2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA
-
@sparky said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
Two main surprises to me are no Underhill and no Sinkler. Gatland is right to leave out Billy Vunipola and Jonny Sexton. Think his midfield looks a bit one-dimensional.
Is Farrell a 10 or 12 in this?
-
@machpants said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
Maybe Gats and co experience of their personalities had more of an effect than normal because of this. Might have effected the national make up too, very balanced, less complaining about that.
Yeah, the feature that stands out to me. Maybe the test XV is not so predictable either.
-
They're gonna get totally smashed, rainbow charged world champions with almost two years of dry powder will do them in
-
@pakman
Navidi has been declared fit, so it's a surprise that he's not there. He is world class.But in his time with Wales, Gats never seemed to rate him quite as highly as most observers (no idea why). And back row is a very strong area at the moment, so there were always going to be some very good players missing the cut.
I'm not that surprised by Sinkler missing out. Character is such an important element for such an intense tour, and I'm guessing they thought he wasn't the right fit for that reason.
-
@mikethesnow said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@sparky said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
Two main surprises to me are no Underhill and no Sinkler. Gatland is right to leave out Billy Vunipola and Jonny Sexton. Think his midfield looks a bit one-dimensional.
Is Farrell a 10 or 12 in this?
Both. Ability to cover multiple positions must be a huge advantage for selection in a squad like this.
Agree that the squad as a whole looks unimaginative. Think we're in for a pretty physical and unadventurous game plan from the Lions.
-
@gibbonrib said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@mikethesnow said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@sparky said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
Two main surprises to me are no Underhill and no Sinkler. Gatland is right to leave out Billy Vunipola and Jonny Sexton. Think his midfield looks a bit one-dimensional.
Is Farrell a 10 or 12 in this?
Both. Ability to cover multiple positions must be a huge advantage for selection in a squad like this.
Agree that the squad as a whole looks unimaginative. Think we're in for a pretty physical and unadventurous game plan from the Lions.
Thankfully the Boks will bring the excitement, like in their RWC campaign
-
@bones said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
Discuss.
- Seems odd to have missed out 1971
- My memory must be fading but I'm not sure the 2013 and 2017 were unbeaten but I'm happy to go with that bit of history being re-written.
-
@bovidae said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
Hill and Henderson over Ryan surprised me.
Yes to both.
-
@mikethesnow said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@sparky said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
Two main surprises to me are no Underhill and no Sinkler. Gatland is right to leave out Billy Vunipola and Jonny Sexton. Think his midfield looks a bit one-dimensional.
Is Farrell a 10 or 12 in this?
Given that the rest of the midfield has a wish, bash, bosh look to it I'd assume Farrell is going as a 10 and then Gatland will eventually play him at 12 to give the midfield a different point.
-
@gibbonrib said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@pakman
Navidi has been declared fit, so it's a surprise that he's not there. He is world class.But in his time with Wales, Gats never seemed to rate him quite as highly as most observers (no idea why). And back row is a very strong area at the moment, so there were always going to be some very good players missing the cut.
I'm not that surprised by Sinkler missing out. Character is such an important element for such an intense tour, and I'm guessing they thought he wasn't the right fit for that reason.
I read yesterday that Garland had mentioned JN was nursing a shoulder injury. Think he’s on reserve list.
-
@pakman said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@gibbonrib said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@pakman
Navidi has been declared fit, so it's a surprise that he's not there. He is world class.But in his time with Wales, Gats never seemed to rate him quite as highly as most observers (no idea why). And back row is a very strong area at the moment, so there were always going to be some very good players missing the cut.
I'm not that surprised by Sinkler missing out. Character is such an important element for such an intense tour, and I'm guessing they thought he wasn't the right fit for that reason.
I read yesterday that Garland had mentioned JN was nursing a shoulder injury. Think he’s on reserve list.
-
@pakman said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@gibbonrib said in 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to SA:
@pakman
Navidi has been declared fit, so it's a surprise that he's not there. He is world class.But in his time with Wales, Gats never seemed to rate him quite as highly as most observers (no idea why). And back row is a very strong area at the moment, so there were always going to be some very good players missing the cut.
I'm not that surprised by Sinkler missing out. Character is such an important element for such an intense tour, and I'm guessing they thought he wasn't the right fit for that reason.
I read yesterday that Garland had mentioned JN was nursing a shoulder injury. Think he’s on reserve list.
That could make a lot of sense. He's reported fit, but I guess there's a difference between fit enough and 100% fit.
It's almost guaranteed there'll be back row injuries, so bringing in a rested Navidi for the pointy end if the tour is not a bad plan.