Second Test: Australia vs. British and Irish Lions (29/06/13)

[j'nuh]

Oh, I`m a Fascist now? .......as someone said earlier, that escalated quickly! If the six nations is going to be your only point of reference then the world rankings are bull I suppose, sorry to prick your bubble, but France are better than Wales.

 

[Ospreylian]

Oh, I`m a Fascist now? .......as someone said earlier, that escalated quickly! If the six nations is going to be your only point of reference then the world rankings are bull I suppose, sorry to prick your bubble, but France are better than Wales.

Can I ask you something? Just out of interest, what do you think of rugby? Because I haven't actually heard you talking about the sport since you came about on this thread. And what exactly are you basing France being "better" than Wales on? Probably that you hate them slightly less or something.

 

[SuperEagle]

Guys, can we keep it to rugby. Slanging matches ruin forums.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Nah, South Africans ruin forums.

 

[Ospreylian]

Actually, I think fascists ruin forums....

 

[sifplay]

What are the Irish doing on a rugby forum btw? They haven't done anything of note to be commenting about it

 

[Groundhog]

Right, so you're insulting us for not being fair weather fans. Just take a look at the Heineken cup and say that we haven't done anything of note.

 

[cyRil]

This needs locking. Do we still do that?

 

[Big Ewis]

oh boy, what a MESS ! I'm glad France is out of this one....

 

[Feicarsinn]

This needs locking. Do we still do that?

We? WE?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Boys play nicely now. If you aren't going to debate the game then clear off, this is a match chat thread not a nation slagging thread.

Get us back on topic.

Fair play Australia, came out and deserved the win. Questions will be asked of the Lineout once again with the appalling call to throw to the tail at the end. Parling as lineout general will take blame for it I am sure but in reality the Lions should never have lost it from that position.

If I was going to make changes, Corbs, Roberts and Phillips would all come in. I'd also look at SOB in the backrow with a hopefully fit Warbs.

 

[mstar]

Guys, its obvious now that the game plan has to change a little bit now, we have to pick gain line breakers and slightly more offensive player/attitude. The game is about winning and we are not going to win unless we score a try or to. It seems we cannot rely on penaltys now, as the aussies have a great kicker too, and i don't think we be more then a score/try more then the aussies as they are just so competitive.

As much as i love Lydiate, he offers nothing in attack. Croft has to come back simply as he has the pace of a winger and will offer another lineout option which is the foundation for us. I would bring on Lydiate to start protecting a score late in the match. But we have to go out and win and Croft will have to start. The only thing that worrys me is the team have to give Croft the opportunities to use his pace and create passes for our backs, to run to trys.

Heaslip is worrying me, i just think toby offers a little more go forward, he has to come back in. If warburton is missing either tipuric or o'brian will need to come in as 7. I think Gats will go with o'brian as he offers a little more go forward and is not bad as a fetcher.

Parling is a interesting one, i really don't know gatland will throw in Grey or Evans into the fire, i suspect he will leave parling in as its to late to make too many changes.

Phillips i think will come back in as we need a experienced person to handle the pressure cooker situation we going to be in.

Corbs i HOPE HOPE is fit, his technical scrummaging was so missing and i SUSPECT mako is a marked person now and the aussies will target him a lot now. And i am sure the ref will look at him closely now as well. He is to much of a risk to start. I also think grant is a risk to start so i suspect if corbs is not fit mako will be given at least until half time.

Honestly, i think gatland has to change the philosphy a little if we are going to win we will have to score trys. That means the backrow has to offer something more attacking.

Jon Davies is worying me too, roberts/tuilangi need to come in as we need a gain line breaker in the middle as it sets up our backs. Manu attracts defenders and although he goes "missing" in games his one touch can trigger off a try/opportunity so he might be worth taking a risk. Again, i think unless manu or roberts show great form in training he will go with the same combo of BOD and JD

 

[j'nuh]

As much as i love Lydiate, he offers nothing in attack. Croft has to come back simply as he has the pace of a winger and will offer another lineout option which is the foundation for us. I would bring on Lydiate to start protecting a score late in the match. But we have to go out and win and Croft will have to start. The only thing that worrys me is the team have to give Croft the opportunities to use his pace and create passes for our backs, to run to trys.

Why just Lydiate or Croft? Warburton at 6, Tipuric at 7, or SO'B in at 6 are some more alternatives. My picks are SOB, Warburton/Tipuric (swaying towards Tipuric, even after Warburton playing so well) and Faletau in order to add some go-forward. But I agree that Lydiate wouldn't be my pick for now. He's a fantastic player, but the balance of the pack needs to be redressed - the pack is fine defensively, but needs to add some carriers. (If they were on the tour, I'd suggest to just add Morgan/Beattie and leave the rest alone. They can carry for a team. And 6. Lydiate 7. Tipuric/Warburton 8. Morgan/Beattie would be brilliantly balanced.)

 

[dullonien]

Why just Lydiate or Croft? Warburton at 6, Tipuric at 7, or SO'B in at 6 are some more alternatives. My picks are SOB, Warburton/Tipuric (swaying towards Tipuric, even after Warburton playing so well) and Faletau in order to add some go-forward. But I agree that Lydiate wouldn't be my pick for now. He's a fantastic player, but the balance of the pack needs to be redressed - the pack is fine defensively, but needs to add some carriers. (If they were on the tour, I'd suggest to just add Morgan/Beattie and leave the rest alone. They can carry for a team. And 6. Lydiate 7. Tipuric/Warburton 8. Morgan/Beattie would be brilliantly balanced.)

Same here. Croft doesn't add go forward ball in the tight, where we're struggling most, and imo his pace isn't necessarily needed out wide, because our wingers offer us that. What we need is a couple more carriers, and SOB will add that from 6, whilst still retaining Warburton/Tipuric at 7.

This brings us back to the lineout though. And this is where Evans, the most successful lineout jumper on tour, comes into the reckoning imo. But it's also where Croft is useful as a tail lineout jumper, so things aren't clear cut. Saying that, Wales have had good success with Warburton/Tipuric at the tail. Tipuric being a lightweight player, the lifters get him into the air well.

 

[irelandfan123]

lads Im not buying the O'Driscoll being **** thing made on dodgy handling area and a couple of kicks that went the wrong direction, but with little attacking options presented to him by poor inside ball, he made mistakes in attempts to get the job done and does any have his tackle count he was leading with 6 about halftime and made at least 12 tackles which I remember Stephen Ferris getting praises for that in a Heineken game and he is a flanker. Jon Davis on the other hand was just awful compared. Drico needs a big ball carrier to make holes in defenses for him to exploit which he does better than everyone, no one in this test side has had this impact yet we need Sean or Jamie Roberts starting.
Btw does anyone have drico's real tackle count?

EDIT: Also why is Adam Jones coming off sooo early every match?

 

[dullonien]

lads Im not buying the O'Driscoll being **** thing made on dodgy handling area and a couple of kicks that went the wrong direction, but with little attacking options presented to him by poor inside ball, he made mistakes in attempts to get the job done and does any have his tackle count he was leading with 6 about halftime and made at least 12 tackles which I remember Stephen Ferris getting praises for that in a Heineken game and he is a flanker. Jon Davis on the other hand was just awful compared. Drico needs a big ball carrier to make holes in defenses for him to exploit which he does better than everyone, no one in this test side has had this impact yet we need Sean or Jamie Roberts starting.
Btw does anyone have drico's real tackle count?

EDIT: Also why is Adam Jones coming off sooo early every match?

You can't let BOD off, but slate Davies. Both were as bad as each other, and that was partly down to poor ball. BOD still made two glaring errors at a crucial point in the match which heaped pressure on the Lions. I'd argue Davies was slightly better than BOD, as his errors weren't so calamitous, but that's splitting hairs.

 

[Feicarsinn]

lads Im not buying the O'Driscoll being **** thing made on dodgy handling area and a couple of kicks that went the wrong direction, but with little attacking options presented to him by poor inside ball, he made mistakes in attempts to get the job done and does any have his tackle count he was leading with 6 about halftime and made at least 12 tackles which I remember Stephen Ferris getting praises for that in a Heineken game and he is a flanker. Jon Davis on the other hand was just awful compared. Drico needs a big ball carrier to make holes in defenses for him to exploit which he does better than everyone, no one in this test side has had this impact yet we need Sean or Jamie Roberts starting.
Btw does anyone have drico's real tackle count?

EDIT: Also why is Adam Jones coming off sooo early every match?

Because despite his scrummaging prowess he's at least 2 stone overweight for international rugby.

 

[irelandfan123]

You can't let BOD off, but slate Davies. Both were as bad as each other, and that was partly down to poor ball. BOD still made two glaring errors at a crucial point in the match which heaped pressure on the Lions. I'd argue Davies was slightly better than BOD, as his errors weren't so calamitous, but that's splitting hairs.

I certainly wouldn't say Davis was on the same level as bod he missed the last tackle to let Ashley cooper through and made possibly one of the worst kicks handing over the ball in Aus territory and made little to no impact

 

[dullonien]

I certainly wouldn't say Davis was on the same level as bod he missed the last tackle to let Ashley cooper through and made possibly one of the worst kicks handing over the ball in Aus territory and made little to no impact

Erm, and BOD did exactly the same, two unnecessary and big errors. I'd argue that Davies wasn't wholly at fault for 'missing that tackle', Aus stretched the lions, and a nice line by AAC proved too much for that stretched defence. Seriously, you are overlooking BOD's mistakes, but unwilling to do the same for Davies.

I'm not trying to argue that Davies was anything other than poor. You seem to be trying to do that with BOD.

 

[littlebob]

From the outside looking in.
31 points,26 points from kicks, only 1 try scored.... in 75 min. One team made up of the best players from 4 countries vs the 3rd ranked team in the world.
Both struggled to break each others line. Good defence by both or just no players in either team able to create opportunities ????