Top 20 Rugby Quotes of the Week

1. “They are banged up enough without me giving them a ’snorter’ on the scrum machine.”
Graham Rowntree — British & Irish Lions scrumming coach

2. “The Beast was pretty impressive. There was one scrum after nine minutes when we got lifted off the floor and if I was their scrum coach I would have retired and gone to Panama.”
Graham Rowntree — British & Irish Lions scrumming coach

3. “I just worked hard on certain things and did them right.”
Tendai Mtawarira — The 118kg Beast, just 23 and with 10 Test caps

4. “I think we have the secret. He brought his fiancée down [from Zimbabwe] for a short stay and we saw what that did for him. We are going to get her to stay a couple of weeks longer.”
John Smit — Springbok captain on Mtawarira

5. “If I listened to 43 million opinions, I believe I would be lost. I’m not concerned about Ricky’s form. Look, if you go to a black mechanic and he doesn’t fix your car, you don’t go back. If you go to a white mechanic and he doesn’t fix your car, you go back and make sure he fixes the problem. What I am saying is give Ricky a chance.’’
Peter de Villiers — Springbok coach

6. “I have been through some experiences in my rugby life but it is fair to say what happened to me in the Lions scrum during our first Test was among the worst.”
Phil Vickery — British & Irish Lions front-row prop