BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?)
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@Chris-B. said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
@MiketheSnow My general impression is that you're on the money.
Webb got a rattled a couple of times tonight and maybe Laidlaw will push him?
Warburton probably did enough to see off any pressure on his spot.
Left wing is a weakness - I haven't been that impressed with Watson, but I've not seen anyone better. I thought Joseph went well on attack - has he played wing at all?
Not sure. But Watson, Daly and Liam Williams offer more across the back three.
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@hydro11 said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
Naholo, Dagg and Ben Smith should definitely be the back three if all are fit.
Naholo made a big claim for the 11 jumper tonight, but my 23 above hasn't changed for test one. They'll be keen to have as much experience on the park as possible and Naholo is far from proven at test level (bear in my that was a weaker Lions team).
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@MiketheSnow Mark Reason is a terrible troll, but he's sometimes interesting when he might not be simply planting clickbait.
He doesn't agree with us on Warburton...
Sam Warburton reached out and somehow planted the ball over the line. It seemed like a metaphor for his tour. Held together by bandages Warburton is stretching every sinew to captain the test side.
The Welshman is a very fine man, a top leader and, at his best, a marauding flanker.
But at the moment he is a metre off his usual pace and at this level that loss of gas is catastrophic. No one has ever accused Warren Gatland of romanticism, so it will be a huge call if he includes his captain in the Saturday side on the strength of one try.*
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@No-Quarter Naholo has never looked as comfortable on the left wing. He played very well tonight and was strong under the high ball, usually a weakness.
It may mean they revisit their plans and look to include Naholo on the bench, which is a mistake as it takes away midfield cover. Moving BFA into centre should not be an option.
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@pakman said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
If Reiko starts at 11, for Maori chance to make a statement for test. But I suspect 11/12/13/14 will be Lowe/Ngatai/Reiko/NMS. Throw in DMac and not a bad back five!
That is a set up I would love to see the Lions kick the ball to.
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Naholo was really good, haven't seen dagg or savea have a game like that in a while, I'd pick him.
Warburton was pretty good.
I reckon Webb is horrible, if the opposition know that he tends to have a crack himself then he's not going to be that hard to stop, and hungus and halfback just don't really mix. -
@Chris-B. said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
@MiketheSnow Mark Reason is a terrible troll, but he's sometimes interesting when he might not be simply planting clickbait.
He doesn't agree with us on Warburton...
Sam Warburton reached out and somehow planted the ball over the line. It seemed like a metaphor for his tour. Held together by bandages Warburton is stretching every sinew to captain the test side.
The Welshman is a very fine man, a top leader and, at his best, a marauding flanker.
But at the moment he is a metre off his usual pace and at this level that loss of gas is catastrophic. No one has ever accused Warren Gatland of romanticism, so it will be a huge call if he includes his captain in the Saturday side on the strength of one try.*
All over the place with that article.
Many saying the backrow will be Stander, O'Brien, Faletau
We'll see.
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Nigel yaldan , who seems to get good mail ,
Is claiming Naholo to start
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@pakman said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
If Reiko starts at 11, for Maori chance to make a statement for test. But I suspect 11/12/13/14 will be Lowe/Ngatai/Reiko/NMS. Throw in DMac and not a bad back five!
That is close to , as exciting as it gets for running football , lets hope they get some ball
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I know Naholo had a good game, but I still have nightmares about Savea and Naholo in Chicago. We KNOW the Lions will kick with extreme accurary - for that reason alone, it has to be IMO
Dagg + Smith + a player who's fast and has brown skin (Savea or Naholo or Ioane)
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@Crucial said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
@pakman said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
If Reiko starts at 11, for Maori chance to make a statement for test. But I suspect 11/12/13/14 will be Lowe/Ngatai/Reiko/NMS. Throw in DMac and not a bad back five!
That is a set up I would love to see the Lions kick the ball to.
That you would love to see them kick badly to?
Personally I'd love to see them kick well to them as I want to see NMS peppered by precision box kicks, he was shocking in RWC semi. I want to learn more about his skills in this department.
I'll also be fascinated to see DMac dealing with test quality kicking.
I hope the Lions are on their game. If they aren't then we won't learn much.
Well, I hope there's 1 or 2 bad kicks in there as well so we can see them try to carve up.
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@kiwiinmelb said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
Nigel yaldan , who seems to get good mail ,
Is claiming Naholo to start
At Saveas expense I would expect then, and if so, it'd be good if our kicking plan involved kicking it to the opposition 11 so that Naholo has less chance to try and contest it in the air.
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@KiwiMurph said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
@Bovidae run rieko at 11 and he can cover 13....
Not sure Reiko has shown that he can play 13 yet as cover. Needs some seasoning but like Naholo is a game breaker.
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@MiketheSnow said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
Many saying the backrow will be Stander, O'Brien, Faletau
Faletau is a certainty.
O'Brien will be in unless Warburton lets his heart rule his head and says he is Test-ready. (Although O'Brien has not had much game-time, Gatland praised him in post-match comments)6 is the uncertainty:
Stander has not impressed me (an Irish fan) for the last few months - he was not as effective in the 6N or for Munster in the end-season games as he was through 2016. Not sure if he is wrecked by too many heroic performances or has been worked-out by opposition - or a bit of both.
O'Mahoney offers some variety to big lumps - good lineout-stealer, good jackal, expert spoiler of quick ball, very mobile, good hands in open play, very experienced and a definite leader and a real mongrel mindset (offset Zinny's gripes about Faletau). BUT he does not conform to Gatland's preference for big lumps in the back row (e.g. the unfortunate Moriarity). If Gatland really rated a player with the technique-aspects of those characteristics, then Tipuric would have started for Wales far more often.
So I suspect that Gatland will go for Itoje at 6, but may regret the 1-2 penalties that his inexperience/hot-headness will probably concede. -
@Megweya said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
@MiketheSnow said in BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?):
Many saying the backrow will be Stander, O'Brien, Faletau
Faletau is a certainty.
O'Brien will be in unless Warburton lets his heart rule his head and says he is Test-ready. (Although O'Brien has not had much game-time, Gatland praised him in post-match comments)6 is the uncertainty:
Stander has not impressed me (an Irish fan) for the last few months - he was not as effective in the 6N or for Munster in the end-season games as he was through 2016. Not sure if he is wrecked by too many heroic performances or has been worked-out by opposition - or a bit of both.
O'Mahoney offers some variety to big lumps - good lineout-stealer, good jackal, expert spoiler of quick ball, very mobile, good hands in open play, very experienced and a definite leader and a real mongrel mindset (offset Zinny's gripes about Faletau). BUT he does not conform to Gatland's preference for big lumps in the back row (e.g. the unfortunate Moriarity). If Gatland really rated a player with the technique-aspects of those characteristics, then Tipuric would have started for Wales far more often.
So I suspect that Gatland will go for Itoje at 6, but may regret the 1-2 penalties that his inexperience/hot-headness will probably concede.I hope not re Itoje. Although he can move to second row if needed.
