MichaelRobartes Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Your team is the one I'd pick, Hodge. Except it's been reported that North is fit so I expect him to come in for Zebo, though I'd leave Cuthbert out. I'd probably start Hibbard too but that's too close to call. Aside from that, I'd have Parling and Cuthbert on the bench in place of Gray and Hogg but it looks a strong side. Of course the captain will start at open side but we all know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westred1 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Australia have named their side - their back line is frightening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Corbisiero in that is a shock. British & Irish Lions starting XV: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland), Jonathan Davies (Wales), George North (Wales), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Mike Phillips (Wales); Alex Corbisiero (England), Tom Youngs (England), Adam Jones (Wales), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), Paul O'Connell (Ireland), Tom Croft (England), Sam Warburton (Wales, capt), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland). Replacements: Richard Hibbard (Wales), Mako Vunipola (England), Dan Cole (England), Geoff Parling (England), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Ben Youngs (England), Owen Farrell (England), Sean Maitland (Scotland). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Not at all happy with that. Cuthbert and Maitland have been poor enough and I thought Youngs played himself off the bench on Tuesday. Worst thing is Lydiate on the bench ahead of SOB though. Just makes absolutely no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westred1 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Corbs in for Mako I can understand. He's a better scrummager than Mako and with Tom Youngs in at hooker, hell get around the park which is one of Mako's strengths so don't necessarily need that attribute. Gatland is a lover of Lydiate which is why he's been picked. Sob is so unlucky. Faletau is also unlucky after having a stormer Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 My main worry is the lack of big ball carriers with Healy and Roberts injured, Vunipola on the bench and SOB and Faletau left out altogether. I don't see Lydiate as an impact sub, unless Fatty Gatty reckons we'll be defending our line for the last ten minutes and needs someone to tackle everything for that period. If Warbunny or Houdini get injured we're stuffed. I understand Corbisiero's inclusion, Vunipola will be a good impact sub and his boring in at the scrum was starting to worry me. The Aussies (and the refs) will have been watching. Again, from a biased point of view, really disappointed for Zebo, Maitland has done nothing to warrant his bench spot other than being the token (pseudo) Scot. Bowe's return will probably consign Zebo and Maitland to dirt tracking for the rest of the tour anyway. Youngs was poor enough on Tuesday but Murray has been pigeon-holed as Phillips Mark II and there hasn't been much between them on tour so that isn't surprising. On another note, pleased that Parling got the nod over Gray, his lineout prowess and ruck-hitting is, for me, more valuable to the team than Gray's eye catching ball carrying and hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Not at all happy with that. Cuthbert and Maitland have been poor enough and I thought Youngs played himself off the bench on Tuesday. Worst thing is Lydiate on the bench ahead of SOB though. Just makes absolutely no sense. Cuthbert's try scoring record in internationals isn't bad ! Up against Ioane who's not the biggest, think he'll see a lot of the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Cuthbert's try scoring record in internationals isn't bad ! Up against Ioane who's not the biggest, think he'll see a lot of the ball. It's not his try scoring but his defence and positioning that worries me. To be fair he was really the only pick given Bowe's injury, but Maitland on the bench is a joke, he's been really poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 It's not his try scoring but his defence and positioning that worries me. To be fair he was really the only pick given Bowe's injury, but Maitland on the bench is a joke, he's been really poor. Plus he's not even British, or Irish ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Not so worried about that, we've all got our imports and 'project players'. I just don't think he's good enough. There's always one though, Monye springs to mind from four years ago, though I was made up for him when he scored the intercept try in the first test after the grief he got in the first. Curiously, I reckon he's a better player now than the one who toured SA, and when was the last time he played for England? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lrrr Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 All my Welsh mates on facebook moaning about why there are so many English players and why Youngs is in ahead of the likes of Hibbard. They were saying it should be 13 Welshman with O'Connell and O'Driscoll...... Sad thing is they're probably being serious! Take out the last game of the 6 nations and England probably would have been the dominant part of the squad followed by Ireland. Hogg should have been on the bench instead of Maitland, and O'Brien should have definitely been on the bench, Murray for Youngs too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 All my Welsh mates on facebook moaning about why there are so many English players and why Youngs is in ahead of the likes of Hibbard. They were saying it should be 13 Welshman with O'Connell and O'Driscoll...... Sad thing is they're probably being serious! Take out the last game of the 6 nations and England probably would have been the dominant part of the squad followed by Ireland. Hogg should have been on the bench instead of Maitland, and O'Brien should have definitely been on the bench, Murray for Youngs too. Sure I'm all for moaning about the amount of English players in Lions squads To be fair we had an absolute dog of a six nations. Fair enough a lot of our guys were injured, but a large part of the Irish contingent - Houdini, Kearney, Bowe, even POC despite his end of season heroics/superhuman properties, are there on reputation rather than form. Not really. I probably would have picked Hibbard instead of Youngs and Murray to bench over other Youngs but those were both very tight calls and you could certainly argue that Hibbard will be more of an impact player off the bench than Youngs would be. I expect pretty much the whole front row to be changed with around 20-25 to go anyway. It's nice to have that luxury, even with the injury to two of best looseheads. I have a slight reservation over Croft and Houdini being in the same team as well. Both 'rangy' and 'athletc' and good lineout options but neither particularly destructive at the breakdown. Warbunny will have to play well and I suppose Mikey is like an extra back row. More than happy with the rest of the pack, front five is strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westred1 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Youngs is in there because of his arrows; I predicted that would be the case with Hibbards bulk coming on to cause problems around the 50-60min mark. I thought Maitland would sparkle against super 15 sides as he's experienced it before but he's been very disappointing and Hogg should've taken his place as can cover wing and full back. It's still a rather welsh dominating side with England picking up a few places on merit and injury. I can't think of any Irishman except BOD POC SOB and Bowe who really deserve to be in the 23; SOB has performed and can play at 6 7 and 8 whereas Lydiate has been poor by his standards. Heaslip hasn't performed to his capabilities. It's a shame that Irish rugby isn't at its best in a big rugby year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Youngs is in there because of his arrows; I predicted that would be the case with Hibbards bulk coming on to cause problems around the 50-60min mark. I thought Maitland would sparkle against super 15 sides as he's experienced it before but he's been very disappointing and Hogg should've taken his place as can cover wing and full back. It's still a rather welsh dominating side with England picking up a few places on merit and injury. I can't think of any Irishman except BOD POC SOB and Bowe who really deserve to be in the 23; SOB has performed and can play at 6 7 and 8 whereas Lydiate has been poor by his standards. Heaslip hasn't performed to his capabilities. It's a shame that Irish rugby isn't at its best in a big rugby year. Agree with what you say Lewis. Apart from the final sentence. Sure Leinster won another European trophy and a Munster team with three survivors from our great 2008 team almost reached the HEC final this season? I'm messing, the national side has been on a downward trajectory for quite some time. Here's hoping that the change of coach and (hopefully) captain (I really don't want Houdini to suffer the humiliation of POC holding his hand in a test match) can reinvigorate us. As for the Irish Lions, can't disagree with what you say, but given more gametime Zebo could have pushed Cuthbert and Maitland and I don't think Murray has been any worse than Youngs. Both can count themselves unlucky. On the flip side, Houdini, SOB and Bowe can count themselves lucky to be touring for reasons mentioned above. For what it's worth, I think the best English Lion (and one of the best as a whole) has been Parling, he's very unlucky that POC exists and that AWJ has found something approaching his best form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lrrr Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Would argue England's best lion as I've thought its been Croft, brilliant in the games he has played, people's surprise in his selection is only because of how strong the back row is on this tour. Those sorts of performances should normally be rewarded with a starting place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I think Croft is a fine player, but I think Parling has really taken it to another level. I'm not surprised that Croft has been picked, but I am a bit surprised that he and Houdini have both been picked in the same team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westred1 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I think it's expected of Croft, hence why I'd say Parling has done very well but Mako Vunipola has to be the best English lion this far. Ireland would be POC, Wales North and Scotland Gray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Vunipola has been very good too, but the way Parling has hit rucks, scrummaged and ran lineouts has been nothing less than a thing of beauty. I think AWJ and Tipuric (barring Tuesday's collective shambles) have been up there with North on the Welsh front as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westred1 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Back to the back row and Maitland, someone reiterated my point on twitter as to why some have been picked. Warburton is Captain and we know he was always going to be selected at 7; Lydiate is just loved by Gatland and I forgot that Maitland has the Waitako connection. No cover for 7 or 8 on the bench if Warbs or Heaslip get injured! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portland Bill Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 It's not his try scoring but his defence and positioning that worries me. To be fair he was really the only pick given Bowe's injury, but Maitland on the bench is a joke, he's been really poor.Maitland has the advantage of playing against all the Aussie players on a regular basis for the Crusaders. He's done well against them over the years, and will have also been able to give the coaches good info on the Aussie back line. Plus...... His cousin ( who may have an axe to grind) may have given him some info, none other than Quade Cooper!! Plus don't forget he's really a kiwi, the same as the coach ( make that both coaches!!). Got to laugh at the Aussies v The Lions with both teams controlled by New Zealanders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lrrr Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Yeah no 7/8 cover is a big worry for me, they covered themselves by saying Hogg was 3rd 10, who do they have in mind for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 A friend of mine mentioned that Lydiate has played 8 for the Dragons on a few occasions. We really are screwed if Warbunny gets injured during the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lrrr Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 A friend of mine mentioned that Lydiate has played 8 for the Dragons on a few occasions. We really are screwed if Warbunny gets injured during the game. I said this about Hogg at 10 too, a lions tour is not the place to be playing people who have played a position a handful of times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 I said this about Hogg at 10 too, a lions tour is not the place to be playing people who have played a position a handful of times Absolutely. To be fair to Hogg I think he did pretty well considering, except against the Brumbies where his back row gave him no protection and 36 and Barritt went missing for the entire game. If Fatty Gatty wanted Hogg as a full back or a wing then fair enough, but to take him as the dirt-tracker stand off is just dumb. Surely you'd take a utility back like Hook, Laidlaw, Flood or Madigan all of whom are very much at home in two or three different positions, including stand off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob k Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 All my Welsh mates on facebook moaning about why there are so many English players and why Youngs is in ahead of the likes of Hibbard. They were saying it should be 13 Welshman with O'Connell and O'Driscoll...... Sad thing is they're probably being serious! Take out the last game of the 6 nations and England probably would have been the dominant part of the squad followed by Ireland. Hogg should have been on the bench instead of Maitland, and O'Brien should have definitely been on the bench, Murray for Youngs too. It's this attitude why I actually want the Lions to lose this series. Imagine how the welsh will be telling us how they won the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lrrr Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Absolutely. To be fair to Hogg I think he did pretty well considering, except against the Brumbies where his back row gave him no protection and 36 and Barritt went missing for the entire game. If Fatty Gatty wanted Hogg as a full back or a wing then fair enough, but to take him as the dirt-tracker stand off is just dumb. Surely you'd take a utility back like Hook, Laidlaw, Flood or Madigan all of whom are very much at home in two or three different positions, including stand off. Yeah I was surprised in the few call ups one wasn't Hook, supposedly had a good season in France and could have covered 3 positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westred1 Posted June 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Excited for today! Up early to watch France v NZ first then it's the big one!! Lions to win by 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 I cannot believe the match is not being covered live by the BBC in any format. Don't know who's responsible for arranging the broadcasting rights but whoever it is should be shot ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRobartes Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Yeah I was surprised in the few call ups one wasn't Hook, supposedly had a good season in France and could have covered 3 positions. It was weird because you need a dirt-tracker to play stand off and protect your first two, and if they can play centre and full back, as Hook and Madigan can, then all the better. He could have taken Flood too, sure he's played 12 for England more than once? The nationality of the players is irrelevant, they're all Lions now. G'wan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whale Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Anyone know of a stream for this match? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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