The Lions squad
- Thread starter Rosco
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Pure bollix.
The most engineered piece of nonsense I've seen in a long time.
Ought to get a ban for the final Test, but will he?
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.
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.
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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Great news on the O'Brien citation.
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)
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.
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
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
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.
I wasn't. Gatland had this front row picked from before the first game of the tour