Crusaders vs B&I Lions
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@ACT-Crusader said in Crusaders vs B&I Lions:
Ref wasn't too bad in my view. Only two that baffled me was the scrum where Moody clearly popped that Lions tighthead when the ball was already in. The tighthead basically stood up.
The other was when the Lions loosehead went to ground and Franks bind was fine and Franks got penalised for bringing it down.
The others were in the win some lose some category.
I was mystified, as was Moody it looked, when the Lions tighthead folded and then stood up under pressure.
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Tbh it's a bit difficult to gauge how good the Lions are because the Saders were so shit and the ref helped out the scrum in the first half. Their defence was obviously excellent, but the Saders backs were shocking. Mongo was dire, Havili is not a 12 and Bridge's dropped balls must have been pushing double figures. Dagg was actually very good until he copped a knock and then just wandered round. Should have been hooked. Goodhue was ace, but that boy is safe as Fort Knox.
Back to the Lions. As mentioned, great defence, but you never felt they were ever going to score in the red zone. Too many rushed passes and headless chicken stuff. That young fella in 22 looked great, but can't pass properly. Lions forwards looking good as a unit though. Their backs just need to get their shit together.
Overall a rather unsatisfying game, but obviously good for the Lions and for the tour. No doubt the Crusaders will play a million times better than that against the Canes. Cnuts.
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Wow rugby styles of play.
That Lions performance could have easily been the "disciplined" Crusaders pulling off a determined and gallant try-less win against a bumbling, side to side and unforced error prone Lions outfit.
But it was the opposite
You need a bit more flair and tackled offloads to show up these Lions and the clinical 'Saders method played into the Lions hands who played the ref like pros and that tipped the balance of the game.
Well done.
That shot at all the relief and smiles in the Gatland's coaches box should have warmed every true rugby fan the world over
Must have been a strange Ref's Association meeting when deciding the appointments for the Lions, there were so many NH top brass being skyped in for the first time...
"I was thinking we should keep the touring "flavour" by using the best Southern Hemisphere refs with their penchant for a fast moving, spoiling free spectacle..."
"Got any Frenchmen who are only concerned with lording over scrums and mauls?"
"Ah... yeah..."
"they get at least 6 games. Bye"
Ya start looking past Mounga and at Falcon
Goodhue looks the goods eh? Add in ALB who looks really composed and we're tracking alright. Charlie Ngatai
Ahh fuck it, would have liked the Crusaders to win, fitting somehow for what they've done but fair dues to the excitable red team, they earned that win and sport's the better for it.
Stephen Fry regales a chess master advising him that sometimes the best tactic is to do what your opponent least wants - Mad Scotty's team pretty much just offered up a southern version of Northern rugby tonight, needed a bit more kiwi flair perhaps.
ps Well done and congrats Lions Supporting Ferners. You've sat through a fair bit of self righteous kiwi rugby frothing over the last 7 days, (never an easy ride) but the series is well and truly alive now!
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Well done the Crusaders for taking my advice.
The ref made some "interesting" calls but I thought that the Lions deserved their win. BTW, Raynal was also the ref in NZ-Ireland game in Chicago last year.
I enjoyed the game despite the lack of tries and the numerous mistakes because it was intense. I always thought that the Crusaders might sneak it at the end with a late try but the LIons' defence was excellent and they forced the Crusaders into errors.
BBBR should be OK for the Samoan test as he could have played last night.
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Well, that was a bit disappointing. Well done Lions - comfortable winners, really.
Slippery conditions made it a bit of a slugfest, which probably suited them more than us - but certainly didn't lend itself to scintillating backplay. I think the score very much reflects those conditions.
First lesson - for the first time this season our short loose-forward trio got exposed at the lineout - where we only had two genuine jumpers. Against an international lineout with a couple of taller loose forwards, that got found out. They marked Romano and Sammy tightly and what's usually an important strength was beaten. Read or Douglas might have made quite a difference there.
The advantage we had in the scrums in the first half was completely nullified by the ref. - some potentially justified, but you certainly couldn't say there was any leniency - plus the obvious one that seemed completely wrong.
Lions defence was great. Completely smothered our efforts and there was far too much shoveling the ball along the line. Needed Drummie out there earlier and then Mo'unga needed to take it to the line more. But overall, Lions domination of territory and possession didn't let us play enough. The few opportunities we had to score got messed up - by the forwards, by Bridge, and by Mo'unga not being able to outrun their flanker - what the hell was that? Richie's pretty quick, so that guy must be lightning!
For us - Goodhue, Sam Whitelock, Dagg in the first half, but not the second and Todd were probably the best. Scrum was good when it wasn't getting pinged. Defense was pretty good.
Unbeaten season gone! Not good enough!
Sam Whitelock's post-match talk wasn't his best - he might get to read a bit about that. Someone's bound to be offended.
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Just got back from the game. Haven't seen much of the Crusaders but they saved their worst for tonight I take it. George Bridge couldn't catch a cold out there. Don't know why Whitelock kept turning down shots at goal and going for the line as if they were playing the Cheetahs or Blues or something like that and as people have said, Mounga's kicking was very aimless for most of the night. Not a good night for the Crusaders backs but credit to the Lions they played well and their fans were good value throughout the night.
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The most amazing thing about both backlines bumbling it on attack is that this is the first game in about 3 years I have seen where the ref has got both lines onside for the majority of the game.
In heaven, the game is refereed by someone with a dodgy grasp of English as a second language and therefore the players have to stop cheating on their own initiative as God is all-seeing - instead of cheating, just a bit, but every single time ..... until they are told to stop.
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Good result for the tour, so glad the BILs fronted up and won. All in all a much better performance.
AWJ confounded his critics (me) with a good 80 minute performance, Farrell ran the show well. Still not sure about the centre combo and I guess much will depend upon Davies HIA results. You have to feel sorry for Stuart Hogg, just as he's getting himself into the game he gets crocked, will he have the chance to press for test selection now? Time is short so maybe not, which would be a shame. Williams is obviously being groomed for the other wing spot (North to start on the other flank), though I thought Watson looked sharper and quicker than Williams, though he could be an option at FB. SOB looked good and as @MiketheSnow said earlier O'Mahoney put down a marker today and totally wiped out his last performance. Selection in the back row will be interesting.
