2013 British &Irish Lions

[Mollers]

Paul Wallace - my Lions starting XV - Telegraph

A green tinge to the "slab of red meat".

[Mollers]

I was not convinced with the squad selection right from the start. The Welsh demolition of England at the end of the 6N was a great result for Wales, but possibly not so good for the Lions. The result gave Gatland license to flood the squad with Welsh players who played a blinder for one game, let's not forget that Wales lost to Ireland and only snuk past Scotland in the 6N.
Pre-selecting Warburton as Skipper may also now be presenting headaches. Many of the Welsh contingent are playing World class rugby and well deserving of their places, some maybe notso.
I'm not convinced by Cuthbert or Tupuric so far and I'm not a great fan of Phillips. Phillips is a big lump who looks good going forward, but he aint the smartest or the deftest when a bit more than bashing forward is required.

I hope that I'll be told to shove this post come full time on Sat.

I do wonder how this squad may've looked if it had been picked the week after England's ramming of the ABs back in Dec.?

[jambo]

I feel I cannot contribute at present as I am still stunned by the selection which in my opinion is flawed for many reasons some mentioned by 'my good friend' Mollers.

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[Downhilldai]

I agree with Mollers (did I just type that?) on Cuthbert and to a degree on Phillips, but not on Tipuric. Phillips has great physical presence and adds the 'extra back row' dimension to the team. Tipuric has had a couple of 'quieter' Lions appearances, but can really turn the wick up, when needed. Unfortunately for him, his style of play is very similar to Warburton's.

Can't wait for Saturday!

[Bittentobuggery]

I saw a Lions fan saying the Wallabies are playing Justin Bieber at fly half

According to windguru, the rain should have passed which makes for a highly entertaining prospect. There is some huge talent on the pitch and I hope the occasion doesn't overcome the spectacle.

Deans is looking to have his contract extended (please, no ) and I would have liked him to really roll the dice by playing Kurtley Beale, the electric eel, at fly half and move O'Connor to full back. If the Wallaby scrum can get them any good ball, with Folau and Ioane on the wings it could be a tear up. (Ioane - how do you have a name with 4 vowels and only one consonant ? Love him as a player though)

I've got some Estonians coming over who want to drink vodka all afternoon - apparently it's some celebration this weekend - so I'm gonna need the record button, or it's all going to disappear into a haze !

[Mollers]

The face on the bloody lion!

[Downhilldai]

Here we go.

[Todd Grimley]

Kick off!! My money's on the Wallabys. Of course I'm a little bias. Enjoy the game?

[Mollers]

The English players (North and Warburton) are going well.

Genia v Phillips.

Halfpenny is just a machine, awesome.

Liking little Tommy Youngs.

Really could go either way.

[Mollers]

A win by injury is a hollow victory. Shame.

[jambo]

That is probably the worst Lions team performance ever!! Very hollow victory.

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[Mollers]

Should've punished the Aussie makeshift backline, but didn't.

[Downhilldai]

Some serious scrummaging issues with the replacements. The Lions' starting props were in a different league.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Some serious scrummaging issues with the replacements. The Lions' starting props were in a different league.

Cole seems to blow very hot and cold. :-/

[tony t]

Originally Posted by jambo

That is probably the worst Lions team performance ever!! Very hollow victory.

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A wins a win who gives a f@@k about the score or the way we played ..... Don't you just love Aussie bashing

[jambo]

Originally Posted by tony t

A wins a win who gives a f@@k about the score or the way we played ..... Don't you just love Aussie bashing

Hear what you are saying Tony. But come we have some serious issues in this team. He Mr G needs to look at his selection next week. Jesus our back line couldn't deal with theirs that had a flanker at centre plus a stand off out of position.

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[Bittentobuggery]

Losing a player of Lealifano's talent in the first minute was a sickening blow. Thankfully, he's okay. Pretty sure, he would have kicked better than Justin Bieber.

Having watched the game again tonight, I think the match would have benefitted from better officiating. The Lions didn't get pinged once for not straight at the lineout. I accept that the ball was thrown to the inside shoulder but because the Lions lineout was formed half a metre back, the ball was uncontestable.

Although the Cuthbert try was referred upstairs for potential interference, I cannot understand how the TMO came to the conclusion that O'Connor was not impeded when he is forced to step backwards by the contact from BOD and he is the potential tackler. He's not quite in the Jonny class but O'Connor's a decent tackle at fly half.

For the final penalty that Halfpenny nails to take the Lions from 20 to 23, the referee signals not rolling away as the infringement but there in no Wallaby on the ground.

Think both teams can take something from the game. The Lions have got the important victory and the tour bonding will go on. For the Wallabies, the scrum wasn't that bad and they were even in the ascendancy at the end. There were opportunities to take the game and it just wasn't their day. Hopefully they will put everything right next week in Melbourne,

Deans gave another cringeworthy interview at the end of the game. There can't be a rugby fan anywhere in Australia who wants his contract to be extended. Kurtley Beale is a confidence player and he has had his issues, but Deans needs to tell him that he's his man and install him at fly half. Barnes should have deselected himself after that performance. He's not strong enough in the tackle, has a poor running game and the we all saw what George North did to his up and under.

Come on Deans, get the team right and we can win in Melbourne.

[tony t]

Originally Posted by Bittentobuggery

Losing a player of Lealifano's talent in the first minute was a sickening blow. Thankfully, he's okay. Pretty sure, he would have kicked better than Justin Bieber.

Having watched the game again tonight, I think the match would have benefitted from better officiating. The Lions didn't get pinged once for not straight at the lineout. I accept that the ball was thrown to the inside shoulder but because the Lions lineout was formed half a metre back, the ball was uncontestable.

Although the Cuthbert try was referred upstairs for potential interference, I cannot understand how the TMO came to the conclusion that O'Connor was not impeded when he is forced to step backwards by the contact from BOD and he is the potential tackler. He's not quite in the Jonny class but O'Connor's a decent tackle at fly half.

For the final penalty that Halfpenny nails to take the Lions from 20 to 23, the referee signals not rolling away as the infringement but there in no Wallaby on the ground.

Think both teams can take something from the game. The Lions have got the important victory and the tour bonding will go on. For the Wallabies, the scrum wasn't that bad and they were even in the ascendancy at the end. There were opportunities to take the game and it just wasn't their day. Hopefully they will put everything right next week in Melbourne,

Deans gave another cringeworthy interview at the end of the game. There can't be a rugby fan anywhere in Australia who wants his contract to be extended. Kurtley Beale is a confidence player and he has had his issues, but Deans needs to tell him that he's his man and install him at fly half. Barnes should have deselected himself after that performance. He's not strong enough in the tackle, has a poor running game and the we all saw what George North did to his up and under.

Come on Deans, get the team right and we can win in Melbourne.

You joking a yea mate get your self a few extra Fosters in to drink your self to sleep IT WONT BE THAT CLOSE NEXT WEEK, and by the way Ashes white wash for you lot

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by tony t

IT WONT BE THAT CLOSE NEXT WEEK,

Yeah, it could be a bigger gap the wrong way.

[tony t]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Yeah, it could be a bigger gap the wrong way.

Come on Mollers we can beat the Aussies 3-0 they aint nothing special