Highlanders v B&I Lions
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The Lions are also facing much stronger opposition than they have in previous tours, which I don't mind at all.
The whole tour is more fun if all the games are competitive, and tight defeats to Super Rugby sides is much better preparation for the Tests than comfortable wins over club teams.
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@SimonAdd_2 said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
The Lions are also facing much stronger opposition than they have in previous tours, which I don't mind at all.
The whole tour is more fun if all the games are competitive, and tight defeats to Super Rugby sides is much better preparation for the Tests than comfortable wins over club teams.
I wonder if these wins will give more respect to Super Rugby in the NH..
These games remind me a lot of the 1993 tours, when Auckland was basically the All Blacks. -
@Bovidae said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
@KiwiMurph said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
@No-Quarter Kayes comes across as a stereotypical footy meathead.
He sounded like a Canes fanboy.
For a man who is a confessed Blues supporter, that's a huge achievement.
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@mimic said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
I wonder if these wins will give more respect to Super Rugby in the NH..
Northern pundits and scribes don't tend to register these losses unless it's an absolute hiding. Chiefs or the Canes will need to win by 20+ in order to make any headway there.
Ironically they probably take it as a moral victory that the nature of the games have been slow, set-piece centered, low scoring events. By dictating terms in their minds they are exerting dominance.
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@mimic it's unlikely to make much of an impact on media trolls like Stephen Jones, and I don't think many serious NH fans have any lack of respect for Super Rugby - certainly not the New Zealand teams. Most of know only the very best teams in Europe would be competitive against them.
There are of course the usual stereotypes - SH types criticise the skills and attack of the NH teams, NH hacks point to poor tackling and defence in Super Rugby as what makes it so open. So far, I don't think the tour has done much to dispell these: the Lions have struggled to find an attacking edge and finish off their chances, but have been (mostly) able to stifle the SR teams' offence in a way they're not used to.
If you look at what the Lions did to the Crusaders, you'd have to think a team like Saracens would have a good chance of pulling off the same thing.
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Farrell's penalty miss was key.
It was more than just a penalty miss.
Stop reminding me.
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@Salacious-Crumb Fuck that is a cruel video.
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@SimonAdd_2 said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
If you look at what the Lions did to the Crusaders, you'd have to think a team like Saracens would have a good chance of pulling off the same thing.
I don't think you can compare the quality of the Lions team from Saturday to Saracens.
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@Frye In the quality of individual players no, but in terms of style of play they're very similar. More than any other team, even Wales, Saracens seem to be the template for what Gatland is trying to do: suffocating rush defence, decent scrum, very good lineout, lots of up-and-unders particularly from the 9, control territory rather than possession and force the opposition into mistakes.
And what Sarries give up in star power they would probably make up for in familiarity. They'd probably be more clinical finishing their chances than the Lions, and certainly have a lower error count.
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@Salacious-Crumb said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
Farrell's penalty miss was key.
It was more than just a penalty miss.
Stop reminding me.
Poor bastard
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@booboo said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
@Bovidae said in Highlanders v B&I Lions:
I thought the pass to him looked forward anyway.
"Looked"?
OK, was.
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Starting to get the look of a traditional tour , dirt trackers through the week , shadow test side on the weekend ,
Maori game will tell us more ,
One thing is for sure , the Lions will be battle hardened , chance that could be an advantage come the first test
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@Nepia
Drop goals have been going out of fashion in NH.
2 in 2017 in 15 matches
1 in 2016
Not like back in the day in the 80s when Rob Andrew got 9, as did Lescaboura, and Chalmers got 8 for Scotland and Jonathan Davies (no relation) got 8 for Wales.Nor when each of these got 5 in a season: Dominguez (2000) Jenkins (2001) Wilkinson (2003).
As Dylan sang "The times they are a-changin'"
(even if the wider perception of NH rugby might not be!)Still a good option against a resolute defence but a last resort, not an upfront tactic (unless you are De Beer v Eng in RWC '99 QF)
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@kiwiinmelb Yep, aside from the general competiveness throughout the whole of the games, the close end-games so far may well be far better tactical/mental preparation than runaway victories against Aussie lightweight teams in 2013 or anything the coaches say at training or in the shed.
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A few Qs from the match
What has happened to Dan Biggar's macarena?
Has Sam Warburton done enough?
Did Jared Payne really grow up playing rugby in NZ?
Will Jackson Hemopo wear black one day?
How good was Luke Whitelock? Like the air we breathe he was everywhere...
Who kicked the ball more in open play?
How dominant was the Lions scrum? (he he)
Did Iain Henderson actually play? And what about Jack Nowell?
Is Marty Banks still heading to Treviso?
Malakai Fekitoa is a bit wooden on attack, isn't he?
Why does CJ Stander always avoid contact?
Did this game have more than a passing resemblance to Super Rugby?
Should all news stadiums be covered? Or do we like rain & mud sometimes?
It was good to see off-side does actually exist, huh?
Who's looking forward to the Maori game?
Is the tour still on track? -
Awesome game
How good was Luke Whitelock, Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown have transformed his game since he moved down south.
Sam Warburton ..... 5 tackles and 4 runs was it? compare that with Whitelocks 18 tackles and 10 runs.... hardly the workrate of an international 7.
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@taniwharugby The way the Clan played, this doesn't seem so silly now.
