Off Topic Ospreys, Wales & BIL

The Lions have a talented squad and I find it frustrating that Gats just wants to try and negate SA rather than beat them with quality. Gats had never been one for "x factor" though.

 

Noticeable increase in intensity right from the kick off - kick on boys!

 

South African TMO gives crucial decision to the Lions

 

It does make your wonder what the decision would have been from a "neutral"!

 

Good win in the end, i think the bench was better than SA in the long run.

We had some very, very close calls there though

I really hope we see some attacking ambition from the selection in the second test.

Delighted for Alun Wyn.

 

Amazed that AWJ played the full 80 - I thought that he, Itoje and Lawes were immense in the second half. Conan was better in the second half as well.

Furlong played really well and Mako did well off the bench.

Itoje was my MoM

Watson should have seen a yellow card - stupid tackle.

 

I agree Itoje got my pick as MOM. AWJ had a really good game too. Our bench turned the game with Mako and Ken really strong. I still have doubts over Hamish Watson who is not getting any change from the Boks, so I wouldn't have him in my test squad. I thought those missed penalties in the 1st half would come back to haunt us but an excellent 2nd half saw us home.

 

I wonder if Navidi would be a better option off the bench - particularly as he can cover every position in the back row?

I hope that Dan is available next week after his HIA - I wonder if the Lions are using the new iMGs (smart mouthguards) and that is why they hauled him off so quickly for the HIA?

 

I agree I would have Navadi rather than Watson on the bench

 

The hit looked like it was to his chest area, so maybe they are using them.

 

They record all hits - not just to the head

 

That's what I meant - there was no direct contact to the head but maybe head jolt from the impact, picked up by the hardware. Otherwise it must have been a different collision.

 

Watson should have been yellowed (at least), so very lucky.

It's going to be very interesting to see next Saturday's lineup. Nobody expects Gats to tinker much with the team but when you look at the game as a whole, the Lions were fortunate to win it and he'll know that. So we might see a few changes.

We pretty much know SA will tire in the second half, so I would hope this gives the Lions a tiny bit of wiggle room to be more adventurous in attack. Will Josh Adams play this time? Perhaps Toby F in for Conan as he's got a bit of sparkle. Who knows with Gats! Anyway, Conan should be playing for the Barbarians

 

Yes - I ‘knew’ what you were saying! I’ve seen the output from the Protecht system.

 

Ahhh... I see what you meant now

 

The only "problem" with this is we might have about 10 HIAs at the same time!

 

To be honest, many / most of the ‘concussive’ load comes in training.

Concussion can come from one hit or from a series of hits - basically it’s similar to filling a glass with water: eventually, one more drop and the glass is overflowing. A former Cardiff Devils player told me that the first time he was concussed, the impact was negligible, the guy barely brushed him!

Harlequins started using it in January and adjusted training - is it a coincidence that they finished the season stronger than anyone else?

Expect football to use it next - particularly limiting heading in training.

 

SOUTH AFRICA v THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England)
13. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland)
12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland)
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales)
9. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England)
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, England)
5. Alun Wyn Jones – captain (Ospreys, Wales)
6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England)
8. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland)

Replacements:
16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales)
17. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland)
18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England)
19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland)
20. Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales)
21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland)
22. Owen Farrell (Saracens, England)
23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England)

 

As I said on Sunday ….

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57996593