[Closed] summer rugby

This england team are light years ahead of the welsh rabble from this am. But this argie team are still shit.

England world cup team is mainly on display
Wade
12trees
Burns
Wood
Morgan
Launchbury

Looking good

England should buy a sausage machine because Argentina are really being put through the grinder in Salta. We're back under way...

BBC webpage

Brown is still shite though.

I knew it. This is the best we'll see of Wales and the All Blacks before they fade, only for the new England team to rise and win back the Web Ellis Trophy at Twickers of all places. 😛

anagallis_arvensis - Member

This argentina team isnt very good is it!

True, it's not the strongest Argie side but England have played some surprisingly good stuff. Besides, Argentina are always pretty tough at home, no matter who's playing for them.

Wade has looked terrific in creating opportunities for others as well as electric with ball in hand.

Joseph and Strettle just botched a great chance though.....

Wade very very sharp

Brown I thought playing well better at full back than winger......
End of Ashton thank goodness with wade in

Jo Marler is still rubbish and a penalty magnet

Vondally, that's not hard, he was hopeless on the wing.

LOL.......add Eastwood to world cup team

Shame I was hoping someone was going to chin marler!

Players like
Hartley. And marlers will not be in England team as they are not psychologically reliable

AA +1

Lawes is pretty dumb too, he'd be outrageously good if he had a brain.

Well England botched several chances in the 2nd half (Strettle can't catch) but 32-3 was pretty decent nontheless.

Right, I've watched SIX live matches today so a bit of a rest/beer before propping up my eyelids for USA/Ire at 0130 😯

Not overly impressed by ksevic, Joseph or brown. Eastman deserves an opportunity and foden is still England's best FB. Care would have had a field day today. Webber will be very unlucky to lost the shirt to youngs. 36 was very good.

Zebo told to get to Houston airport and get on the plane with a kangaroo on the tail. 😀

Sean Maitland, Alex Cuthbert, Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, George North; Stuart Hogg, Conor Murray; Alex Corbisiero, Richard Hibbard, Dan Cole, Richie Gray, Ian Evans, Sean O'Brien, Justin Tipuric, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Rory Best, Ryan Grant, Matt Stevens, Alun Wyn Jones, Toby Faletau, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny.

Zebo told to get to Houston airport and get on the plane with a kangaroo on the tail.

[img] [/img]

Oops.

**** Zebo the Lions need someone like Hook. Hogg at ten with 1/2p as cover on the bench. Its a nightmare. Apparently sexton has a hamstring twinge. We're DOOMED...

Please let Wade replace Ashton! Strettle was pretty good too. Burns had a pretty good game, not as good in the tackle as Farrel though. 36 looked reasonable, Launchberry was very good as was Morgan.

Brown was abysmal, Marler average, Kvesic pretty crap. Argentina were dire though so hard to read too much into it.

Launchberry was very good [s]as was[/s] and Morgan is a fat useless Turk

Wow tough crowd.....more carries and tackles in the first half than just about anyone else and some great offloads too.......and a try. Other than that, yep useless 😯

He's fat and he's a turk any other evidence is inadmissible.
Here is another useless Turk in action
[img] [/img]

and here Parling evens things up for Healy's stamp on Cole
[img] [/img]

and I reckon Warbs was unlucky here
[img] [/img]

So anyone care to post a test 15 then? Or are you not brave enough

1/2p
Maitland
BOD
Roberts
North
Sexton
Phillips
Heaslip
Warbs.. should be Tips
Lydiate/SOB
Grey
POC
Adam
Hibbard
Vunipola

bench
Cole
Youngs
Corbisero/Grant
AWJ
SOB/Tips
Other Youngs
Farrel
Tuilagi

farrel for sexton if sexton hamstrung
cole i think will start
Cuthbert for maitland but good call

Why would Cole start over Adam? Madness.

Swap AWJ for Grey and Tuilagi for Roberts and that is my prediction for the starting 15.

Totally agree re Warbs/Tips

Grey is a better lineout option imo and I would fear Tuilagi being exposed in defence. Hooker is my biggest worry none of the options are that great and Sexton gets broken we are screwed.

I still think that Rory is the best option-throwing is pretty wayward though. Agreed that Grey is better in the lineouts, but is very fragile and nowhere near as reliable in defence as AWJ. Agreed re Tuilagi too (Christ that's 3 times that I've agreed with you today!) but he offers so much more as a ball carrier. The doctor hasn't carried well all season from what I've seen-certainly not as well as in the past.

Edit: Given that Bowe looks properly broken and Zebo is so inexperienced at this level, what odds 1/2p at wing and Hogg at full back?

1/2p on wing and Hogg/Kearney at full back looks like a good plan. I can see North being used as inside centre alongside BOD with Cuthbert on the other wing.

What concerns me is just who are they going to call up as back up at fly half? Sexton sounds iffy and Farrell just doesn't run Gatland game plan.

Roberts carrying and defence were brilliant v england. Ran over Robshaw several times, Tuilagi on the otherhand seem easier to keep quiet. Roberts is the more conservative pick and bringing Tuilagi on later could work well. Hogg might be a wing option? For all his faults we might well still see Cuhbert.

Hogg's at ten this week isn't he 😯

Indeed with 1/2p or Jiffy Junior as back up!!!!

Well if Hogg goes well at 10 and Gatland solves one of Scotland's problem positions I will thank him. However I don't see how he could really be expected to cover there at test level this tour.

Problem is who do you call up. Biggar, Madigan, Laidlaw, Burns or Hook. Bit of a dearth of experienced and quality fly Half wise right now.

I wasnt very impressed with Burns last night.

Think hogg was expected to cover 10 without actually having to play there on tour except perhaps once, like tuesday, to see if he can. From a scotland point of view I just hope he does not get messed about like paterson did. I personally think he is a FB.

Agree pretty much with a_a's team except maybe manu for roberts unless roberts has a big game on tuesday. Would stick with grey think awj and poc are pretty similar grey offers something a bit different.

When does gatland start looking to the first test and resting players, 1 or 2 games before?

I think Manu as a sub isn't a bad idea. Can you imagine Roberts running at you for 50-60 minutes then Manu coming on? 😯
Weird observations by a_a though, burns and Morgan were very good yesterday. As for Hogg at 10 😯 That's not going to end well.

I was joking about Morgan. Though Burns got schooled on how to control a game by Contepomi second half. All flash and no substance.

Why would Cole start over Adam? Madness.

It's not a bad plan [u]IF [/u]Cole's scrummaging proves to be good enough. He does a lot more of the Gethin style work around the loose. Not so much in attack, but great in defence, tackling rucking and ripping.
Far higher work-rate. And with Gethin injured, it looks like a good move.
For all his worth as The Scrumaging God, even Adam wouldn't claim to be the ideal prop for fast Ozzie pitches. Coming on at 50 or 60 mins knowing he's got to do 1/2 hour tops, flat out, to really solidify the set peice and push them hard for a winning scrum pen might just be right up Adam's street on this tour.
That being said, personally I reckon it's more of an ideal plan for the second and third tests. Let Adam rip their scrum up from the start in the 1st test to establish which way the penalties go.

deadlydarcy - Member
Japan?!?!?!?!?!?!?

USA?!?!?!?!?!?!?

😉

The aussies did a number on Cole in the autumn, Adam will destroy their scrum. Fast aussie pitches!! Like the one on saturday?

Problem is who do you call up. Biggar, Madigan, Laidlaw, Burns or Hook. Bit of a dearth of experienced and quality fly Half wise right now.

Except one of them is Player of the year for the Rabo12 and Amlin Euro cup double Champions.
Golden boot and top point scorer too.
With three Heiny cup winners medals earned already too. Will likely be first choice ten in August with Sexton leaving, but has played more minutes than him anyway due to Internationals. Plays 12 and 15 well enough to be trusted there in the top games (if Sexton is playing at 10) - finals and vs Clermont, and already used to fitting in between Johnny and BOD.
Only reason he's not had a stack of caps is Kidney's infatuation with Ronan. Joe Schmidt trusts him, and he's gonna be the next World Cup winning coach. 🙂 The Lions shouldn't make the same mistake (twice).
Or just call up ROG 😉

I'd say that they did a number on Youngs rather than Cole. If Youngs isn't strong enough to hold on to him, there's not a great deal that Cole is going to do! Adam to start for me though.

Adam probably still hasn't recovered from the Hongkongshanghaibank game. Hope he's fit for the tests.

Looked well recovered yesterday.

Almost as if a sixteen minute run out suits him perfectly.
The makings of a test plan, perhaps?

Cole can hold his own in the scrum. The addition of youngs and marler has stuffed England's scrums up, not cole. He taught Healy a lesson not so long ago.

The aussies did a number on Cole in the autumn

[url= http://www.espn.co.uk/lions-tour-2013/rugby/story/182062.html ]Gatland rues missed chance to consult public.[/url]

anagallis_arvensis - Member
Lawes is pretty dumb too, he'd be outrageously good if he had a brain.

POSTED 21 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

His twin,Samu Manoa got all the brains.

Done by Samoa, at least it was the WHOLE of Samoa, eh A-A? 😀

"In addition, since the implementation of the new scrum engagement calls, Cole has struggled, and adapted less well than others.

"Looking closely at his issues, it's clear to me that he is far too high on the hit. He is also alongside (level with) his hooker and loosehead, when he needs to be slightly in front of both, and needs to be the first man engaging on the hit. Look at how far his backside was in the air, compared to the Force loosehead. Maybe 30 cms?

"I believe his issues are caused by three main failings; the gap between him and his opponent is too small. Cole is a huge prop, and needs that gap to get into a dynamic power position. He's engaging too closely, which means his first movement HAS to be to place his outside leg backwards, thus totally depowering the hit and defusing any forward momentum. An old trick, illegal but effective, is to measure your height by touching the ground with your outside hand. Dan is so high I don't think he could touch it even if he tried!", laughed 'Ronnie'.

Beale dragged out of an aa meeting to be added to squad. Quade told to do one.

Well, ill stand corrected. Ronnie knows his stuff. Although a man to avoid if he's been drinking......

Tuesdays opposition is made up of a mixture of pro and amatuer players so if you did not bring enough 10s on tour it is probably the best opportunity to try players out of position.

Any idea why the likes of Tipuric and J Davies have stopped wearing head gear in OZ, is it another thing that has an official Lions supplier?

[b]aa[/b]
Quade told to do one.

Backs: Berrick Barnes, Kurtley Beale, Nick Cummins, Israel Folau, Digby Ioane, Joe Tomane; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rob Horne, Pat McCabe, Christian Lealiifano, James O'Connor, Will Genia, Nick Phipps.

Forwards: Saia Fainga'a, Stephen Moore; Ben Alexander, Sekope Kepu, Benn Robinson, James Slipper, Scott Sio; Kane Douglas, James Horwill, Rob Simmons; Dave Dennis, Peter Kimlin, Ben McCalman, Hugh McMeniman, Ben Mowen, Liam Gill, Michael Hooper, Wycliff Palu,

This is gonna get messy. Feel sorry for the semi pro guys

It is part of Lions history to play semi-pros. Even though they are going to conceded a shed load of points I bet the electrician playing against BOD will remember it for a long time even if he struggles to lay a finger on him, may even get a jersey out of it. I would have loved the chance to play against the worlds best even though i was a less gifted centre than Nick DeLuca.

EDIT: Think the 2nd half will be even messier once the difference in fitness levels really kick in

Anyone watch it. Anything learnt?

They could do worse than spend the next two weeks playing darts. It's not good enough yet.

Apart from that, no worries mate.

Cuthbert can look very good when the opponent's aren't.
Roberts is the opposite - seems to raise or lower his performance according to the match. Still outclassed his oppo though.
Hogg's ok at 10.

Cuthbert can look good v good opposition too as long as he's not asked to defend!

Interesting game. Hogg wasn't as bad as I'd feared, not bad at all really but no threat to Farrell or sexton. Maitland was ok too. Tips and heaslip should have nailed their shirts on today. Blindside is still wide open. I question the need for SOB if heaslip is playing. Line out was shaky, AWJ didn't impress hugely. Stevens is still shit.
Nailed on (IMHO);
Tips
Heaslip
North
Halfpenny
Sexton
BOD
Vunipola

Still want another look at Adam, croft, youngs (hooker), tuilagi.
Evans was very good today.

Not sure anyone can nail themselves on against such poor opposition.

Maybe, but some didnt really impress.

Line out was shaky, AWJ didn't impress hugely.

He was only on for the last 20-25 minutes wasn't he? By which time the Lions were playing like a bag of nails.

He crammed quite a few mistakes into that time lol. Hey, it's just my impressions and only mentioned as he was my choice for test starter.

Cuthbert can look good v good opposition too as long as he's not asked to defend!

Can the opposition really be classed as any good if they don't ask some questions of his defence?
Does it make sense?

To add a bit about AWJ:
AWJ wasn't sharp, and seemed to settle easily into the poor standards around him, contributing to taking those standards down further. But he does seem a bit like Roberts in saving his better performances for when it matters.
There was a massive contrast in his 20mins on the pitch with POC's the other day where he came on, hit the rucks hard, and raised the game of those around him. Absolute night and day difference.
Gray, Evans and Parling are all playing decent too. But our hookers still can't throw. Would like to see Youngs given another go, but Hibbard must be favourite. So at the mo', we have to play 6'10 Gray 'cos Hibbard's throwing is crap.

Hmmm, Hibbard's throwing is not unusually bad for a hooker - Wales and the Ospreys seem to cope with him without having 6'10" locks.

I'm suspicious that the hookers are being blamed for dodgy throwing when they are normally reasonably accurate, but the 2nd rows are being absolved of blame?

In fact, you say that Evans and Gray are playing decently but the line-outs were poor and there was no scrum domination by the Lions yesterday. So why are they playing well? Cleaning out rucks? Running around the field? I'd prefer to see them concentrating on their main tasks until they do them correctly.

I don't think Gatland was impressed with most of the recent performance.

Going back one match, I thought Warbs did ok considering the better opposition and due to injury and Cardiff's lack of games he hasn't played for weeks. He will be Captain come the first test.

12trees to join Lions as "Backline cover", more injury concerns perhaps?

BOD and North have slight knocks.

I'm suspicious that the hookers are being blamed for dodgy throwing when they are normally reasonably accurate, but the 2nd rows are being absolved of blame?

Of the hookers, I'm ignoring Rory Best precisely because I don't think he'll play in the tests. And, TBH, I think that's 'cos of his throwing. He's a good player, but the throwing's not accurate enough (presently). And I reckon that's how Gatland thinks of him, which is why he didn't want to take him originally.
Like I said, I'd like to see Youngs given another go before passing any judgement. At the moment, we're winning lineouts when he's throwing Suggesting his throwing is ok . And the locks are ok.
So sorry if that looks like I'm picking on Hibbard, but at the moment he's throwing like Rory Best on a bad day , and looks likely to be starting the test-matches.
And the other reason the locks are absolved from blame is they're winning opposition ball at line-outs. So can't be that bad.
In fact it looks like they're winning more on the opponents throw than on Hibbards.

Wales and the Ospreys seem to cope with him without having 6'10" locks.

We need to be better than Wales to beat Oz, or at least better than their last 7 attempts. We also need to be better than Rabo12 fifth-placed Ospreys. We've got a 6'10 player in form who should make it easier for Hibbard. Why not use him?
Who would you have as locks and hooker?

"Backline cover"

Apparently because he's versatile and can play in a number of positions. Like the very much on form James Hook, you mean, Mr Gatland? Although, 36 isn't Hook, Y Gat can and will pick him.

He will be Captain come the first test.

we are brining in 12trees as cover for 10 and 12 and James Hook can **** right off cause I hate him

said Gatland yesterday.
Wrecker surely Warburton has had less game time because he was broken. Then asking him to play again 3 days later on top of little game time would be very stupid. Tips being better than a bunch out outback plumbers is not relevant.

Tomorrows selection should show us a lot.

Of course it's relevant! It's a Lions game. It would have been relevant if he had not played well, therefore it's relevant that he did. The queensland reds team was hardly their first XV. Should not have been a problem for the wales and lions capt. If he's not good/fit enough due to lack of game time then he shouldn't have toured.