The not606 British Lions tour thread

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Will the 2013 Lions ....

  • Total voters
    7
  • Poll closed .
Going off your team Swimaway, if there's only one English starter it's a bit of a disgrace in my opinion given that they were far superior to the Irish and Scots in the 6 Nations (at the Aviva may I add) and are the only team in the last twelve months that have looked capable of hammering a Southern Hemisphere team. The Welsh beat them fair and square in the Millennium Stadium but obviously home advantage can mean so much in crunch games.

I personally do not want Sexton anywhere near this side. The guy has proven incapable of running a winning team this last year at International level and his goal kicking, although decent, is not as good as Farrell. I want 12 points almost guaranteed every time the lads step onto the pitch. Farrell delivers that. He has to start.

I would have Phillips in the team as I have a real dislike for Ben Youngs' game. He takes too long to distribute the ball from the back of a ruck and doesn't seem as dynamic as Phillips although it's the distribution angle that seals it for me.

Croft will thrive on the harder Australian pitch and should be in the team but Lydiate is a very good player himself and I wouldn't argue if he was to start (which he almost certainly will do). The fact Warburton is a captain let alone a guaranteed starter completely baffles me. Whether you agree with the sanction or not, in the biggest game of his life he was sent off. How does that equate to being entrusted with leading this team when you have O'Connell and BOD. Both are excellent leaders and both justify their automatic selections. With Warburton leading this team you have a situation where the rest of the team can justifiably question whether their captain should be in the starting fifteen and whether he's in there purely because he is the head coach's favourite pet. If Gatland wanted to create an air of resentment within the squad then he's created perfect conditions for it.
 
I can see a potential place for Parlling ahead of AWJ and possibly Croft for Lydiate...its just that one of Crofts strengths is in the line out and WG hasnt used him for that yet, just as a lifter.

Hooker is still up for grabs and Roberts was not amazing today leaving the door open for Tarquin Tuilagi...its just that I have seen Gatland use his go to men religiously in the past despite their poor form ...hence my selection :) It is more based on what I think WG will pick, not neccisarily me

I agree wholeheartedly about Warburton but WG thinks the sun shines outta his proverbial.

Hopefully a tougher game this weekend will make things a bit clearer.
 
Croft, Heaslip and Tipuric is the back row I'd like to see. Don't want Warburton anywhere near the test team.
 
To think we accused the Ozzies of not taking it seriously...Ickle Shane back lol!

My take on this....they have just brought these boys out for the 1 midweek game only. It allows WG to keep all the potential starting backs fresh and gets the Ozzies guessing on the test line up. Do they read into Maitland not playing midweek that North/Bowe is out? No Tuilagi/Davies then Roberts/BOD is out etc etc. It also puts extra bodies on the training pitch to make up for the walking wounded.

Hence you will here nothing about the North/Bowe/Roberts/BOD injuries until the test team is announced. For those that enjoy that type of thing, its some quality mind games. If Gatland gets a series win, it will be hailed a masterstroke. Lose, and he will be criticised for not taking enough players to start with.

Thats the reason Ashton isnt there. Is he really someone you would call on to just meander in and help selflessly for a one week emergency call out only to be then quickly dispatched with no fuss? Ashton would be like throwing a grenade into a now harmonious squad.


Forever the optimist, I recon its genius. Come Saturday, I will find out if my faith was misplaced.
 
Anyone have a site where I can watch the game today? SKY no bloody good down here so don't use it. Many thanks!
 
Tom Youngs was excellent today. Hibbard came on and the scrum fell to pieces.

Jonathan Davies didn't get into it. I think we may see Manu at 12 next weekend for his crash ball game.

Lucky to win.
 
Gave away too many silly penalites again. Easy to blame the ref bur when it keeps happening..... When that Aussie back line was firing it looked awesome. Mind you ours looked all right too.

We were lucky to win but I think thery'll be better next week - and they'll need to be.
 
Cant see how you blame just a hooker for the scrum failing?

Youngs did well but front of line balls only are limiting the backs play. The props changing was the real turner.They collapsed before Hibbard git out there.

Star men..North, 1/2p..must do better Mikey P. Farrell Snr now has to earn his crust this week as they now have some footage (wonder what Shaub Edwards is thinking?)
All in all, hard to be critical of anyone in a game of that intensity though.

Will big Jamie and Bowe start next week? Will todays look at the Ozzies count for nowt as you will now have to see a different Ozzie team with Quade Cooper and Beale playing loose alongside Genia? Will next weeks ref be more sympathetic (polite for better!)

A great game to watch and Karma bit back. The Ozzies have managed several sneaky last minute wins against us Welsh recently and they have been carrying on as if they had the welsh/lions number. Never once did they call themeselves lucky despite them really getting out of jail many times in the past. They always claimed its the result that counts ultimately....now watch to see who the real whingers are!!!

Congratulations WGs Lions. Half a job done but time to really step it up next week.


anyways lads, i tried to get something going here but its dead quiet, youre welcome to join this Lions thread that has more of a presence. Even got token Australian posters and match links

http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/216028-British-and-irish-lions-tour
 
Bostonbob said:
Tom Youngs was excellent today. Hibbard came on and the scrum fell to pieces.

Jonathan Davies didn't get into it. I think we may see Manu at 12 next weekend for his crash ball game.

Lucky to win.
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1. The scrum went to pieces because Vanupola, Cole and Parling came on. They couldn't scrummage a paper bag on that performance <doh>
2. As for JD, what game was you watching? If Roberts is fit, Manu won't even make the squad <ok>
 
Luckily, my wife was outside when that final penalty was given. You could just see it coming - trying to chew the clock up, you can guess who was responsible for the scrum going down! You could see the Referee was getting fed up with it, and I thought, any second now he's going to ping The Lions for something. Sure enough!!...I flew out of my chair and pumped numerous F's into the lot of them. Sheer stupidity, especially within kicking distance of your own posts.

I thought Phillips had a very average game. I know North was given MOM, but it was Sexton for me - pure class. Too much messing around with the scrum, too.

How are they going to deal with Genia & Falau in Melbourne?
 
Agree, Phillips was average, but I think that was more down to the fact that our back row was outplayed at the breakdown. It's interesting to see that Tipuric is only on the bench for the midweeks game against the rebels. Hope he is drafted into the Test squad for the second game.
 
ValleyGraduate12 said:
Agree, Phillips was average, but I think that was more down to the fact that our back row was outplayed at the breakdown. It's interesting to see that Tipuric is only on the bench for the midweeks game against the rebels. Hope he is drafted into the Test squad for the second game.
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His box kicks were a joke, one of which led directly to an Aussie try.

If it is felt that Joubert will look more favourably on the defensive team at the breakdown than yesterday's clown, then I wouldn't be surprised to see Tipuric in the side.
 
NowsufferinginSpain said:
His box kicks were a joke, one of which led directly to an Aussie try.

If it is felt that Joubert will look more favourably on the defensive team at the breakdown than yesterday's clown, then I wouldn't be surprised to see Tipuric in the side.
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His box kicking has always been poor/average imo. As for Tipuric, he should have played the first test, far better player than Warburton. The pundits talk about Warburton at the breakdown yet he has only made one turnover all tour. Possibly the most unworthy captain in Lions history.
 
ValleyGraduate12 said:
His box kicking has always been poor/average imo. As for Tipuric, he should have played the first test, far better player than Warburton. The pundits talk about Warburton at the breakdown yet he has only made one turnover all tour. Possibly the most unworthy captain in Lions history.
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I'm glad that this comment has been made by a welshman - the problem with his selection is that the competition for back row places is as fierce as it's ever been so nobody can definitely justify their place. I'd have Tipuric in the team next week.
 
This comes down to the eternal problem of the differential in officiating the breakdown between the North & South hemispheres. Why the IRB can't get this sorted out, I have no idea.

In my view, Tipuric was not selected because Gatland was aware that yesterday's referee would not look kindly on his aggressive defence at the breakdown. O'Driscoll was pinged twice in the first few minutes for daring to try and contest a breakdown.

Again, if it looks as though Joubert will be more lenient in this area, then yes, I would expect Tipuric to be in with a very good shout, Maybe even sending Warburton to the blind side.
 
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