The Lions player who was labelled a ‘freak’ by teammates
British and Irish Lions players Jamie George, Ali Price and Josh Adams discussed who is the hardest tackler in the current camp in the third episode of Inside the Bubble this week.
All three players suggested different teammates, who would make a pretty imposing team if they ever line up together.
“Straight away, I’m thinking Hamish Watson,” George said about the Scotland openside, who made his presence felt against the Sigma Lions with some bone crunching tackles.
“Hamish, or Courts [Courtney Lawes],” Adams said. “Yeah, Courtney is a freak,” George agreed.
“Maybe Bundee [Aki] I’d throw in there,” Price added. “After I’ve seen some of the shots he put on in contact drills.”
George threw another name into the ring as well: “Also, Tom Curry’s been kept in a cage for the last three weeks, so wait until he comes out. I’ve never seen anyone run around a rugby field like that, he’s a Duracell Bunny. It’s mental. So he’s going to go around smashing people.”
This quartet of tackling machines has not lined up in the same XV yet, but it is possible. Both Curry and Watson could form a No 6 and No 7 back-row partnership, while Lawes could play in the second-row, leaving Aki at inside centre to leave very little safe space for the opposition to run into. Warren Gatland still has time to pick this combination and unleash hell upon whoever plays them.
