Springboks v British & Irish Lions III
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@catogrande said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
yeah, some puzzlers there. Owens obviously knows where the bodies are buried.
Williams and Adams are overdue selections neither Hogg nor Watson has played particularly well. VDM was probably the least worst of the back three last week and Gatland obviously has qualms about LZR. Biggar was not very effective last week, but he's a better player than that, give him a better strategy to work with and we might see something. A shame Smith is not on the bench. Beard deserves his chance from the bench, but if he's there as second row cover, I'd be tempted to have Beirne instead of Lawes starting. Tough on Lawes but provides a better balance IMO.
If we play the same game plan this week, we will get mullered, that is the real issue more than selection I feel.
Expect Itoje to go to 6 at 55. Curry/Itoje/Simmonds will make for interesting back row.
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So Gatland is telling us there is nothing wrong with his game plan, it just needs to be executed better.
No FAF is a big loss
SA by much the same margin
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Faf and PSDT out injured -
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Damian Willemse -
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@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
So Gatland is telling us there is nothing wrong with his game plan, it just needs to be executed better.
He's been telling us that for 15 years
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@daffy-jaffy said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
Faf and PSDT out injured -
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Damian WillemseHappy with the starting 15 (given the injuries).
Reinach v Jantjies is a bit of tough one.
Glad they went with Mostert at blindside, think he will shine there.
Worried about the back five of the scrum in the last 20, Lood is unlikely to last the 80 and we'll be left with very short and light pack.
Might have rotated Marx and Mbonambi - don't think we have seen the best of Marx in this series and swapping them around may have been a way to get more out of Marx.
Morne fucking Steyn - fair dues to the man, he has been fine for the bulls, but really limits what we will be able to do late in the game. -
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@daffy-jaffy I read in the BBC Gatland was wringing in the changes. Tour in the balance and now he's looking for a little more flair.
Still find it difficult to comprehend Bundee Ali is the best available centre.
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@antipodean said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@daffy-jaffy I read in the BBC Gatland was wringing in the changes. Tour in the balance and now he's looking for a little more flair.
Still find it difficult to comprehend Bundee Ali is the best available centre.
And Daly his back-up
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@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@antipodean said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@daffy-jaffy I read in the BBC Gatland was wringing in the changes. Tour in the balance and now he's looking for a little more flair.
Still find it difficult to comprehend Bundee Ali is the best available centre.
And Daly his back-up
Really don't see the point of Russell
Coming off injury, hardly played.
Smith shown he belongs. Fit and raring to go.
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@mikethesnow said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
So Gatland is telling us there is nothing wrong with his game plan, it just needs to be executed better.
He's gone full Cheka!
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@frye said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
Weird selection. Well at least when the BIL lose the series it will further distance Gatland from any sort of AB role.
Hope that wouldn't mean he stays longer at the Chiefs.
Please retire Wazza. We have found our coach. You know, the one that fixed your mess. -
@sidbarret said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@daffy-jaffy said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
Faf and PSDT out injured -
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Damian WillemseHappy with the starting 15 (given the injuries).
Reinach v Jantjies is a bit of tough one.
Glad they went with Mostert at blindside, think he will shine there.
Worried about the back five of the scrum in the last 20, Lood is unlikely to last the 80 and we'll be left with very short and light pack.
Might have rotated Marx and Mbonambi - don't think we have seen the best of Marx in this series and swapping them around may have been a way to get more out of Marx.
Morne fucking Steyn - fair dues to the man, he has been fine for the bulls, but really limits what we will be able to do late in the game.Mbonambi is awesome imo. No quotas there, the guy deserves his place.
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@mikethesnow Smith isnt ready for this match. Russell would be good to bring on of chasing the game.
honestly, I think that lots of these conversation that have been had about selection and the teams selected, show that this Lions squad is one of the poorest for some time....
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@arhs said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
Morne Steyn. Sam Simmonds and Finn Russell. All very interesting. Sinckler...why?
Sinkler's a reluctant pick because there's nobody else available.
Overall this is a pretty weak Lions squad, weakest I can remember (the 2005 NZ tour was obviously an utter shambles, but it's hard to compare if it's weaker because that was just so weirdly mismanaged).
Back row is the only area with genuine quality and depth. Which makes it all the more strange that we're sticking with the same not-quite-working combination.
Locks are fairly strong, 4 good options. But everywhere else we've got a rag tag selection of players who are off form, just aren't that good or are too young and unproven for Gatt's liking.
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Supporting the Boks-if Gatland does badly again that could set back the coach-poaching ambitions of Poms and over greedy overseas teams a decade or two!
