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1st TEST: South Africa v Lions

SA ****. and will improve

Lions worse.



SA can and will improve.



lions tight five need to up their game in a manner that is unlikely to happen. Stil see the backs having the measure of the boks.








IF they come up with something more.


3-0 to the Boks. but for this to happen i'd like to see them play better. Today's display wasn't of the quality deserving of a whitewash (a la '05)
 
Time for Vickery to retire I think! Undermined the entire performance, the Lions we're never going to win the line-out battle but should have owned the scrum. With Stephens & Sheridan we mullered the Springboks in the WC at scrummage time, I know Stephens is off the selection list but... still, Lions had Jenkins.

It's a sad state of English rugby when an all Welsh front row can cope with the Bok's and a front row with two Englishmen get hammered. O'Connell despite being captain is showing no form. AW Jones & O'Callaghan should play the next test sadly the Lions chose O'Connell as captain. And are stuck with the guy.

Roberts & BOD were very good in midfield, looked potent if the forwards could provide the ball for them more often they'd do damage. Still think they should have taken Cipriani for te X factor, Jones is predictable but solid, good for 55 minutes. I can't stand Ronan O'Gara! Chokes, can't tackle... Surely for the last 35 minutes Flutey & Cipriana are worth bringing out the bag along with Care or Ellis or Peel... Phillips like Jones is a percentage guy, percentage guys are only worth having on the pitch for 55 minutes.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (steynboi @ Jun 21 2009, 06:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shtove @ Jun 20 2009, 07:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Steve-o @ Jun 21 2009, 04:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
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Boks were fantastic 1st half and PdV tried his best to mess it up with all those subs in the 2nd half. What was the man thinking? A lot of those players didn't need to come off.
I thought Brussow was great today, took his try well. Impressive rolling mauls from the Boks.[/b]
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No they weren't. Subs is an excuse. The game changed when Vickery went off at 45. And what about the panic stations when those guys were brought back on in the last 10? Never seen that before.

Brussow was good. I was expecting him to give away points, but he took the try really well and should have stayed on.
[/b][/quote]


Does anyone know a place where i can get a gif of plessis threatening o' driscoll :bravo: :rolleyes:
[/b][/quote]

that wasnt bod, it was bowe. the commentator got it wrong.
 
I watched the first replay I could because I couldn't be assed getting up for the match. From a neutral's perspective I thought it was a great last 15 or so minutes.

BOD was the best player on the pitch by far imo, and I think he should be captaining the side. POC's a good player, but as soon as he got frustrated you could see it reflected in the rest of the team, and I don't think that's what you want from your captain.

The Roberts/O'Driscoll centre pairing is basically amazing, and I think all the Lions' good work came from them. I like the look of the Lions' back line in general, and they look really good when they have the ball in hand.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Lions level it next weekend.
 
A bit of arrogance creeped in in the end from South Africa taking all their best players off. Then again, the Lions were pretty decent. They showed a bit of heart to come back and play like they did. I think this has given South Africa a bit of scare. They will be more alert next time. The Lions better have some more because South Africa sure will.
 
Time for me to give my take...

So, basically what itboiled down to was that on the day, the team with the most points won, rather than the team that played the better rugby. A bit like the first Tri-Nations game in 2004. We scored 3 tries against New Zealand to their one, yet we lost due to penalties...

When i say 'better rugby' i mean it. We didn't play anything apart from kick-chase-kick-chase-kick-mall-penalty. NOT ONE backline move the ENTIRE GAME! What the hell is the poin of having wingers if all they do is defend? Might as well have had a team of 6,7 and 8's along with a kicker. It was boring rugby, and uninspired play from the Boks.

Then, for some reason, DeVilliers had a brain implosion and subbed both our props, who were clearly dominatng in the scrums. To add insult to injury, he decides to replace our best ball stealer and scrum half. Ricky Januarie proved to the world why he is in that team... Now, making substitutions is SUPPOSED to add more, and give some fresh legs a run. In a game as important as this, WHY THE F*CKdoes he bring on our entire bench 20 minutes from time? His explanation was that he wanted to 'add' some flair. If that was the case, he wouldn't have left Kankowski out of the 22...

On the next issue, all of you idiots blasting our players/combinations. If Spies doesn't score a 60m sprint try, then he is automatically labelled as ****. He made numerous try saving tackles, was solid in defence, and was menacing at the breakdowns. I just think some of you speak before you think. As for the centre combination issue, Roberts and BOD are quality, and proved it again yesterday. Does that mean they are automatically leaps and bounds ahead of someone like Jean de Villiers because they played better on the day? BULLSHIT. Adrian Jacobs needs to go. He is too small, too fat, and too unorganised in defence. Fourie was direly needed.

Next issue... Match fitness. We pretty much choked, and were huffing and puffing after 60 minutes. This game was a wake-up call, and proved that general fitnessand match fitness are too different things. This was exactly the reason why i thought our players should have played in the provincial games. Obviously Helium knows better.

We didn't deserve to win, but did, thanks to a whistle happy referee, and woeful performance in the set play by the Lions. The Springboks know they have a mountain to climb, and a lot of work to do. All the Lions need to do, is switch one or two players... Thanks to 2 try-saving tackles, we were saved, even though we were outscored.

Before any South Africans blast me about saying the Lions were better (we pushed, tactical kicking, bla bla), i just want to say that it was really **** to win the way we did (ie. by not playing the 'complete' game). We just kicked,kicked and kicked some more. At the end of the day though, it's the scoreboard that determines the winner, and we managed to win it there.

Now, for the Lions, they should be kicking themselves. If you out-score a team, manage to play better running rugby and gain more metres, then how do you lose? They couldn't finish, were ill-dissiplined, and only really got going late in the game.

Also, Bismark du Plessis needs to stop his **** now. That ridiculous 'BOD threat' display was embarassing. He is a dirty player, and seriously needs to stop his fighting. It's embarassing for me to say he plays for us when all he does is start fights and throw people all over the place. Then, i think Morne Steyn was great when he came on, and deerves another shot.

Here's hoping the Boks can improve a lot next week...
 
Congrats to the Boks on taking the first test. :bravo:

The Lions made a good fist of it in the second half once the scrum was shored up and the Roberts & O'Driscoll partnership is a joy to behold.

Clearly the Lions failure to win good set piece ball killed us.... Vickery got beasted and Jones has to start next week. The line out was always gonna be a struggle due to the sheer brilliance of the Boks second row but it's vital we retain our own throw.

Enough positives to give me hope for next week.
 
Some people have stupid ideas in life. Graham Rowntree for example. Can all the Vickery lovers/Murray criticisers ("We need more then just a scrummager") on the board have a nice big slice of humble pie.

My thoughts for the Lions:

1. Jenkins - The only starting front row who did his job properly. Solid, but lacked the support he needed for most of the game. Also the worlds fastet prop - Unlucky Habana! X-D 7/10
2. Tub'O'Mears - Undid all the decent work he did in the build-up. Looked more like his usual England & Bath form - i.e. Shite. Poor lineout killed us. 3/10
3. Vickery - Well there's a surprise. Not to say "I told you so..." 0/10
4. Wyn Jones - Redundant. Replace with Hynes for the second test. 2/10
5. POC - Quietly got on with his job. Was totally outclassed by Matfield however. 6/10
6. Croft - Good o/a performance. 2 well taken tries. Couple of silly penalties given away. Quinlan fans can forever STFU. 6/10
7. Wallace - Crash. Bang. Do f*** all. Williams next week. 4/10
8. Heaslip - Didn't actually notice him all game. Make of that what you will. ???/10
9. Philips - Very good when not brain farting. Well taken score. Passing was a tad wayward. Still better then Ellis. 5.5/10
10. S Jones - 2 missed penalties aside, a good performance. Should continue with next test.
11. Monye - Did the hard bits brilliantly, then ballsed up the easy bits - Although JDV did well to cover defence for the 1st try. Defence was okay and he wasn't scared to leave the wing in attack. 6/10
12. Roberts - Wow. If the Lions had a MOTM, it'd be him. 8/10
13. BOD - Worked hard, started well but forced it towards the end of the game. 7/10
14. Bowe - Not what he was in the build-up games, but O/A was good. Very unlucky that Byrnes f*** up angle cost him a try. 7/10
15. Byrne - Bit **** really. Won't start the second test.

16. Rees - 100 times better the Mears, certainly saved the lineout. Will start the 2nd test with Ford on the Bench. 7.5/10
17. A Jones - Literally saved the Lions necks with improved scrummaging. Should start the 2nd test. 1,000,000/10 for not being Vickery
18. O'Callaghan - Better then Wyn Jones. Hardly spectacular however. 6/10
19. Williams - Dangerous and brilliant. 8/10
20. Ellis - Best performance he's ever had. Purely because he didn't play.
21. ROG - I cry when I see him in a Lions shirt. Luckily he didn't step onto the pitch.
22. Kearney - Brilliant. Start the second test. 8/10

O/A - The Lions that finished were much better then the Lions that started. The Scrum and Lineout cost us dearly, but no surprises here considering there isn't a decent forwards set-piece coach in the staff. The lions finished strong, but the Boks had taken their foot off the gas by the end. It was a thoroughly enjoyable finish to the game though!

The moment of the match was Jenkins gassing Habana for the tackle!

Promising for a good game next week. Lets hope nobody used the Altitude as an excuse and we get a ding-dong at loftus.

And ladies and gentlemen, presenting from the same school of thought as "Phil Vickery is the first name on the teamsheet"...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Col @ Jun 21 2009, 02:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Still think they should have taken Cipriani for te X factor...[/b]
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facepalm-256.gif
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Jun 21 2009, 11:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
("We need more then just a scrummager")[/b]
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We do. Doesn't mean I think Vickery was the right man. I thought Adam Jones should have started ahead of both of them.
 
Apart from big Phill having an absolute shocker, you can't really ask for much more from the rest of the players bar a few of the forwards. Changes I'd make would be Shittery (lol, see what I did there? Genius I know), Mears, AW Jones and Wallace. Bring in Jones, Rees, Hines and Williams to replace them. Maybe Heaslip can be changed also, he was invisible, mind you he didn't really do anything wrong.

Don't reckon the backline needs changing really, maybe a change at 10 but ROG will be up to f*** all anyway so why change Jones who already has a game under his belt against the Boks? Monye was better than what everyone (bar Teh Mite) here is saying so, he put in great work around the park and created opportunities but just didn't finish, which is better than what Bowe did anyway.

Roberts is my new favourite player. :)

Hope the Lions can pick off from where they left off during the last 20 minutes for the next test.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hall @ Jun 21 2009, 11:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Jun 21 2009, 11:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
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("We need more then just a scrummager")[/b]
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We do. Doesn't mean I think Vickery was the right man. I thought Adam Jones should have started ahead of both of them.
[/b][/quote]

So are you saying that a few, lets say 3, penalties for us wouldn't have helped? And negating the Boks scrum would have reduced the efforts of the Bok forwards in the loose, which I reckon would have helped?

Having said that - wasn't King Vic absolutely brilliant in the loose. That made up for his shortcomings, obviously.
 
Now that there is no more alcohol coursing through my veins let me add some more comments.

The Boks claimed before the game that there would be no rustiness. That was clearly not the case and thankful Smit admitted it after the game.

The Bok management clearly thought that game was in the bag when we were 26-7 up, that also was clearly not the case and thankfully P Divvy admitted it after the game.

So for me lessons learnt with a victory to 'soften the blow' ;) is greatly welcomed. People are saying it was an unconvincing victory, and nobody can blame you for feeling that way, I would also.

But for me, as a Bok supporter, I'm happy that the Boks did enough things right to win and the score board agrees with me. We were dominant in the lineouts and the scrum (for the most part), and we took all our scoring opportunities.
Those are the tried and tested fundementals of Test match rugby and they were proven again. We were dominant enough in the 1st half to cancel out the fight back from the Lions towards the end. The 7 subs towards the end did impact the game significantly. Lions fans may choose to turn a blind eye to it but us Bok fans know that when you take Du Preez off for that useless, fat, out-of-form Januarie things were gonna change for the worse. He is easily the 5th or 6th best scrummie in SA. I'm not blaming him specifically but P Divvy took off all our player that were helping us dominate the 1st half. When Brussow left our dominance at the ruck was surrendered and the Lions were aloud to build through the phases uninterrupted, When BEAST!!! went off our dominant frontrow partnership was compromised, when Botha went off our dominant lock pairing was broken up, when Du Preez and Pienaar went off our dominant kicking game went down the shitter.
Giving up this much in the last 20 clearly had an effect on our game, even the supremely arrogant P Divvy admit this. I seriously thought after the Boks scored that try just after the 2nd half, a 20 point drumming was on the way. P Divvy aloud this come back to happen.

You're gonna have to excuse me for not seeing more positives from the Lions play, when BOD was giving Jacobs a lesson in center play from your perspective, I was see all the more reason why Jacob shouldn't be there. As he shouldn't and anybody who watched the S14 will agree. It's inexcusable Jacque Fourie isn't there. Credit to BOD though, he was the attacking threat we were all expecting him to be. He would be my MotM after BEAST!!! Tom Croft is proving why he should of been in the mix with the Lions from the start, just like Brussow is proving he should be the 1st choice 6 for the Boks.

Hearing this talk of yellow cards that should of been handed out to the Boks is funny to hear. You think somewhere between Croft's shoulder charge on Du Preez, Rees' punch on Smit, and the multiple infringements on our rolling mauls some Lions players were not lucky to get some themselves? A nothing debate there really.

Also the call from the ref to overrule the TMO was dead on. When the ball is still in movement in the in-goal area it is impossible for it to be ruled as held up. The crafty JdV quickly ripped the ball out of Monye's hand before the movement stopped, it is not illegal to rip the ball from the opponent, during which the ball went over the dead ball line. 22m drop out for the defensive team is spot on.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Steve-o @ Jun 21 2009, 11:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Hearing this talk of yellow cards that should of been handed out to the Boks is funny to hear. You think somewhere between Croft's shoulder charge on Du Preez, Rees' punch on Smit, and the multiple infringements on our rolling mauls some Lions players were not lucky to get some themselves? A nothing debate there really.[/b]
Click to expand...

True, but we need an excuse, and it's always an easy one. (Notice how teams never lose, it's always "close" and due to the "bias" from the referee)
 
SA worked hard before that match

All the press conferences and interviews of their players proved they were gearing up for that match with great efforts

So I am not surprised by this win despite not glorious and crashing but still victory over lions
 
 
Maybe PdV will call Vermaak? We can only hope... Lets hope Schalk can do what Brussouw did aswell.
 
O'Connell really has been a twat with his post match comments, should have kept his mouth shut.

Proof again that he isn't up to the task as captain, will be really interesting to see the dvd after the tour and whether he left it all in the dressing room like he did for the France match in 2007. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest cause he was non existent in the first half.
 

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