Lions Captain

[MunsterMan]

Of Course we would have. People keep insisting on O'Connell because he is the outstanding choice for captain as far as I am concerned. The ideal Man to lead the Lions into battle against the Boks.

A bit of Anthony Foley has rubbed off on POC too, for example his ballsy decision to go for the corner against England when BOD was getting treatment, which resulted in O'Driscoll scoring a try. Seeing as we are asking completely irrelevant questions which nobody can answer for certain, would BOD have made the same decision?

 

[An Tarbh]

of course he would, the decision had nothing to do with being ballsy and everything to do with the fact that O'Gara couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo.

 

[MunsterMan]

It was a penalty close to the try line, and closer to the goal posts than the sideline if memory serves, easy and ROG scored a much more difficult kick later on. I'm not looking for an answer by the way, it is a completely irrelevant question just like your one about whether or not we would have won the GS if POC was captain.

 

[An Tarbh]

It is relevant because had the situation been reversed I doubt we would have got the best out of O'Driscoll or O'Connell, so McGeechan is better off sticking with the status quo rather than taking a risk with O'Connell.

 

[munross]

*cough <strike>Ryan Jones for captain</strike> *cough

 

[An Tarbh]

let's see if he's even in the team first.

 

[munross]

Why wouldn't he be?

 

[An Tarbh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Intercept King JdV @ Mar 25 2009, 09:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Why wouldn't he be?[/b]

Ferris and Heaslip should be starting in the backrow alongside Williams or Wallace, so no room for Jones unless someone gets injured.

 

[munross]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Mar 25 2009, 10:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Intercept King JdV @ Mar 25 2009, 09:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why wouldn't he be?[/b]

Ferris and Heaslip should be starting in the backrow alongside Williams or Wallace, so no room for Jones unless someone gets injured.
[/b][/quote]

Oh well how about Williams then as captain?

 

[An Tarbh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Intercept King JdV @ Mar 25 2009, 09:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Mar 25 2009, 10:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Intercept King JdV @ Mar 25 2009, 09:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why wouldn't he be?[/b]

Ferris and Heaslip should be starting in the backrow alongside Williams or Wallace, so no room for Jones unless someone gets injured.
[/b][/quote]

Oh well how about Williams then as captain?
[/b][/quote]

again though he's not guaranteed a test place, at the moment that's O'Driscoll, Jenkins, O'Connell & Byrne, neither Byrne nor Jenkins would have much if any captaincy experience so it's a straight choice between O'Driscoll and O'Connell.

 

[Daylightfire]

I reckon it's going to be POC as Geech seems to prefer his Lions captains as big 2ndRow ********!

 

[An Tarbh]

as good as confirmed by Telfer in an interview with the Indo.

 

[Incredible Schalk]

He sure if one ugly f***er :lol:

But yea id go for O'Connell, i always prefer having a forward as captain than a back.

 

[An Tarbh]

yeah but O'Driscoll isn't exactly one to shy away from the battle though.

 

[feicarsinn]

i cant see why youd take it off brian, he does everything. look at him this year:

"hmm Rog cant kick today... i know i'll kick the points" - dg at a much needed time

"forwards just cant seem to get it over the line, despite being in bits ill go in the pack and do it" - twice

then there is his unbelievable workrate and defensive abilites on top of everything else. anyway half the thing about being lions captain is talking to the press and poor paulie just aint that great a communicator

 

[An Tarbh]

that doesn't seem to be a major issue for McGeechan, he's quite happy for someone to sit there and growl at them like Johnson, now Paulie won't growl at them but his monosylablic Limerick tones won't exactly set the press conferences alight.

The one thing that was good with the Irish players was how relaxed they were in front of the press, I still think the fruit comment about Johnson was a lost bet despite taking a while to understand what he really meant.

 

[Count of Devonshire]

I'd plump for BOD.

I reckon he'll want to prove something after being speared out of the 2005 NZ tour.

 

[Fa'atau82]

Well, i voted for POC. But the best thing to do would try out POC in one of the warm-ups. Personally, i think captains are best in the forwards. They are in the thick of things and can control a game better. What you'd need from BOD is leadership.. i.e like he did in the 6N by taking the lead and getting points on the board.

 

[dundeesmiffy]

:|

Practical reasons for POC at captain;

A lot of what happens in games, especially with the Springboks happens at the breakdown. Generally they apply a gameplan that necessitates a big back row, failing that a big wing-forward pairing. Let's say for the sake of argument, that one such flanker should take it upon himself to use certain methods that fall into the proverbial "grey area" with "sir"...I'm not saying that this will be the case, I'm just saying it's happened before and its not unlikely it be a factor. In short, POC is often in the thick of it, he's there from ruck to ruck, in line-outs etc...he's doing the job of captaining the side in the majority of the game. Yes, the onus falls on BOD (and ROG) to control the backline, but that's what 10's and centers are meant to do. BOD is the favorite for many (one of whom could be Geech), and I'm not undermining his ability to lead a team but it seems to me a lot of people think BOD should be the captain because he is a very very good rugby player...but POC will LEAD the Lions better than BOD, he's f***ing mental, he does a lot of ball carrying and throwing other big lads about, he's also a good talker to the refs when he doesn't like something...which will work in the Lions favour having a man that close to the action all the time.

Sympathetic reasoning;

He might not get a chance to be the official captain of Ireland because there are many co-captains in the Irish squad, unofficially and on the field anyway. You've seen how mental he is, you've seen how everyone is around him when he's getting his rage on...they get fired up. He's the kind of guy that leads the Lions to victory..BOD is too, but POC is more of that, just because of how he would lead. He's what the Lions need.

 

[An Tarbh]

he's the kind of guy who leaves it all in the dressing room when he captains his country, do you want him doing the same were he to captain the Lions?