All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2
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@akan004 said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
British & Irish Lions (v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Saturday, July 1, 7.35pm NZST, 8.35am BST)
15 Liam Williams – Scarlets, Wales, #833
14 Anthony Watson – Bath Rugby, England, #816
13 Jonathan Davies – Scarlets, Wales, #778
12 Owen Farrell – Saracens, England, #780
11 Elliot Daly – Wasps, England, #822
10 Johnny Sexton – Leinster, Ireland, #791
9 Conor Murray – Munster, Ireland, #7901 Mako Vunipola – Saracens, England, #787
2 Jamie George – Saracens, England, #819
3 Tadhg Furlong – Leinster, Ireland, #818
4 Maro Itoje – Saracens, England, #825
5 Alun Wyn Jones – Ospreys, Wales, #761
6 Sam Warburton (capt) – Cardiff Blues, Wales, #800
7 Sean O’Brien – Leinster, Ireland, #796
8 Taulupe Faletau – Bath Rugby, Wales, #779Replacements:
16 Ken Owens – Scarlets, Wales, #829
17 Jack McGrath – Leinster, Ireland, #827
18 Kyle Sinckler – Harlequins, England, #814
19 Courtney Lawes – Northampton Saints, England, #826
20 CJ Stander – Munster, Ireland, #831
21 Rhys Webb – Ospreys, Wales, #820
22 Ben Te’o – Worcester Warriors, England, #815
23 Jack Nowell – Exeter Chiefs, England, #828Knew North was injured. No great loss on current form to be fair.
Well Gatland has just signed his own P45.
He obviously and correctly wants to give Farrell more time on the ball so he's moved him one out a la Eddie Jones.
What he hasn't grasped is Youngs / Care and Ford are quicker and better distributors than Murray and Sexton.
But all of that is moot.
AWJ and Warburton are world class, but haven't shown that form on this tour. If they don't miraculously find their best on Saturday, then the backs will only be there for tackling practice.
With so many options outside Barrett I can see him eclipsing Carter's 2005 2nd Test performance.
Not looking forward to this.
ABs Lots - Little BIL
😞
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@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@Tim said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@Bones I changed it, ya goof.
Can you do mine too please? 😀✋
Ta
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@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@akan004 said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
British & Irish Lions (v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Saturday, July 1, 7.35pm NZST, 8.35am BST)
15 Liam Williams – Scarlets, Wales, #833
14 Anthony Watson – Bath Rugby, England, #816
13 Jonathan Davies – Scarlets, Wales, #778
12 Owen Farrell – Saracens, England, #780
11 Elliot Daly – Wasps, England, #822
10 Johnny Sexton – Leinster, Ireland, #791
9 Conor Murray – Munster, Ireland, #7901 Mako Vunipola – Saracens, England, #787
2 Jamie George – Saracens, England, #819
3 Tadhg Furlong – Leinster, Ireland, #818
4 Maro Itoje – Saracens, England, #825
5 Alun Wyn Jones – Ospreys, Wales, #761
6 Sam Warburton (capt) – Cardiff Blues, Wales, #800
7 Sean O’Brien – Leinster, Ireland, #796
8 Taulupe Faletau – Bath Rugby, Wales, #779Replacements:
16 Ken Owens – Scarlets, Wales, #829
17 Jack McGrath – Leinster, Ireland, #827
18 Kyle Sinckler – Harlequins, England, #814
19 Courtney Lawes – Northampton Saints, England, #826
20 CJ Stander – Munster, Ireland, #831
21 Rhys Webb – Ospreys, Wales, #820
22 Ben Te’o – Worcester Warriors, England, #815
23 Jack Nowell – Exeter Chiefs, England, #828Knew North was injured. No great loss on current form to be fair.
Well Gatland has just signed his own P45.
He obviously and correctly wants to give Farrell more time on the ball so he's moved him one out a la Eddie Jones.
What he hasn't grasped is Care and Ford are quicker and better distributors than Murray and Sexton.
But all of that is moot.
AWJ and Warburton are world class, but haven't shown that form on this tour. If they don't miraculously find their best on Saturday, then the backs will only be there for tackling practice.
With so many options outside Barrett I can see him eclipsing Carter's 2005 2nd Test performance.
Not looking forward to this.
ABs Lots - Little BIL
😞
I'm unsure whether to "like" this as it agrees with my view or try and "unlike" it as i is all so depressing.
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I don't get it. Sexton plus Farrell has looked horrible. Te'o has been good throughout. The all blacks specifically targeted relatively close to the ruck last weekend and will do so again because that's what you do against a rush defence. So what we have is SBW then fucking Laumape running at Sexton and Farrell. That's a recipe for success for one team only.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
man, gotta love the Media!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/94225768/eden-park-music-upsets-lions
It's getting kind of petty
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Gotta admit I havent watched alot of Farrell at 12, aside form probably distribution what does he offer over Teo, given Sexton will have alot of traffic going his way you'd of thought having a bruiser like Teo on his shoulder would be best, both defensively and offensively..
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This is the first time Gatland has chosen to field Sexton and Farrell in their best positions. Gatland has gone with nearly all the changes I suggested post first test which was decent of him.
Consequently, I think it's a very good side and the Lions will win the game. Lions to win by 13 plus is at 25/1. I've placed 25 on that.
This is the same bet I made on a certain NH team that played against NZ last year in Chicago.
Faith. Believe.
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@Pot-Hale
Brave. Ballsy. Respect. -
@booboo said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
man, gotta love the Media!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/94225768/eden-park-music-upsets-lions
It's getting kind of petty
It's awesome that he can't help himself , I can imagine Steve Tew responding to Gatlands application to the abs top job in a few years.
" Dear Warren, thank you for submitting your cv . I am currently in the smallest room of the house, your cv is in front of me, very soon it will be behind me." -
I actually don't mind the Lions backline. Think it has plenty of skill whilst having good line breakers in Davies, Watson and even Williams. One thing that fell down for the Lions was the lack of distribution in their midfield, so playing the two 1st 5s will help there.
Good to see Nowell on the bench as well. He's been a surprise.
If I was a Lions fan though I'd be concerned about that pack though. AWJ and Warburton are seasoned vets but they will need to pull something out of the bag (which we haven't seen yet) to match it. No Henderson, but three fairly smallish locks. I think we attack their lineout on every throw.
If the two opensides aren't working early on, I'd yank one of them quickly and put on Stander who has been superb so far this tour.
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@Pot-Hale said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
This is the first time Gatland has chosen to field Sexton and Farrell in their best positions. Gatland has gone with nearly all the changes I suggested post first test which was decent of him.
Consequently, I think it's a very good side and the Lions will win the game. Lions to win by 13 plus is at 25/1. I've placed 25 on that.
This is the same bet I made on a certain NH team that played against NZ last year in Chicago.
Faith. Believe.
I'vd spent my £25 on steak and a nice bottle of wine.
Sexton will be poncing around trying to do his wrap around. Barrett will be taking the return pass from SBW straight to the line
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
I actually don't mind the Lions backline. Think it has plenty of skill whilst having good line breakers in Davies, Watson and even Williams. One thing that fell down for the Lions was the lack of distribution in their midfield, so playing the two 1st 5s will help there.
Good to see Nowell on the bench as well. He's been a surprise.
If I was a Lions fan though I'd be concerned about that pack though. AWJ and Warburton are seasoned vets but they will need to pull something out of the bag (which we haven't seen yet) to match it. No Henderson, but three fairly smallish locks. I think we attack their lineout on every throw.
If the two opensides aren't working early on, I'd yank one of them quickly and put on Stander who has been superb so far this tour.
Breaking the gainline through the backs wasn't the problem in the 1st Test. Converting opportunities was.
What we've supposedly gained in attack had been far outweighed in defence.
If Sexton lasts more than 30 mins before breaking then either
a the ABs have been beaten at the breakdown and are starved of possession, orb Barrett and SBW and Naholo off the angle are not doing their job
Can't see either happening.
And don't get me started on Nowell.
He's one of many English players who haven't brought their 6N form on tour
Nowell, Joseph, Farrell, Kruis, Cole, Marler -
@booboo said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
man, gotta love the Media!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/94225768/eden-park-music-upsets-lions
It's getting kind of petty
There's a song in that....
It's getting
It's getting
It's getting
Kinda pettyIt's getting
It's getting
It's getting
Kinda petty -
@booboo said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@booboo said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
man, gotta love the Media!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/94225768/eden-park-music-upsets-lions
It's getting kind of petty
There's a song in that....
It's getting
It's getting
It's getting
Kinda pettyIt's getting
It's getting
It's getting
Kinda pettyWarren Petty and the Dirtrackers
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@SammyC said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:
man, gotta love the Media!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/94225768/eden-park-music-upsets-lions
It was bloody annoying at the ground, stupid song. But complaining about it is ridiculous
The most well received song was Fred Daggs Gumboot song, felt like all 45,000 were belting that one out.
Yeah, when I saw them promoting Tutira Mai, I knew it was going to be a struggle to get a buy in. Lets be honest, it's a Maori song, so good luck getting them to sing it.
The "white" crowd will obviously know the gumboot song a lot better than Tutira Mai, but I think they should stick with it. Kind of like the National Anthem, it's quiet when it's the Maori part, and a lot louder in the English part. But I think it's improving these days, even if only a little.
It's something that will need time to build into our rugby culture, and the song has a good message. I do hope the Tutira Mai campaign continues beyond the Lions tour, even if it is superficial. Unless someone has an idea of a better song (or an english one). -
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Well, I've taken the time to cool of a little and to reconsider my level of foreboding, forcing myself not to comment on the Lions selection until I'd given it some cold hard thought. Sadly my levels of foreboding have only receded a little, but at least I won't be in full rant mode when discussing the squad.
First off the selection looks like it is a knee-jerk reaction to Plan A not working. Knee-jerk reactions are seldom very good ones and especially so if you really do not have a Plan B to back up with and certainly haven't given any thought to implementation of one all tour. (Some would say the whole coaching career).
The biggest sea-change is the two playmaker idea. In itself not a bad idea but the devil is in the detail. Firstly none of the 10s on tour have played particularly well and you can't say that any are on any real form. Secondly all the tour starting teams have gone down the 10 playmaker with a big lump outside - anytime this has not been the case has been because an injury has forced this on the coaches. Additionally Teo defended well in his channel and broke the line as much as anyone. It just smacks of desperate measures and this worries me against a team as good as NZ.
From 13 outwards all is as good as it could be given injuries and form. The backs on the bench are 2/3rds correct but the inclusion of Nowell is an odd one and I think with North injured, that this time I would have gone with Halfpenny instead of Nowell.
The forwards, the forwards. Where it all starts and ends. Front row, starting and bench is fine by me, but both second row and back row again show heaps of confused thinking. Kruis goes from the one nailed on second row to out of the squad altogether on the back of one so-so performance. O'Mahoney goes from test captain to the invisible man on the back of a pretty good performance. AWJ keeps his staring place after a(nother) poor showing and Warburton seemingly has to be fitted in. Don't get me worng Warburton played well when he came on and he does offer something different to O'Mahoney, but where is the balance?
What really shits me is that I have to get up early on Saturday to watch all this unfold. Is 8.30am too early for a beer? Not usually when rugby is on the menu but this time I think I will be hosing it down to numb the pain.
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Problem for Gatland was that his squad doesn't contain any real answers for where the Lions were beaten - the close pitched gainline battle. There aren't mad dog loosies, locks or hookers on tour. No Teagues, no Johnstons, no Woods/Moores. That's what he needed to answer the ABs close quarters, quick recycle ruck game.
Instead he's reacted with what he's got: Warburton and Itoje, with Lawes and Stander on the bench. Not sure it will do the trick. And it probably nullifies the one real advantage the lions had in the 1st test: the lineout.
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