Off Topic Ospreys, Wales & BIL
- Thread starter Taffvalerowdy
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Yet again, no camera angle from the other side of the pitch - same with Faf last week
I think the Lions will regret not taking a couple of those comparitively straightforward penalties
What an anti climax. Looked good first half, SA Turn the screw second, helped by poor Lions play.
Ultimately, the tour was lost by Gats team selections and tactics. We saw first half what a mobile Lions game plan could do with more attacking players, albeit accelerated by Finn coming on. He was great, to be fair.
If Gats had played the series to the Lions strengths, rather than just trying to negate the Boks, then this would have been a Lion's win.
Saying all that, congrats to SA, they adapted and improved where the Lions couldn't.
Ultimately, the tour was lost by Gats team selections and tactics. We saw first half what a mobile Lions game plan could do with more attacking players, albeit accelerated by Finn coming on. He was great, to be fair.
If Gats had played the series to the Lions strengths, rather than just trying to negate the Boks, then this would have been a Lion's win.
Saying all that, congrats to SA, they adapted and improved where the Lions couldn't.
Selecting only 1 scrummaging Loosehead prop in the squad didn’t help - should have taken Healy ahead of ***erson.
Tomos Williams should have been first choice scrum half.
Hogg has been out of form since the Six Nations - should have been nowhere near the Test team.
The major turning point, however, was Rassie’s video. No 50:50 call went the Lions’ way thereafter. Watch again the reffing of the final 10 minutes.
I'm not sure the reffing was that contentious, they're human and make mistakes. Nigel Owens was very succinct on the Lions breakfast show on Sky Sports - no ref will have a perfect performance any more than any player will.
What isn't in doubt (IMO anyway) is that the reffing had no effect on the series result. Gats blew it for me (but not in the way you're thinking!). It's a massive missed opportunity but hey, that's sport. I just hope we have a decent coach for the next tour.
What isn't in doubt (IMO anyway) is that the reffing had no effect on the series result. Gats blew it for me (but not in the way you're thinking!). It's a massive missed opportunity but hey, that's sport. I just hope we have a decent coach for the next tour.
Refereeing after the first test was irreparably bad and rugby now has a serious problem and last but not least, SA were allowed to cynically and negatively kill the game without any official challenge.
The ball-in-play time in yesterday's Springboks vs. Lions game was just 26 minutes and 22 seconds. For reference, the average per game in this year's Six Nations was 38 minutes and 3 seconds.
The loser, by far, is rugby as a whole but credit to SA they did what they had to do to win.
Some observations from yesterday’s game;
Wyn Jones being taken out was a game changer in the same way as Adam Jones being taken out in 2009. WJ wasn't dominating as emphatically as Adam did but while he was fit we had the upper hand. Thereafter, they did and it swung the momentum in their favour.
Sanjay knew instantly he had blown a try in a game that was always going to be on very tight. Schoolboy error. Would have made it 15-3 or 17-3.
The whole back row struggled but Curry was particularly disappointing. He gave away a series of penalties. The maul infringement as the rest of the pack were about to trundle over for another try was a killer blow. Would have made it 15-3 or 17-3.
Russell coming on briefly made it more interesting and I think he did well overall, putting a bit of pace into the game.
Refereeing in rugby union is infuriatingly inconsistent. It's got to be dealt with, but won't be - same as the crooked scrum feeds!
Lions have only themselves to blame. The test yesterday and series was there for the taking. They had the chances but didn't take them. SA did and sneaked it.
Brainlessness from Williams and Curry cost the series win in the end, ably assisted by a terrible reffing performance in the 2nd half.
I agree it was not a good advert for rugby. As a series the Lions needed to approach the game to ensure it was won. The discipline especially from Curry was poor. It annoyed me intensely when, in the 1st half, he walked back smiling after being penalised in the Lions rolling mail for obstruction which probably cost the Lions 5 points.
The schoolboy howlers in my book were not electing to kick the penalties. It was always going to be a close game and those 6 or 9 points would have been invaluable.
The schoolboy howlers in my book were not electing to kick the penalties. It was always going to be a close game and those 6 or 9 points would have been invaluable.
Glam - I agree, but we scored 7 points from not kicking 1 of those.
Agreed Taff but getting those 7 points put us in a good position and from there we just needed to keep the scoreboard ticking over and increase the pressure on the Boks
The penalty that Murray decided against (AWJ had been replaced by Beard) surprised me
I was surprised that wasn't given as a penalty and it did change the dynamic of the front row contest.
Very odd and disappointing Williams didn't pass. He even gestured to pass, possibly suggesting he was throwing the dummy for personal glory. If so then that's inexcusable. Curry was even more stupid as the Lions would have been over, as you say. Lawes pen at the end was careless but I'm sure SA would have just kept possesion and got the pen anyway.
That's exactly what was needed but, as you alluded to, the back row was wrong. The team needed to be selected for attacking dynamism from the first test, a half hearted attempt to "hedge the bets" in the third was too little too late. The Lions should have won the series 3 - 0 with the talent available.
Yes, the inconsistency has to be addressed. Nigel Owens was saying the same thing. Remember the directive some time ago now that the scrum feeds should be put in straight? I seem to recall a few penalisations at the time but that didn't last long. Maybe Erasmus' video will be a good thing long term, as it's firmly focused the officiating.