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Corbs is knackered though isnt he like long term might not play again knackered. Kearney hasnt been great and his tackling is weak imo better options available. Visser would be a big risk v aus I think good defence out wide will be really important. Maitland looks good to me him or 1/2p on rightwing North on left. Lawes isnt in tbe england team so will struggle to make the lions. He certainly made a statement yesterday!!
Lee Mead has just retired from Rugby - heart condition. 🙁
Whereas Hartley has calmed down a bit, I always worry that Lawes is going to go too far and give penalties/yellow card away. But his an incredible athlete/enforcer when on top form.
Lee [s]Mead[/s]Mears has just retired from Rugby - heart condition.
So sad. A really top chap; came down to my club and coached a fair bit. Always bought holdalls full of Bath and England training kit for the lads too.
There are worries over his long term fitness, that said the Saints must be pretty confident that it isn't career over. He'll struggle to make it me thinks. Cole to LH and Jones at TH for the Lions? Gethin looks short of form and Healy is over rated for me. I guess Healy is actually in pole position though.
Edit. Very sad for Mears...does he part own the cafe/restaurant things with Stevens?
Cole to LH and Jones at TH
jesus christ!!
Sexton seems mentally tough enough to me, winning a few European cups while Farrell has only just nailed down his England place this weekend.
I was kidding man....I knew you'd like that one 8)
I would say Healy has been in pole position for a tour berth at loosehead (if not likely test starter) but may drop down the pecking order due to his upcoming ban (surely they are going to cite him, surely....)
Healey has his shoes polished, a smar suit, a remorsfull attitude and some nice choccy biscuits to share. He'll get four weeks, reduced to two for saying sorry and sharing the biscuits.
That sounds about right AA, miss the Scotland game and back for France. The Scotland match is on a Sun so God's prop would be at TH for them anyway
anagallis_arvensis - Member
Healey has his shoes polished, a smar suit, a remorsfull attitude and some nice choccy biscuits to share. He'll get four weeks, reduced to two for saying sorry and sharing the biscuits.Posted 7 minutes ago # Report-Post
Sorry,you are getting your hartleys mixed up with your Healeys. 😀
Sorry, typo with the props Tom. No Lawes because he does the same thing as Gray, just not as well imo,and gives away more pens.He also seems to have a hangover after being out for a while injured.I think you need a lock with dog and one who likes wide open spaces and I have been very impressed with Launchbury this season.
anagallis_arvensis - Memberjesus christ!!
Full back or wing?
Full back or wing?
Wing, dodgy hands I've heard
Nailed on as a centre for me
Nailed on as a centre for me
Nah. He'll get pinged for crossing.
Being omnipresent, he's gotta be an openside.
We're all gonna burn
Healy cited, hopefully thats the last we will see of him in the 6N
What an idiot. That monumentally stupid move *could* (I dunno, do I?) have wrecked his lions chances.
No it won't he is still the best LH available. Hopefully he will get the same board that saw fit to give Adam Thomson a one week ban for stamping on Strokosh's head
Hardly a stamp of the same magnitude though was it.
Healey is he best 1 available to the Lions and I expect will be picked even if he misses the rest of the six nations. Marler and Grant would be next and Gethin did quite well against France so he might improve.
Healey is he best 1 available to the Lions and I expect will be picked even if he misses the rest of the six nations. Marler and Grant would be next and Gethin did quite well against France so he might improve.
He is. But. If Marler, Grant or Gethin have excellent games then they may well be able to edge Healy out of the test spot, and there would not be much he could do about it. He'd be in a better position if he were able to play, and Gats will certainly NOT be impressed with the Healy stamp of disapproval.
Of all the times to have a moment, the last few games before a lions tour is not really the smartest time to do it.
I wonder how much Coles ankle played out in the scrums. Healey did a number on Cole but got no change out of Adam the week before. Having one start and one to come on later will be great for the lions. Just watching the game again now. Ashtons defence is awful worse thann Cuthbert
Duckman has it pretty close IMO
Think Farrell will edge out Sexton
Back row is tough as there are a lot of good choices. Heaslip played him self out of contention for now at least. A few big games from him will be required to be back in the mix
Won't gatland be more loyal to Welsh players though? I can see faletau getting in at 8 and i wouldn't be surprised to see some other surprise Welsh inclusions. When ever the coach is a national coach they tend to go with what they know. Look at woodward in 2005
2005 was the lowest point of the Lions, Woodward and his idiotic selections nearly broke the Lions tradition.
Won't gatland be more loyal to Welsh players though?
I've seen suggestions that the opposite may be the case - if he feels the need to show that he's not being overly favourable to them.
The Leinster loose-head could be ruled out of the rest of Ireland's Six Nations campaign if found guilty of "stamping or trampling on an opponent".
IF? [u][i][b]IF?[/u][/i][/b]
The evidence, m'lud;
[img] 
[/img]
FFS
Well gatland is the coach and he can do whatever he damn pleases 😀
I shall be supporting (alas, from home) whoever he selects.
Hardly a stamp of the same magnitude though was it.
True a stamp to the head is much worse.
Faletau would hardly be an outragous pick for the squad.
If you look at what he's picked for Wales size and fitness are his big things. Cant see him going for Fatties like Morgan or Waldron or little backs like Gilroy or Earls.
Earls shouldn't be even mentioned in terms of Ireland let alone the Lions, I think he is one of the most overrated players in Ireland. He can't defend at all yet insists that he is a centre
Picking up on what AA says, Cole is still a relative novice and has an iffy game every handful of matches, so I'd start with adam jones.
Cole is excellent at the breakdown though so maybe start with him. Dont know. If both stay fit its a hell of a choice.
Ok if not Earls how about Zebo?
Ok if not Earls how about Zebo?
IMHO, Y Gat will only choose one little flyer on the wing. As Shane's retired, it's between Zebo and Walker.
Sadly for Zebo, his injury might rule him out.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21417568 ]No surprise Healy Cited[/url]
I fancy Eli Walker or Christian Wade as the surprise pick.
I'll be very suprised if any of them go tbh. Gatland loves a big lump.
You get the occasional uncapped player selected as well.
Any suggestions?
erm cole a bit shy drifting over for the tackle, last week for scotland try then this week he waved obrian through anyone else notice? and although a goodish scrumager he'd be a lot better if he would try and win the hit. Jones for me as well.
Who was the last uncapped player? Only one i can think of was Robinson maybe.
Best I can find is andrew sheridan who only had 1 cap at the 2005 tour. I thought there were some in 2009. There were relatively inexperienced players but not uncapped
Greenwood?
Looking back through some Lions squads, can you believe that Simon Shaw is still playing in the second row for Toulon-he was on the 97 tour ffs!
Bentley? How about Simon Taylor,who would have been a test Lion if he had been born with ligaments (Quote from Dilly dally)
From wiki:
After being overlooked by England coach Jack Rowell, he was selected for the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa still uncapped, and ahead of then England captain Phil de Glanville, in the summer of 1997. During the tour, he swallowed his tongue on the pitch after a collision and stopped breathing for several minutes, and did not play in any of the tests
Any later than greenwood then?
Don't think greenwood played a test in 97 and was lucky to get one in 2005. What about John Bentley in 97?
Edit: too slow
Tom B - Shaw is a bit of a freak, but lets face it if you can still play well enough to get in the toulon pack with those legends, then most would sell their grannies for the chance
Played or not, he was selected which is what was asked.
On a side note away from lions speculation...
It really pees me off that a player can be clearly knocked unconscious yet allowed to continue. The consequences of a second knock could be massive
Anyone going, then?
I agree DanW and I think Warburtons loss of form is due to one too many bangs to the head. The sight of him knocked out then getting up and being sick then playing on against aus this summer was appalling. Refs and doctors need to do more imo.
Apparently the Lions team wiill be the england team with Back and DillyDally on the bench.
all those Moriarty's are thugs
I had a random thought- The midweek games are generally speaking the Lions trouncing a club side while the club side take lumps out of the Lions trying to reduce the number of players available for the tests.
So in response to that how about a specific mid week side to counter the skullduggery 🙂
Healey, Hartley, Julian White
What second and backrows like a scrap? Can Jamie Cudmore claim Welsh residency after his stint there in the early 2000's 🙂 I think a welcome return for Powell is in order!
Martin Roberts at scrum half would wind anyone up
ROG at 10 just to see him try and catch a high ball after a few bumps on the head. Being a doormat would tire the opposition too.
Back 3- Stoddard, Ashton and Liam Williams. The 2 Welsh are always being niggly and Ashton can get the proof he needs that he isn't a tough guy 🙂
Centres- Manu for sure as he could use Ashton as a punch bag in training to get ready for match day 🙂 Probabaly Manu by himself is enough.
It is a genius plan, I hope Gatland is reading 🙂
Could be an opportunity to blood that young welsh traveller lad in the front row. I understand he likes the odd "robust debate". 😀
Grewcock?
Maybe Trevor 'Jackie Chan' Brennan could make a return
[img] 
[/img]
Grewcock is a liability. Not just with getting carded but to his own players.
Ausitn Healey remarked that he wasn't a dirty player (!?!?!?!?!?) he's just a bit clumsy!?!?!?!? He regailed a story about him treading on Kyran Braken's head once during a match. They were on the same side. This was in his defence after he stepped over a ruck on the try line and kicked Dwayne Peel in the head.
Samson Lee Wrecker? No idea of his background but he has been getting under the skin skin of his opponents rather a lot this season 🙂
Grewcock is perfect for the mid week Lions side!
In fairness bigblackshed there are a lot of rugby players who aren't too bright! An ex-Wales and Cardiff prop (amateur days) once told me of a team mate who would make a habit of punching himself in the face in rucks hard enough to draw blood and try and get opponents sent off!
Which reminds me... where is Mungo nowadays 🙂
I didn't realise that Julian White retired...he's a farmer now!
Neil Best would be a good pick in the back row for the midweek side. He's bat shit mental!!
Which reminds me... where is Mungo nowadays
Now, if we want to talk about stupid; this this the yardstick!
I watched the sale v exeter game and the commentators mentioned that although fit, mongo couldn't get a start. They didn't actually call him mongo.
Samson Lee Wrecker?
That's the one!
Mark Regan?
POC?
Johnson?
BlindMelon is there a video of that incident?
Lawes. Hamilton. Delon Armitage. Who at 10 Quade Cooper is the only complete knobber that springs to mind at 10 and he's the likely opposition!
Healy
Hartley
Lee
POC
Lawes
Powell
Clarke
O malley
That would be a suitably abrasive pack wouldn't it?
Spike plus Gav would be a pretty annoying half back pairing.
BlindMelon is there a video of that incident?
No video that I can find but a bit more info here, I believe the Ulster fan was less than complimentary about Trevor's mother
A couple of bits in there made me laugh;
Brennan, who has 13 caps for Ireland, was banned by rugby authorities three years ago after he repeatedly smashed Ulster fan Patrick Bamford in the face
described his lifetime ban from the sport as “really harsh”.
😀
yeah he was a bit of a nutter tbh
Awesome mid week pack Wrecker
I'm not sure Lawes is cut out for the mid week side. Need some nastier and thicker chaps.
I wouldn't waste Mikey P mid week either. It's a shame we can't call upon any of the tiny, cowardly eye gouging Frech scrum halves to keep the mid week clubs in check.
Delon is perfect at fullback 🙂
Given free reign I would probably send Gav out by himself 🙂
I'm not sure Lawes is cut out for the mid week side. Need some nastier and thicker chaps.
Yeah, I agree actually. He seems to have got a bad rep based on one incident.
I don't see Gav as a "tough guy" either. More of a niggler.
Fair play to Brennan though,the spectator would have been mouthing off to a guy he wouldn't dare abuse in the street. I hope he was given a lifetime ban from all Ulster games as he created the situation that got him a sore face. Was there not a similar fan/player interaction with a large South Sea Islander who had been subbed off in last years Hiney cup?
Cant have Stoddard as he has retired after never recovering fully from breaking his leg against england in the world cup warm up game. And Powell is brainless not abrasive.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21430799
Howley has announced the same team that played france will start v Italy. Not sure why he needs to announce this to the press now or why AW Jones isnt starting. Coombes has done well but Alun-Wyn is a different class.
Thats very strange to announce so soon, whats the thinking there? I'd bring AWJ back as well, he was fantastic against Ulster last week. Totally dominated the breakdown.
And Powell is brainless not abrasive.
Agreed but he [i]is[/i] a hard bastard.
Agreed re AWJ...is he in the squad then? I've not read the link.
4 years back mongo was one of my favourite players...what has gone wrong there? Aside from being a tool that is! He had been playing reasonably well for Sale from what I heard.
Wales have better players available than Powell who also doesnt really fit the Gatlandball model of a number 8 (pretty much another flanker). He is also too prone to brain explosions.
AWJ is in the squad, could also play for the Ospreys this week to get more gametime.
Really sad news about Stoddart, I hadn't realised he'd retired. I would expect a fracture like his to still give pain year on so (and it is amazing he made it through a few games) so the pain isn't a big surprise but retirement is a shock. I would imagine it was more a case of where he is in his career that forced the retirement.