AS we enter the fourth week of the coronavirus lockdown, the novelty – if there ever was any – is really beginning to wear thin.
In an effort to lift the mundanity of it all, regular TOL contributor Eléna de Mello Hogarth has trawled YouTube to find some clips to help kill some time and lift spirits.
Do you have any suggested YouTube videos to add to the list?
- Jim Telfer’s Everest speech, 1997 Lions tour
Sucks to be every other coach/captain/wannabe orator after hearing this speech. The original and best – everything else is a pale imitation. “Remember how you depend on each other.”
- Jacques Burger compilation
A montage of Namibia’s finest, flattening opponents is a strangely comforting watch in these strange times.
- The Brazilian scrum
The 2016 Rio Olympics gave the 7s game a boost in Brazil, but they’re no slouch when it comes to XV-a-side, as the Māori All Blacks discovered in 2018. One of the great sights in rugby!
- Woodman on the run
One of the world’s greatest players doing what she does best – out-running everyone.
- Matawalu does it all
The player who makes people who don’t like rugby like rugby. What doesn’t he do in this try? The chip, the chase, the dummy, the score.
- Stuart Hogg try v Ireland, 2016 Six Nations
Just this, on repeat, for the next few weeks.
- Caslick on the case
Talk about never giving up the chase. The pool of talent in the women’s 7s game runs deep, and Australia’s Caslick, along with Canadian Ghislaine Landry – the player she tracks down here – are two of the stars, as well as the above mentioned Portia Woodman.
- Peter Stringer v Dan Luger
It can’t just be me who could watch tap tackles on a loop (oh, it is?), and this might just be the most perfectly executed one of all.
- The Adventures of the Scottish Hype Train
If you’re unfamiliar with the wonders of GLove Productions, now is the time to savour the creative madness, beginning with the first episode of the on-going epic that is the Scottish Hype Train.
Longer watches –
Georgia have been knocking on the door for some time now. World Rugby’s two-part documentary charts the history of the sport in the country, its popularity and how they manage to keep kids playing in the cold Georgian winter.
Episode one:
Episode two:
With Uruguay’s win against Fiji at the 2019 Rugby World Cup showcasing passionate, skilful and entertaining play, the founding of South America’s first professional club league, and Major League Rugby in the USA, rugby is growing across South, Central and North America. In 2018, World Rugby held the Americas Combine, with 25 players from the region pushed hard to show their potential and possibly secure an MLR contract at the end of the week.
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