First I've heard of it.
Don't think anyone paid attention to it, didn't look that way. Cian Healy certainly didn't!
Well that is great to know!
Here's a link:
http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-2013/rugby/story/178324.html
and here's ome of teh best parts:
"We are requesting that players who we hope will be playing this June and July to make a pact with each other," said Gatland. "We hope they won't tackle each other, for example, or clear each other out forcefully at rucks. Basically, anything that could cause injury we want to avoid. For instance, we don't want Dan Cole running full speed at Ryan Jones. Or, heaven forbid, Danny Care running aggressively into Mike Phillips."
"In a couple of months we are going to be swapping blows with one of the most dangerous teams in the world," said Gatland. "All this happens pretty soon. And we ain't ready. We need to step up and fight this team hard. Why would we want to damage our own chances by beating each other up? It's madness. I think our strategy, whilst unorthodox and likely to upset traditionalists, will become standard practice in years to come. I really believe this will be a turning point in Lions history."
And no, I checked, it wasn't April 1st
Gatland has suggested that when two potential Lions players come face to face in an attacker and tackler situation they should compromise in the following manner:
+ Attacker slows down ahead of defender to prevent 'rough' contact.
+ Defender shouts: 'Tackle!"
+ Defender carefully places one hand on Attacker's shoulder.
+ Attacker slowly lies down as if tackled and Defender carefully lies down next to him.
+ Ball is laid back as if real ruck has taken place.
+ No ruck takes place between any other potential Lions from either side.
+ Ball is then played as normal and game continues.
Umm, so this is when I checked other calendars on the internet, in case someone had changed the calendar on my computer as an April 1st prank, and sure enough the evidence still suggested it wasn't April 1st.
"We'd also like to encourage cross team arse patting," added Gatland.
LMFAO, this is when I got suspicious that there was a global conspiracy amongst all online calendars to change the date such that it wasn't April 1st....Nahthat has to be slightly less likely than this story actually being true.
