Mallett, who is now in charge of Italy. "The ball-handling and running ability of the South African tight forwards is almost unmatched. Guys like the Sharks prop 'The Beast' Tendai Mtawarira, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, John Smit, Bismarck du Plessis and Pierre Spies, these guys are quick and can really pass a ball.

"They're not going to ground with the ball. If they do, they're offloading as they fall to create momentum. They love offloading in the tackle. If South Africa play in the style of the Bulls and the Sharks, which I think they will do, then the Lions are going to have to match athleticism with athleticism and that won't be easy. A guy like [the lock] Simon Shaw is very strong in tight, close play. He's a big, solid forward, very effective at close range. But I am not sure he can pop up at outside centre and throw spin passes. Will he do that?"

The spate of injuries to players in the Lions squad are one in the eye for the early selection according to Eddie Butler in The Observer.

"Was Shanklin really required for a Wednesday night Magners League derby so soon after the Heineken Cup semi against Leicester? Well, this was more than just an end-of-season dogfight. This was a rather desperate scramble by both Welsh regions for automatic qualification for next season's Heineken Cup.

"As David Young, the Cardiff Blues coach, pointed out, there would have been many accusations aimed at him of devaluing a tournament if he had rested his Lions. Exposure to risk is a sign of healthy competition.

It underlines the need for anybody on Lions stand-by – and even those, such as Steve Borthwick, who are not – to keep in shape. They are but somebody else's tweak away from a ticket south."

It may be sayonara for Crusaders fullback Leon MacDonald, but we should not forget the extended contribution he has made to many levels in New Zealand rugby, according to Wynne Gray in the New Zealand Herald.

"Apart from being a quality fullback, MacDonald showed far more class than many of his All Black colleagues during a career which began in 2000 and, but for a heavy injury toll and Muliaina's class, would have accumulated far more than his 56 caps.

"There was never a whiff of scandal. There was mischief, as MacDonald had a fine sense of humour and a growing family to control his perspective, but never anything to suggest he was going to make the front pages of the Sunday papers instead of the back."

Writing in the Daily Mail, Peter Jackson talks to Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care who is poised to be complete a remarkable turnaround in fortunes.

"A few months ago, it seemed as if the entire English rugby establishment was ready to denounce the 23-year-old as a cartoon villain in the Dick Dastardly mould. His heinous crime was committed at Croke Park as England subsided to an agonising one-point Six Nations defeat to eventual Grand Slam winners Ireland.

"Care's rash, off-the-ball shove sent Marcus Horan sprawling, earned him a yellow card and tipped Martin Johnson into a rage. Yet he claims that, behind the scenes, the England manager was supportive once he had delivered a post-match apology.

"...Care has taken stock of that incident and the one in Dublin, but he is not about to tone down his act."

For 17 years Mike Catt has been gracing the game in England, for club and country, but this evening he runs out with London Irish for the Guinness Premiership play-off semi-final against Harlequins. david Hands writes in The Times.

"The irony, of course, is that, at 37, London Irish still hope that Catt can do it all at the Twickenham Stoop and project his club into their first Premiership final before passing on the baton to Malone or Jamie Lennard, the newcomer from Doncaster Knights.

"Only once before have the exiles been in this position, in 2006 when they were trounced 40-8 by Leicester in the play-offs - Catt kicking their penalty goal - although seven of that starting XV remain, eager to demonstrate that this is a side who have grown together."

After moving to Gloucester last year, Olly Barkley found himself out of form and out of the England squad. Now back at Bath, he tells Chris Hewett of The Independent why he's happy just to be watching his new side's Premiership semi-final today.

"On the face of it, there could be no better time for Olly Barkley to resuscitate his ailing international career than next month, when England play two Tests against Argentina: one in Salta, situated in the foothills of the Andes; the other in Manchester, located on the wet side of the Pennines.

"There will certainly be a vacancy in midfield, what with Riki Flutey hunting Springboks with the Lions and Toby Flood hobbling around on crutches, and Barkley is acutely aware of the need to stop sliding down the pecking order and start climbing again. His decision? Not this summer, thanks.

"He has spoken to Martin Johnson, the England manager, and Brian Smith, the attack coach, and informed them he would rather spend the coming weeks getting his head back together, his emotions in check and his body in proper shape for next season, when he will reappear at Bath – the great love of his rugby life. Had the 27-year-old goalkicker not chosen to leave Bath in the first place, he would surely be playing in today's Premiership semi-final at Leicester and be in an entirely different place psychologically."

Stuart Barnes writing in The Times is looking forward to the Premiership semi-finals and the rekindling of one of the great local rivalries - Leicester v Bath

"This is the Guinness Premiership semi-final with real heft. Before Wasps emerged as a great force of the English professional age these were the two great powerhouses. The rivalry dimmed ever-so-slightly with Wasps' rise but this season, with the sting from Wycombe gone, the old rivalry has exploded into life once more.

It was only a few weeks ago that Leicester and Bath seemed destined for the extra time that the Tigers endured in Cardiff last Sunday. An error bred of excessive ambition (the curse of Bath this season) by their sole Lions representative, the normally excellent Lee Mears, gave the Tigers one last chance. That was all it took and now the Tigers are eighty minutes from domestic and European finals while Bath could see their season, which promised so much for so long, ending in ashes.

The dividing line between success and failure has been thin when these teams have collided this season, with the count thus far reading Leicester 2 Bath 1. The Tigers outplayed Bath at the Recreation Ground before a last-gasp comeback resulted in a Butch James try to win the match. In the league rematch James was imperious and Bath toyed with the Tigers but they didn’t finish them off and, sure enough, Welford Road roared and the bite – though delayed – was fatal. The Tiger to administer it was Tom Croft, who was wonderful for Leicester that day, as he has been so often."

Like the Lions, the Springboks have injury concerns of their own ahead of the 2009 Lions tour. So, who is going to play fullback following the retirement of Percy Montgomery and a serious injury to the incumbent, Conrad Jantjes? Gavin Rich, writing for SuperSport thinks that it could be a blessing for Bok coach Peter de Villiers.

"The unfortunate injury to Conrad Jantjes could on one level be a lot more problematic than a lot of people realise, but on another it could force a solution to the biggest dilemma facing Springbok coach Peter de Villiers ahead of the series against the British and Irish Lions.

Let’s start at the first issue, which is of course transformation. Like it or not, De Villiers is under pressure to make the Springbok team as representative of the demographics of this country as it can possibly be. Memories are surely not so short that we can forget the huff caused by some politicians when last year he dropped Ricky Januarie and Jantjes for the first game of the home leg of the Tri-Nations.

Up until a few weeks ago Jantjes would not have been assured of a place in the Bok starting team. That was when Adrian Jacobs was fit, healthy and playing well. Jaque Fourie was in excellent form too, and to my mind, he was the best centre in the country."

As the ongoing dispute between the Sanzar partners rumbles on Spiro Zavos writing on Rugby Heaven believes that the South African Rugby Union's stance doesn't seem to make any sense.

"ROUND 12 of the Super 14 provided exciting matches. Along with the Heineken Cup, Europe's version of Super Rugby, the tournament is the strongest provincial competition in the world. Why would South Africa want to kill it?

The purported reason is to prevent the Currie Cup being "devalued in any way" by the Springboks being unable to play in it. But this happens now. The Currie Cup starts on July 10 and ends on October 31. Throughout July, August and into September the Springboks are playing the Tri Nations tournament, with South Africa playing their last Test on September 12 against New Zealand at Hamilton.

Only 18 matches (including the finals) of the 55 matches in the Currie Cup are played after that Test. The Springboks miss most of the Currie Cup."

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Brian Moore believes the penalty shoot-out is an unfair way to decide a match.

"The macabre fascination of the penalty shoot-out is something that every rugby follower wanted to see. Many times it has been threatened, but when it actually happened in Cardiff, all those with a soul probably concluded that it was something they do not want to see again.

"There is no perfect way to determine a game that is equal on so many counts after extra-time. However, penalties are not as equitable as they are in football. At least footballers all kick the ball regularly, even if they do not take penalties similarly. In rugby there is no need for many of the players to kick and to decide arbitrarily on this skill is no fairer than choosing, for example, how far the players from both teams can throw a ball from the touchline. It would be fairer, but far less dramatic, to toss a coin."

Considering rugby prides itself as a game played by real men, reaction in general was thoroughly wet and wimpish according to Matt Dickinson in The Times.

"This was no lottery but big, competitive men being asked to prove that they could keep cool under ferocious scrutiny. Williams failed that test, which is particularly hard on him as a fine player, but that is what happens in sport and not just in shoot-outs — players, even the best ones, choke at crucial moments. Williams’s muscles seized with tension just when he needed them to relax.

"For all the bleating about how cruel it was, how unfair and out of context, the one word that was not mentioned by anyone, least of all the players and coaches of Leicester or Cardiff, was “practice”. The ending may have been highly unusual, but, as a way to settle the game in the event of a draw, it was there written in the rules. It was the clubs’ own fault if they failed to consider the possibility of a shoot-out."

After Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final, Chris Hewett argues why draws should not be settled this way again. Read his thoughts in The Independent.

"Ever since the sport went open in 1995, administrators have talked of the inappropriateness of the football model. Where the people's game went, they insisted, the union code would not follow. And what do we find, almost a decade and a half into the professional era? A growing obsession with football's fripperies and excesses. Already, a career as a head coach in rugby is less secure than one in football: as detailed in these pages recently, the average tenure over the last five seasons has been a mere 20 months. Now, rugby has sold a little more of its soul for the price of a penalty shoot-out.

The Heineken Cup semi-final between Cardiff Blues and Leicester at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday was blessed with everything required of the classic and, sadly, the one thing required of the farce. At 26-26 after 20 exhausting minutes of extra time, it was left to the kickers, trained and untrained, to decide the matter from a central position on the 22-metre line."

The public could learn shortly exactly what the Wallabies earn after the Australian players' union yesterday expressed a willingness to change its policy and permit salary disclosure, writes Greg Growden in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Asked if revealing salaries could cause resentment between players, especially among those who discover they are on substantially lower salaries than others who play in the same position, [RUPA president Tony] Dempsey replied: "Any resentment may be directed towards the player agent for not doing a good deal."

Some Australian forwards had recently expressed concerns they were unable to get the same large deals that had been offered to high-profile attacking players. However, the ARU recently countered by saying that of the top-20 earners last year, 13 were forwards. Of the top-10 salary earners, there were five backs and five forwards."

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Richard Loe believes the NZRU should give All Blacks coach Graham Henry a contract for just one more year and demand results.

"The only other contenders would be Ian Foster of the Chiefs and Colin Cooper of the Hurricanes and I don't think either would bring much to the job that isn't already there.

"Of course, Henry could have moved over and let Steve Hansen in but, let's face it, not much would change, if anything. The ship would be the same, just a different hand on the tiller."

The Daily Telegraph's Mick Cleary recalls how Leicester were almost embarassed by their victory in the Heineken Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out with Cardiff Blues.

"Instead of joyous celebration, the Tigers queued up to commiserate with the stricken figure of Williams. There but for the grace of God. Their response was modest and dignified. Factor in too, perhaps, that they hadn’t the energy left for even a peep of triumphalism let alone to revel in someone else’s misery.

"The scenes on the Millennium pitch were without precedent. Players, officials, physios, TV cameramen all tries to figure out what to do and where to go.

"Leicester had to act smartly as the shoot-out loomed. First-choice kicker, scrum-half, Julien Dupuy, who had given way to Harry Ellis, was hurriedly re-introduced, centre Danny Hipkiss, having to undergo close scrutiny by officials on the touchline to verify that he had a blood injury."

David Hands of The Times offers some historical perspective following Leicester's dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against Cardiff Blues at the Milennium Stadium.

"So the Heineken Cup went into unknown territory; Brive and Toulouse played out extra time in the 1998 semi-final, Brive going through on the greater number of tries, but only in the French Cup final of 1984, when Béziers beat Agen, has a penalty shoot-out featured in significant northern-hemisphere match. As the realisation dawned that they were about to make history, both sides jostled to get their better goalkickers on the field and there may be queries about Dan Hipkiss’s blood injury that allowed for the return of Julien Dupuy.

"European Rugby Cup Ltd is already investigating a late switch made by Harlequins involving Nick Evans in the quarter-final against Leinster, but Leicester, without Toby Flood, who was on crutches with a damaged left ankle, had no concern about the legitimacy of their action. Even then, after the first four designated kickers from each side had been successful, the pendulum swung first towards the Welsh region, then away: the first player to miss was Johne Murphy, but James blazed wide for Cardiff."

Chris Hewett has sympathy for the Blues' Martyn Williams after his miss handed leicester the chance to win their Heineken Cup semi-final clash. Read his thoughts in The Independent.

"Whoever the sporting gods may be, they have a sick sense of humour. After one of the great Heineken Cup semi-finals – only the second in the history of the tournament to require extra time – there was not so much as a cheap fagpaper separating the two sides, so the penalty shoot-out found its way out of football and into rugby, as dedicated followers of the union game always feared it might. Under the unprecedented circumstances, someone had to lose the contest in an unprecedented fashion. That someone turned out to be the Cardiff Blues flanker Martyn Williams.

"It was almost too much for flesh and blood to stand, and it certainly struck a blow at whatever sense of fairness still lurks in rugby's collective soul in these ruthless professional times. Williams was put on this earth to weave spells and patterns with his uniquely creative approach to the back-rower's art, not kick goals – not even from a position 22 metres out, smack in front of the posts. He hooked the eighth of his side's penalties wide of the left upright and then had to watch another loose forward, Jordan Crane, apply the coup de grace with apparent effortlessness for Leicester."

Writing in the Guardian, Robert Kitson reflects on Leicester's Heineken Cup semi-final victory over Cardiff Blues at the Millenium Stadium.

"Rugby union is no stranger to late drama but the sport found itself in alien, wild-west territory yesterday. Never before has a top-level game in Britain been settled by a penalty shoot-out and even ­Leicester, who will now meet Leinster in the Heineken Cup final in Edinburgh on 23 May, felt slightly disoriented by the experience."

Gavin Rich weighs into the on-going SANZAR row about the future of Super Rugby. Read his thoughts in the Cape Argus.

"You could almost hear Marinos snorting into his coffee as he pointed out that this country has been at a disadvantage in the Super Rugby competition for the last 14 years! And he is right. The Stormers are just back from a five-match tour that included two separate trips across the Tasman Sea.

"Compare that to the average tour of the Kiwi and Australian teams to South Africa. At most, they play three matches here. Yet we keep hearing their coaches and captains talking about how tough it is."

Top rugby referee Steve Walsh has come clean on his battle with alcohol, admitting that personal issues are behind his departure from the sport. Carolyne Meng-Yee writed in the New Zealand Herald.

"I was definitely under the influence of alcohol. I was asked to leave, which I did, and pretty much as a consequence of that inquiry and me owning up to my mistakes, the rugby union wasn't prepared to give me another chance and yeah, the upshot is that I'm finished refereering in New Zealand."

Walsh said he had sought independent advice from Community Alcohol and Drug Services when he realised "I had a problem about how I drank".

"I take personal responsibility for what I did and it was unacceptable. I'm continuing to get help and I need to if I want to get back into any walk of life, really. I need to make sure that these things don't happen again because it will interfere with my professional life, I'm sure."

Leicester's hopes of defying the odds during the Heineken Cup semi-final against Cardiff rest on Martin Castrogiovanni’s scrum power according to Stuart Barnes in the Sunday Times.

"Richard Cockerill has had to make a few crucial calls in selection — the choice at half-back and whether to recall the long-absent and hugely influential Aaron Mauger, available after injury — but none as important as the tighthead decision. If Leicester are to triumph in Wales against a team who have won 12 from 12 cup encounters this season (including a 50-point demolition of Gloucester at Twickenham recently) their pack needs to stop the fluent Welsh attacking game at source.

"That starts at the scrum, where Castrogiovanni must bend the best player in Britain to his will. The Blues have Gethin Jenkins at loosehead, a banker for the Lions Test team and totemic figure in the inexorable rise of his club in Europe."

This month the British and Irish Lions go to South Africa for one of the toughest series in rugby union. But 35 years ago, the team went to the country under very different conditions, Kevin Mitchell writes in The Observer.

"In early May, 1974, Willie John McBride, a big-boned farming man from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, stood up in a hotel in London in front of 31 fellow amateur rugby players who had gathered to leave for South Africa under his leadership. The 34-year-old second row had been considered over the hill even on the previous tour, his fourth British Lions campaign, when they beat New Zealand in 1971. Now he was readying himself for an entirely different challenge, against a team for whom physical intimidation was considered a patriotic duty, a country the Lions had not beaten in a series for 78 years. He looked around the room, and feet shuffled as he began to speak. The players knew what was on his mind; it wasn't just rugby.

"I know there are pressures on you," McBride said, "but if you have any doubts, I would ask you to turn around and look behind you."

At the back of the room, there were two large open doors.

The captain continued: "Gentlemen, if you have any doubts about going on this tour, I want you to be big enough to stand up now and leave this room. Because you are no use to me, and you're no use to this team. There will be no stain on your character, no accusations if you do so, but you must be honest and committed. I've been in South Africa before and there's going to be a lot of physical intimidation, a lot of cheating. So if you're not up for a fight, there's the door."

Leinster did to Munster exactly what everybody expected Munster to do to them: they beat them up, writes Denis Walsh in the Sunday Times.

"You can’t divorce outcomes from performances but it in this case there is an important separation to be made. For Leinster the victory was seismic but the performance felt more like a watershed. Not just in their development as a team but in altering fundamentally how they are perceived because, for too long, perception has harmed them.

"They were commonly portrayed as gifted and fragile. They bristled at the caricature but, on the biggest stages, their rebuttals were weak. Some big games won, more big games lost. They insisted they were going somewhere but we had to take that on trust and our faith was weak.

"Yesterday they finally delivered a performance of cold anger and terrible ferocity. A performance as big as the occasion and the imperatives of the day. A championship performance from a team who, finally, looked like a championship team."

It's time for the New Zealand Rugby Union to re-appoint coach Graham Henry and avoid any charade - so says Wynne Gray in the New Zealand Herald.

	All Blacks coach Graham Henry has confirmed he want to continue in the role beyond this year © Getty Images

"There is no one of Graham Henry's calibre, yet, within this country and unless the New Zealand Rugby Union thinks Eddie Jones, Nick Mallett or other experienced coaches who might understand rugby in this hemisphere are interested in the job, then they should get on with it and ink in Henry's name.

"It has come as no surprise that Henry wants to continue to coach the All Blacks through to the next World Cup. Claiming the Webb Ellis Cup is in the unrequited column on his rugby CV as it has been the festering sore on the nation's rugby credibility since that initial triumph way back in 1987.

"There are a few other asterisks beside Henry's coaching credentials - such as the Lions trip to Australia in 2001 and his exit from Wales - but he is a hugely successful coach and the All Blacks have only suffered eight losses in the 63 tests since Henry took on the job in 2004. His success rate, endurance, experience and knowledge continues to be top class."

Will Greenwood has predicted fireworks in Cardiff tomorrow when the Blues take on Leicester insisting there is too much muscle, too much testosterone and too many players backed into a corner. Read his thoughts in the Daily Telegraph.

"Cardiff have transformed themselves. I was trying to explain it to a pal the other day, how they had become much more physical, street wise, dangerous, and he didn't quite get it. In blunt terms, I told him that Cardiff had gone from an averagely fit side who were bordering on overweight, to a team who look supercharged in every position.

"The team, in terms of personnel, haven't changed since last year when they found it impossible to cope with Toulouse in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals. And while they struggled to keep up after 60 minutes in that match, this time around, in Sunday's semi-final, you feel they would be happy to go to extra time."

With the Heineken Cup and Premiership title to play for, coach Richard Cockerill talks to Chris Hewett in The Independent about how Leicester became England's dominant force.

"They tried to talk it up as the closest Premiership campaign of them all and there were times when it looked and felt that way, yet when push came to shove, as it always does in rugby, it was Leicester's uniquely confrontational brand of pushing and shoving that proved irresistible. Again. They finished ahead of the rest by the equivalent of a bonus-point victory, having won more games, and lost fewer, than any of their rivals (which is not always the case with table-topping teams, strangely). Already the most successful club in league history, they are warm favourites to win a record eighth English title and are still in there scrapping on the Heineken Cup front. Crisis? What crisis?

"It is but a distant memory now, but in the run-up to Christmas there was very definitely a whiff of impending catastrophe in the air. Having rid themselves of one high-achieving southern hemisphere coach in Marcelo Loffreda without giving the poor Argentine soul even half a chance to shape the team to his liking, there were rumours of board-level dissatisfaction with his South African successor, Heyneke Meyer."

The passion shown by supporters of both sides is a measure of how far Irish rugby has come according to Brendan Fanning in the Guardian.

"When Jack Charlton led Ireland to ­consecutive football World Cups in the early 1990s the phenomenon of the Irish fan was born. With much modesty this creature was styled as "the greatest football fan in the world". And then along came the rugby equivalent: Munster Man.

"This well oiled machine will take over Croke Park today, another one in the eye for Munster Man's younger, less ­experienced cousin: Leinster Guy. The gap in cultures between the two rivals is more a chasm than a divide, and both sides work hard to keep it that way. Munster fans see ­themselves as earthy and loyal and hugely passionate about the cause. And Leinster are not really sure how they see themselves."

Walabies skipper Stirling Mortlock is suffering for his versatility according to Greg Growdwn in the Sydney Morning Herald.

In The Independent, Peter Bills selects his all-time British and Irish Lions XV.

"The interesting thing is that some selections are easy. A very few players, like Gareth Edwards for example, would walk into the side. Likewise at full-back. Has there been a more complete, all-round No. 15 than the great J.P.R. Williams? Somehow, I doubt it. There have been some excellent Lions full-backs, but Williams stands supreme.

"Jack Kyle had some serious opposition at outside half, principally from Cliff Morgan and especially Barry John. But Kyle's genius earned him the decision.

"But in other positions, the choice is tough. I chose Tony O'Reilly on one wing because his try scoring feats on those 1955 and 1959 tours were simply extraordinary. The Irishman scored 16 tries in 15 appearances in South Africa in '55 and then 22 more in 23 appearances in '59 in New Zealand and Australia. 38 tries on two tours? Astonishing.

"No-one has ever beaten and now never will surpass those records. On the other wing, I have gone for that brilliant Welsh flyer Ken Jones, who toured in 1950 with the Lions. Jones was the Welsh sprint champion for seven consecutive years and won silver in the 4x100 metres relay at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. Always a Newport man, he scored 146 tries in 293 appearances for the club, and got 17 for Wales during his 44 caps."