Springboks v British & Irish Lions III
-
Springboks receive Duane Vermeulen boost
The Springboks have received a boost with the news that Duane Vermeulen will join their squad ahead of Saturday's third Test against the Lions.
-
We got lucky in I
We got stuffed in II, and let's not forget that SA's best player - PSDT - had no impact on the match
If Gatland approaches III with just needing to tighten up the existing game plan we may well narrow the margin but the result will be the same, and the series will be lost
We have the personnel & ability to play like France - grit and guile - which I think is the answer, but does Warren have the appetite to go away from his bread & butter?
As we saw with his stint at the Chiefs, I'm not optimistic
-
@mikethesnow agree with all this. I desperately want to see the Lions try something different. Not radically different, I don't want to see Finn Russell steering us to a 40 point hiding, just get Biggar to reduce the amount he kicks down to, say, 95%
-
@mikethesnow it's funny how a narrative develops over the course of a tour.
I feel the Lions completely lost their bottle after Sharks II and the SA A game after they conceded four tries from turnovers. The lions were clearly under instruction not try anything in the tests.
-
@sidbarret said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@mikethesnow it's funny how a narrative develops over the course of a tour.
I feel the Lions completely lost their bottle after Sharks II and the SA A game after they conceded four tries from turnovers. The lions were clearly under instruction not try anything in the tests.
Indeed
Very disappointing
-
@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
We have the personnel & ability to play like France - grit and guile - which I think is the answer, but does Warren have the appetite to go away from his bread & butter?
As I've said, the Lions need to attack and have the players to do it. Price has to start at 9 to ignite the backline.
As we saw with his stint at the Chiefs, I'm not optimistic
But I don't agree with this. The problem at the Chiefs was that they tried to play too much rugby in their own half and were not pragmatic enough. So the exact opposite of where the Lions are at.
-
@bovidae said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
We have the personnel & ability to play like France - grit and guile - which I think is the answer, but does Warren have the appetite to go away from his bread & butter?
As I've said, the Lions need to attack and have the players to do it. Price has to start at 9 to ignite the backline.
Unfortunately that's like saying we can use this blowtorch to ignite this mount of damp sand.
-
3 changes we need to make for a more expansive game:
9 - Price - he's not pulling up trees, but he's Got quicker service than Murray and our best option
14 - Adams - VDM offers nothing except chasing kicks, and that's going to win us the match
8 - Faletau - Conan's been ok, hasn't done much wrong, but he's not going to give you any more. Faletau can actually play a bit, hit the channels, offload, great brain and big match experience
Problem is that there's no creative options in 10*-12-13 (well, that and being smashed up front, but I've no idea what to do about that). But at the least we need to change the game plan and be a bit more thoughtful about when to kick it away.
*well there are at 10, but Smith would be a huge gamble, and Russell would be a huge disaster.
Also Williams in for Hogg is a no brainer. Not because Williams is a more creative player, just because anyone who can catch a ball is by default more creative than a bloke who spills it every time.
LRZ would be fun too, but like Smith probably too much of a risk given his inexperience.
-
@gibbonrib Dunno, I reckon LRZ would be first on my team sheet. You simply aren't going to beat the Boks playing their game. You need to create space to try and give your backs some opportunities. Quick ball, elusive running, unexpected kicks, rinse repeat. Gotta get them going backwards.
Young and inexperienced also means bulletproof.
-
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber named three new additions to the national squad on Monday, with Rosko Specman, Dan du Preez and Johan Grobbelaar called up to join the Boks in Cape Town.
Know Grobbies well, my son played sport with him at KleinGim. He has been great for the Bulls for a long time.
Three players called up to the Bok squad
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber named three new additions to the national squad on Monday, with Rosko Specman, Dan du Preez and Johan Grobbelaar called up to join the Boks in Cape Town.
-
@majorrage said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@gibbonrib Dunno, I reckon LRZ would be first on my team sheet. You simply aren't going to beat the Boks playing their game. You need to create space to try and give your backs some opportunities. Quick ball, elusive running, unexpected kicks, rinse repeat. Gotta get them going backwards.
Young and inexperienced also means bulletproof.
Yeah, I'd love to see him given a chance. But given a chance doesn't just mean selected, it'd also need the right game plan, which probably ain't happening under Warren
-
@gibbonrib said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@majorrage said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@gibbonrib Dunno, I reckon LRZ would be first on my team sheet. You simply aren't going to beat the Boks playing their game. You need to create space to try and give your backs some opportunities. Quick ball, elusive running, unexpected kicks, rinse repeat. Gotta get them going backwards.
Young and inexperienced also means bulletproof.
Yeah, I'd love to see him given a chance. But given a chance doesn't just mean selected, it'd also need the right game plan, which probably ain't happening under Warren
I hate these opinions which become facts which continually get trotted out
LRZ too young and inexperienced
A gambleWhen has he let Wales or the Lions down?
I’ll wait
-
@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@gibbonrib said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@majorrage said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@gibbonrib Dunno, I reckon LRZ would be first on my team sheet. You simply aren't going to beat the Boks playing their game. You need to create space to try and give your backs some opportunities. Quick ball, elusive running, unexpected kicks, rinse repeat. Gotta get them going backwards.
Young and inexperienced also means bulletproof.
Yeah, I'd love to see him given a chance. But given a chance doesn't just mean selected, it'd also need the right game plan, which probably ain't happening under Warren
I hate these opinions which become facts which continually get trotted out
LRZ too young and inexperienced
A gambleWhen has he let Wales or the Lions down?
I’ll wait
Oh I'm not saying he's a liability or anything. He's been awesome everytime I've seen him play, and he's clearly got a great mentality and lots of confidence to go with his talent. But there would be a little more risk than with someone like Adams, who we've seen rise to the occasion more often (30+ caps compared to fewer than 10). And this would be a step up in intensity than any of the previous ones. I'm sure the coaches will be thinking that way.
But if I saw he was named then I'd be excited to see what he can do, rather than nervous he'd get shown up. (Which is more than I can say for the back 3 in the previous tests).
-
I thought LZR looked a bit down on confidence in the earlier outings for the Lions which may have counted against him. The absentee that really surprised me was Adams though. Try scoring aside he looked good and was given enough game time, I thought he must be a shoo-in. Is his head space wrong or something?
Undoubtedly there will be changes but I’m not sure we have the guys to implement the current game plan any better than the incumbents. We have to play with a different mind set and strategy if we’re going to get anywhere. If we do that, then I think we would have to look at alternatives.
An 8, 9, 10 of Simmonds, Price, Smith would bring a whole new dynamic. Fraught with risk mind but it would be a lot more interesting to watch than that turgid slug fest we had on Saturday.
-
@catogrande said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
I thought LZR looked a bit down on confidence in the earlier outings for the Lions which may have counted against him. The absentee that really surprised me was Adams though. Try scoring aside he looked good and was given enough game time, I thought he must be a shoo-in. Is his head space wrong or something?
Undoubtedly there will be changes but I’m not sure we have the guys to implement the current game plan any better than the incumbents. We have to play with a different mind set and strategy if we’re going to get anywhere. If we do that, then I think we would have to look at alternatives.
An 8, 9, 10 of Simmonds, Price, Smith would bring a whole new dynamic. Fraught with risk mind but it would be a lot more interesting to watch than that turgid slug fest we had on Saturday.
Feeling his way in I'd say.
Adams took his eye off the prize and paid the price. Not for the first time.
Agreed.
Different players, different style.
I think we go Gatlandball 1.0 in the 1st half and Gatlandball 2.0 in the 2nd
We have 1.0 players, 1.5 players, and 2.0 players
Get the mix right and Bob's Your Uncle.
-
@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
Adams took his eye off the prize and paid the price. Not for the first time.
What do ya mean by that?
-
@bones said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
Adams took his eye off the prize and paid the price. Not for the first time.
What do ya mean by that?
Unsubstantiated, but missing a match to watch his wife give birth via Zoom can’t have helped his chances.
His wife gave birth to a daughter a couple of hours after the match had ended.
He missed two matches for Wales this season because he broke camp protocol by going to a gender reveal party for his baby.
-
-
@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
He mentioned on Saturday that the engine room needed attention.
