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Test team will be:
--------Byrne
Bowe ---------Monye
---O'Driscoll Roberts
------Jones Phillips
Jenkins Mears Sheridan
--O'Connell Wyn Jones
Croft(Would have been Ferris) Heaslip Wallace
Subs: Murray, Rees, Hines, M Williams, Blair, O'Gara and Earls/Fitzgerald
Live on Sky so i'd presume my2p2 would have it.....if you ain't got sky.Quote:
Originally Posted by Youths4Ever
39-3 win...facile victory marred by scandalous amount of penalties and free kicks conceded in 2nd half. Wallace did well and played himself into contention. By contrast I think ROG played himself out of it. Test certs at the moment for me are: Byrne, Bowe, BOD, Roberts, Phillips, O'Connell, Croft and Heaslip. Everything else is still up for grabs.
http://209.44.113.146/
Should have links later
Kaplan did his usual best to ruin the game.
Agree that ROG didn't do enough, way too many grubbers and cross kicks. Heaslip has done enough, but if Williams can get fit I'd still favour him at 7. Fitzgerald is right in there for a wing spot.
Agree with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
Couple of good goal kicks might help O'Gara as need test kicker to be close to 100%. Shane Williams must be done now as he has plenty of chances. Fitzgerald was sharp even if no real clear cut chances for him. O'Driscoll looks very sharp.
Lions have a big problem at the breakdown.
Test Side as it stands for me
Byrne, Bowe, BOD, Roberts, Fitzgerald*,Jones, Phillips, Heaslip, Wallace, Croft, Jones, POC, Sheridan, Mears** , Murray
*Not sure about Fitzgerald but no one else is really putting their hands up, it would seem amazing that Williams would miss out entirely but his form is nothing like it should be, I have a sneaking suspicion that he may be included regardless of form on the advice of the Welsh coaching contingent.
** I’m not a Mears fan and had Jerry travelled he would have been the test hooker, I think our line out is a weakness because he is missing & expect the Boks to really contest & disrupt our balls, Bakkies & Matfield are the best in the world & I think we’ll be in trouble in this area.
Jones is now a shoe-in for 10 imho & O’Gara will do well to make the 22, I stand by the conviction that Hook will be on the bench as he can cover so many positions including 10, Kearney will be on the bench as full back & wing cover with Blair as the cover for scrum half.
Forwards bench, Jenkins, Ford, Hines, Worsley or possibly Williams if fit.
The front rown is odd, I think of the props only really Vickery is out of contention, I think Sheridan will get in because of his bulk, I like Murray (which is why I’ve put him in my side) but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jones in there ahead of him.
Before the tour started I had the Boks down as 3-0 winners but as the series as gone on I am a wee bit more confident, I think there is a chance if we catch them cold in Durban, if the Boks win in Durban it’s a whitewash if the Lions win it really will be a series to remember.
The main 2 problems for me are the lineout (as mentioned above) where I think we are in deep trouble & the breakdown, their back row of Spies, Burger & Smith is as good as anything in world Rugby and I think we will do well to try and hold our own here. Fortunately we won’t have to see any homer refs in the tests but iirc 2 of the 3 are SANZAR ref’s which will theorretically benefit the Bok’s
New prediction Lions to sneak the First by less than a converted try with the Boks coming good in the 2 tests on the High Veldt for a series win.
Power, pace and will gain yards, he can play his way into form. Wallace even on a bad day will get over the advantage line and move the team forward.Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
How many lions have set the tour on fire anyway?
Roberts,
Bowe
Ferris - injured.
Everybody else can go up a couple of gears.
Fair point.
It doesn't augur well to have so many players not firing on all cylinders at this point. But I suppose the flip side is that they can improve and perhaps peak for the tests. I just fail to see any evidence that the Lions will be able to cope with the Springboks pack. I hope I'm wrong but I believe they will murder us in the tight five and lineout, and with players like Spies at the back of the scrum they've got a big advantage.
Still, the fact that they wont have played any rugby as a team for a month (and even that was only against Namibia) and that they have no specialist full back in their squad might give the Lions a squeak in Durban at least.
First of all on the Lions performance - i thought the Sharks played to keep the score down and the referee was poor. I've never seen a team with so much territory and possession concede so many penalties. I thought it was lopsided at best. O'Gara was disapointing but in general i think the team played really well in difficult circumstances.
Secondly i watched the Ireland A game against Canada last night, good game i thought. I thought the A lads looked a lot sharper than the Senior team a few weeks ago. Were very dominant in the set pieces and thats what pushed them over the line in the last 10 / 15 mins. Canada played much better than a few weeks ago, an enjoyable game.
Team against Western Province:
Rob Kearney (Leinster/Ireland);
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys/Ireland),
Keith Earls (Munster/Ireland),
Riki Flutey (Wasps/England),
Ugo Monye (Harlequins/England);
Stephen Jones (Scarlets/Wales),
Harry Ellis (Leicester/England);
Andrew Sheridan (Sale/England),
Matthew Rees (Scarlets/Wales),
Phil Vickery (London Wasps/England),
Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster/Ireland),
Nathan Hines (Perpignan/Scotland),
Joe Worsley (Wasps/England),
Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues/Wales),
Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues/Wales).
Replacements: Ross Ford (Edinburgh/Scotland), Euan Murray (Northampton/Scotland), Simon Shaw (Wasps/England), Tom Croft (Leicester/England), Mike Blair (Edinburgh/Scotland), James Hook (Ospreys/Wales), Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster/Ireland).
Not happy that it's basically a dirttracker side when I finally am getting to a game :-(
Still musn't complain, off to Durban for the first test & then back to CT for the emerging Boks game....
Looking forward to the next 10 days
Tommy Bowe is absolutely on fire.
Kearney making a strong case. I'm sure he'll be in the 22.
Donnacha not too shabby either.
Williams is doing well too.
Bowe has place nailed down for the 3 tests now.Quote:
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
O'Callaghan had a surprisingly good game. If they are looking for a dedicated front jumper in the lineout its not impossible that he could in the match day squad.
Not sure if Williams will get in ahead of Wallace as the Munster man is more mobile.
Jones did not impress but think he will still start next week. ROG while not great yet should still be on the bench.
Its not obvious what tactics the Lions will use in the Tests but them team will surely reflect that...
I now think that both Wallace and Williams will play with Heaslip at 8. Croft will be on the bench as back-up flanker.
Out of interest is there anybody watching the Churchill Cup?
Ireland A have reached the final on Sunday vs England Saxons. Some great players on show and some players who have ruined their international prospects....like Niall O'Connor with Ulster who was given two games at fly-half and embarrassed himself in both with a terrible return on his kicking stats.
Elsewhere Devin Toner, Niall Ronan, Fergus McFadden, Felix Jones, Johne Murphy, Frank Murphy, Tony Buckley and numerous others all laid out a great case for inclusion in the full Ireland squad.
Bowe is nailed on, Moyne did relatively well, I'm surprised he hasn't tried Kearney (who had another good game but is sitll behind Nyrne for me) on the wing.
Jones was poor, as was ellis, earls had a decent game but the centres are carved in stone. I stillthink Jones will get the nod because he was Phiilips & Robers either side of him, but if they want to play a kicking game ROG would be the man.
Backrow will be croft, wallace & Heaslip, saw nothing on Saturday to change my view, second row will be POC & Wyn-Jones although O'Callaghan played well, took a lot of line out ball.
Front row is still very open I think, I had written Vickery off but he's obviously valued by the management, I thought Sheridan was a shoe in pre-tour but not so sure now, oddly the front row is one of the boks weak points and we should be looking to exploit it.
Seen some of the games. Frank Murphy much better than Issac Boss. Johne Murphy also must surely have booked himself an international squad place.Quote:
Originally Posted by rambler14
Don't understand why someone like Neil Best is playing. Senior (even former) internationals should not be allowed.
Team for tomorrow
K Earls (Munster & Ireland);
S Williams (Ospreys & Wales),
R Flutey (Wasps & England),
G D'Arcy (Leinster & Ireland),
L Fitzgerald (Leinster & Ireland),
J Hook (Ospreys & Wales),
M Blair (Edinburgh & Scotland);
A Sheridan (Sale Sharks & England),
R Ford (Edinburgh & Scotland),
E Murray (Northampton & Scotland),
S Shaw (Wasps & England),
D O'Callaghan (Munster & Ireland) (capt),
N Hines (Perpignan & Scotland),
J Worsley (Wasps & England),
A Powell (Cardiff Blues & Wales).
Replacements: M Rees (Scarlets & Wales), A Jones (Ospreys & Wales), T Croft (Leicester Tigers & England), D Wallace (Munster & Ireland), H Ellis (Leicester Tigers & England), R O'Gara (Munster & Ireland), U Monye (Harlequins & England).
I think this means ROG will be in the squad for saturday. Monye on the bench probably just means no fit reserves.
Still think there arre places on the test bench to play for if get big performances. O'Callaghan as captain is interesting given plenty of experienced players in that side. Moving Hines to the back row probably puts him behind in the pecking order.
Johne Murphy isn't better than those already there. Best is playing as part of his "community service"Quote:
Originally Posted by pete