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The Lions squad

A three point win over a 14 man All Black team that left 9 kickable points on the field.

Not many of the Lions can be happy about their performance.
 
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Lovely to win but if he picks the same team for the final test we'll lose. Obviously we need to work on discipline, Vinupola in particular was reckless. The weather and our game-plan meant that we didn't make enough of the extra man. T'eo needs to play ahead of one of either Sexton and Farrell for me. We got away with that, but still, a win against the ABs is a win against the ABs. I thought Itoje was magnificent today despite that knock on early when we were in a great attacking position. He was a nuisance in the line out and did fantastically to disrupt their maul in the second half. All round he was terrific. MOM. I'd love to see O'Mahony and Henderson get a look in in the final test in place of AWJ and Sam Warburton but I know there is next to no chance of that.
 
Yeah i thought Itoje was the pick of the pack. The Irish Indo ratings gave him a 6 - and it wasn't even the most laughable mark. He dominated the restarts, put in some key hits and generally made a nuisance of himself. He must have been the busiest tackler too, if he had less than 15 i'd be surprised.

O'Brien was next best.

If it wasn't for Vunipola's penalties we'd be talking about Warburton being largely peripheral.
 
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^^^^^^Clueless when it comes to backrow play^^^^^^^

Ex prop by any chance?


Irishtimes

Sam Warburton

Sam Cane did not dominate. Nor did Kieran Read or the All Black pack in general as the initial Lions captain played a sustained and disruptive role in this victory. Rating: 7


Independent

Warburton – 7 out of 10

Good offload released Jones in the first half and dogged work at the breakdown slowed All Blacks’ ball that left opposite skipper Read frustrated. Getty Images

Guardian

Sam Warburton, flanker, capt 8/10 Gains credit for maintaining belief in the ranks but loses it for failing to keep his side disciplined. Brought in to slow New Zealand ball and made a big difference there, though

Mirror
Sam Warburton (capt)

They brought him back to slow the All Blacks and secure the breakdown. Tick and tick. Very proud moment for Sam. 8

NZ Herald

. Sam Warburton - 6
Tour captain brought promised presence on recall. More pumped than the Wellington economy this weekend.
 
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What you're seeing is a 2 point bump for us winning and him being captain.

6/10 at most.

And for the record, in order of the amount of times i played the position : Hooker, 7, 8, winger(!), prop
 
What changes (if any) would you make for the final test?

Personally i'd be tempted to bring in Lawes for AWJ, i've liked what iv'e seen and he really takes it to the opposition.

T'eo for Sexton.

I'd seriously consider dropping Mako to the bench as well.
 
How did you end up playing winger rosco?

I started out on the wing - because i joined the school team about 3/4's of the way through the season. So they just threw me on the wing to let me get used to rugby. I think i played about 4 times on the wing. (0 tries)
 
McGrath Best Furlong
Henderson Itoje
O' Mahony Stander O'Brien

Murray Sexton

Daly Farrell Davies Watson

Williams
 
What changes (if any) would you make for the final test?

Personally i'd be tempted to bring in Lawes for AWJ, i've liked what iv'e seen and he really takes it to the opposition.

T'eo for Sexton.

I'd seriously consider dropping Mako to the bench as well.

A fully in-form Lawes would have been in my starting XV too for the reason you give, but he had a slowish start to the tour (and a slowish season before that) and is really only now looking like the Lawes who was worth a place not only in the engine room but also in the England back row a season or two ago. On balance I think it's probably right to start him on the bench and slip his leash a bit later on.

Te'o was pretty unlucky not to keep his place for the second Test, but one can't argue with the outcome of the decision, so again I think I'd use him for impact (if needed) later on.
 
I was watching this video about Sexton and Farrell earlier and the one thing i really noticed in it was how off the pace Warburton was

 
Same team lads:

Lions team to face New Zealand: L Williams; A Watson, J Davies, O Farrell, E Daly; J Sexton, C Murray; M Vunipola, J George, T Furlong; AW Jones, M Itoje; S Warburton (capt), S O’Brien, T Faletau.
 
All Blacks team to play the Lions at Eden Park on Saturday night:

15. Jordie Barrett
14. Israel Dagg
13. Anton Lienert-Brown
12. Ngani Laumape
11. Julian Savea
10. Beauden Barrett
9. Aaron Smith
8. Kieran Read (c)
7. Sam Cane
6. Jerome Kaino
5. Sam Whitelock
4. Brodie Retallick
3. Owen Franks
2. Codie Taylor
1. Joe Moody


I get the argument that you don't change a team thats just beaten the All Blacks but I still think some freshening up might have been better.

Having rewatched the 2nd test I have some concerns for tomorrow. The All Blacks assistant coach said its as simple as winning the collisions up front and in both tests that proved to be correct. But i don't think we win the second test if they have 15 players and/or a reliable kicker.

Vunipola is seen as the lucky man to be selected and i think he is, but 2 of the 4 penalties were at least arguably incorrect.
There were two reasons as to why All Blacks ruck possessions were slowed - the weather which meant the 9 was more deliberate and the fact that our tacklers up front were knocking them back or stopping them dead. That makes the ball a little more difficult to recycle. Warburton was a factor in about 5% of the 80 or so All Blacks rucks (in which they did not lose possession once).

So i think its unlikely we can rely on the All Blacks being handicapped in this one.

Sonny Bill is a loss but Laumape showed that he's very capable as well. I think our 10-12 channel will be used by him to gain momentum. If we go with the tactic of asking O'Brien to cover that channel like last week i think we risk being exploited elsewhere especially by an 8 man All Blacks pack.

Its going to be savage
 
I can't help but think we are getting humped this weekend unless we put in a monumental performance.

Haven't looked forward to watching a game this much for years.
 
Dunno about "humped" exactly, but the Blacks will be on a mission and it's at Eden Park, so the odds are defo against a Lions win. If they pull it off they'll have earned it big time.
 
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