BIL & AB teams for Test #1 (AKA - who's impressing you at the moment?)
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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.
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@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.Agree re Falletau. On form O'Brien would just get the nod from me but it is likely Gatland will go with Warburton and to be fair it would be a close call in any case. 6 Is the one though. Moriarty was looking good, O'Mahoney has improved considerably on his first outing and I feel Stander has gone backwards just s little. However he is being given game time so this makes me think he is still in the mix.
In this company Itoje should be nowhere near the back row.
It's almost as if the bench is easier to call than the run on side. I could easily see a bench of any tow props, Owens or George and then Itoje and Tipuric, no matter who gets the nod to start, though if O'Brien starts Warburton will be there instead of Tipuric but shouldn't be.
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@Catogrande it's hard to go past O'Brien. Hard nosed defender, quick and seems to be in the play a lot.
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I'd definitely go with Itoje as bench lock, who might cover 6. POM is a true loosie and a real nuisance at lineout, so for me he and TF are must starts. If one wants an impact sub then SOB or Stander (much better in H2 when Clan had tired a bit) both appeal. Stander adds 8 cover and SOB 7. The power option is SOB to start and Stander bench. Pace option Warburton with SOB bench. Depends on which style Gats wishes to go with.
