British and Irish Lions v Argentina

[TRF_Olyy]

Feels harsh on Morgan, thought he went alright - would've subbed Curry for Pollock

Tuipolotu was better than Aki

 

[General Melchett]

Think I'll give the person who did those ratings 5/10

Marcus the same as Freeman and Tuipolotu?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Sheehan's darts were poor today, tbf

Leave him behind with Beirne, Pollock and Duhan

Again, haven't watched but I think Sheehan was in the stands.

He's also the best player in the squad.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Again, haven't watched but I think Sheehan was in the stands.

Whichever hooker was on the bench, I can't be expected to remember players names as soon as the final whistle ends
I'm too busy scrubbing my entire body with Dettol to get the stink of paying attention to a side with Duhan in

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Whichever hooker was on the bench, I can't be expected to remember players names as soon as the final whistle ends
I'm too busy scrubbing my entire body with Dettol to get the stink of paying attention to a side with Duhan in

That's fair, I watched the highlights and resemblence to Munster had me feeling the wrong kind of way. Made sense at the end when Felipe Contepomi sent then packing at least.

 

[Scotty]

Lions player ratings v Argentina: Ellis Genge produces tour de force but Van der Merwe struggles

Telegraph Sport looks at who stood out and who must do better after defeat in Dublin

www.telegraph.co.uk

M Smith - 7/10
Freeman - 7/10
Tuipulotu - 7/10
Aki -8/10
van der Merwe - 5/10
F Smith - 6/10
Mitchell - 6/10
Genge - 9/10
Cowan-Dickie - 6/10
Bealham - 8/10
Itoje - 6/10
Beirne - 6/10
Curry - 7/10
Morgan - 6/10
Earl - 6/10
Replacements - 6/10

Putting Smith and Freeman on the same us crazy.

Freeman prob should have been 8 at least and Smith a 6, not a bad showing just nothing special.

Few more I'd argue tbh it's a pretty bad attempt at ratings tbh IMO

 

[Ddanno]

Think I'll give the person who did those ratings 5/10

Marcus the same as Freeman and Tuipolotu?

That's generous

ETA: weird, Charlie Morgan is one of the writers I really respect

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Felicitaciones a Argentina. Uds jugaron estupendamente contra los Leones.

 

[TommiG88]

I actually feel the smith rating is just. He actually had a decent game outside of the bad 10mins in the first half where he was shown up for not being a full back.

I'd add, Freeman had a good game but made a few mistakes, Tui also made a few mistakes where he offloaded to Argentinian players.

 

[Which Tyler]

That was a very entertaining match, with sloppy execution from the Lions - but what a refreshing change after the Gatland years to see the Lions actually trying to play rugby, rather than the lowest risk, lowest reward style enforced on the last 3 tours!

It looks like a scratch team of very talented players, trying to play a high-paced instinctive game, without any instinctive understanding of each other. Mentally defaulting to their ingrained patterns, and passing the ball to where a team-mate should be - only to find that the team-mate is ingrained in a slightly different pattern, and standing 2m away, or running a different line.
It's not just lines-out that need grooving with plenty of practice.

How many times did we turn over possession by making a pass to a team-mate who wasn't there? Often when an Argentinian was, or at least, was closer by just enough?

Run that same match with the unavailable players available, and it's probably a win.
Hell, even if we just played a "real" #8, a real OC and a real FB, and there's a good chance that it would be a win.
Run that same match with an extra week of opposed training for just the backs, and it's probably a win.
Run that same match with an extra week of opposed training for just the forwards, and it's probably a win.
Run that same match, but actually kick for goal, and it's probably a win.

We've got 5 weeks before the first test. We'll be a completely different prospect by then.

 

[Which Tyler]

Well played Argentina, fully deserved win!

Any idea when you'll join the circus properly and host a tour?

WT's proposed calendar

Wk1: WE v Canada
Wk2: MW v MLR Allstars; WE v USA
Wk3: WE v Uruguay
Wk4: MW v Chile; WE v Americas Invitational
Wk5: WE v Argentina
Wk6: MW v Brasil; WE v Argentina
Wk7: WE v Argentina

Whilst it's a lot of travel, there's no major time zone changes.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I was reading about yesterday's game, naturally, and i came across a few things i couldnt reconcile with my recollection of events.
Things along the lines of Garcia getting a 10 and Montoya a 5 for their performances. I do not think Montoya was that bad, not at all. And i most certainly think Garcia's box kicking was nowhere even close to perfect. Actually, it was pretty bad. My memory that off?

 

[higgik]

All in I don't think the lions should be too concerned, within 4 points of a highly ranked and longer established team setup is not a bad thing. It also removes any risk of glossing a stuttering performance.

This was the chance to see a split of the test likelys mixed with the more unknowns/chance to show what they could do.

It's easier for me to look at the backs, fin smith was under a bit of pressure and he maybe rushed a little. Williams was a big improvement from Mitchell (who I didn't really rate) and could challenge JGP if he keeps going.

The centres weren't very balanced, I like Siones skillset he's just a great guy to watch move the ball. I think bundee and sione are toss of a coin for 12 then match them with their international pairing at 13.

VDM looked keen to start but the lack of clear organisation didn't suit him at all. His danger comes once running with pace and it wasn't to be today. Hansen and freeman were ok overall, the shape of the attack wasn't very well toned so no one got to shine. Daly looked good when he came on, good pace too.

Marcus is not the 15 we need, positioning and pace were not correct he's better suited at 10 on some of the midweeks maybe.

Genge was great, Schoeman was handy too. The line out was not good Kelleher threw it and no one was looking!

This will have brought them all down to earth and focused the minds. The job has started now and there are work ons from this game.

Reassuring to see Finn and Jamison having a good chat in the stand

There was a good example early on, where M Smith attacked the line and Sione look for the inside line rather than drifting outside the defender

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Yesterday will prove quite handy whenever someone says that beating the Lions shows a team is better than all four nations involved at least. That was Argentina's first ever win in Dublin.

 

[Ddanno]

I was reading about yesterday's game, naturally, and i came across a few things i couldnt reconcile with my recollection of events.
Things along the lines of Garcia getting a 10 and Montoya a 5 for their performances. I do not think Montoya was that bad, not at all. And i most certainly think Garcia's box kicking was nowhere even close to perfect. Actually, it was pretty bad. My memory that off?

I never take much notice of player rating articles, except to ***** about them. Thought Montoya was a rock (and great as Capt) myself.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I never take much notice of player rating articles, except to ***** about them. Thought Montoya was a rock (and great as Capt) myself.

My thoughts, precisely. He gave away a silly penalty (he kicked the ball from 9 red's hand) but his defense was on point, and so was his line out.

 

[Ddanno]

I actually feel the smith rating is just. He actually had a decent game outside of the bad 10mins in the first half where he was shown up for not being a full back.

I'd add, Freeman had a good game but made a few mistakes, Tui also made a few mistakes where he offloaded to Argentinian players.

I thought Smith attacked the line really well in the second half and was supporting breakdowns when other backs ended up at the bottom of a ruck.

He's likely going to have similar issues as he does/has had with England - obviously, he's not a full back, but also the players around him aren't familiar enough with the way he plays and won't react quickly enough when he spots a gap and goes for it

 

[Which Tyler]

I thought Smith attacked the line really well in the second half and was supporting breakdowns when other backs ended up at the bottom of a ruck.

He's likely going to have similar issues as he does/has had with England - obviously, he's not a full back, but also the players around him aren't familiar enough with the way he plays and won't react quickly enough when he spots a gap and goes for it

If Marcus can learn from Russell, and transform himself from a glass canon into a genuine test-match threat; then he'll have an amazing future in the game.
If...
If not, he'll end up as one of rugby history's many "what could have been"s

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Also with respect to M Smith's defence at fullback, he made some of the wrong choices but each time the team had left him facing a 2 on 1 without support. Any rugby players worth their salt should execute a 2 on 1 so the defender has no chance. He could have drifted off rather than committing but ultimately was already in a situation he, by rights, shouldn't come out on top.

It felt like England when we constantly left Nowell exposed and cleaning up the fact the entire rest of the team didn't drift in defence.

 

[Ddanno]

If Marcus can learn from Russell, and transform himself from a glass canon into a genuine test-match threat; then he'll have an amazing future in the game.
If...
If not, he'll end up as one of rugby history's many "what could have been"s

Good point: this tour is an amazing chance for him to learn from a 'been there, been that' player that's one of the best on the planet