How did OâGara play on Saturday? Only saw the last 10 minutes when he was very good but obviously there could well have been a 70 minute horror show before that.
ROG was functional on Saturday. Some of his out of hand kicking paled into comparison to Byrneâs but then most peoples will. He strill struggles to protect possession when in the tackle, but put in his tackles (with the help of Worsely notably) and moved the game well. Deserved his try and kicked everything from the ground.
Earls had a bit of a mare opener. He recevered well to play a decent second half hour, but I fear the opening 20 mins will finish his tour. I still think heâd have been better off in America personally.
Lee Byrne was the outstanding player, and while he got a world of luck for his try, he deserved it.
Disappointed not to see DOC in for tomorrow.
What was the story with the shocking crowd at the match on Saturday? Heard tomorrow 60,000 or something are expected but there looked about 2,000 at it on Saturday.
The S14 Final was on at the same time up the road, those who werenât at it, were watching it. Poor scheduling.
Dunno about 60 k for tomorrow, could be possible.
What are the value bets?
I think there could be value in some handicap bets for the Golden Lions.
+14.5 @4/5
and
+18 @4/7
interest me.
Wouldnt like to say one way or the other to be honest. The Lions are a scratch team, whoâs to say how they will perform?
As for the Golden Lions, I donât know much about them as an entity really. Iâd imagine the Lions wonât spank them anyway.
Would be worried that Golden Lions are going to win this one and at 4/1 they are generous odds imo. Been a bit of turmoil in their camp but huge game for them and will be hard for Lions to get combinations going tomorrow as players not used to playing with one another. Hope Iâm wrong but can see an upset.
It wouldnât be an upset in my eyes Larry, but I see where youâre coming from. I watched Saturdays game and I just cant see how a team can gel in the professional era. For this reason I think the Lions will try go with combinations that work as much as they can. Picking a Lions team now I would go with
Byrne
Bowe
Williams
BOD
Flutey
Jones/Hook
Phillips
Powell/Wallace
Williams/Wallace
Ferris
DOC
POC
Jenkins
Rees
Jones
For me its all about the combinations at 15-14-11/8-9-10/5-6/1-2-3
[quote=âmyboyblueâ]It wouldnât be an upset in my eyes Larry, but I see where youâre coming from. I watched Saturdays game and I just cant see how a team can gel in the professional era. For this reason I think the Lions will try go with combinations that work as much as they can. Picking a Lions team now I would go with
Byrne
Bowe
Williams
BOD
Flutey
Jones/Hook
Phillips
Powell/Wallace
Williams/Wallace
Ferris
DOC
POC
Jenkins
Rees
Jones[/QUOTE]
Well Golden Lions are 4/1 so that would indicate it would be an upset. Their coach also resigned last week and was threat of some sort of strike in their camp.
Agree with you about difficulty in professional area. Still have a hope it will click and suppose a lot can be done in a short space of time. British and Irish Lions badly need a big performace tomorrow
McGeechan elected to retain just three of the team that beat the Royal XV. He confirmed it would have been just a single player on duty again if Leinster and Ireland wing Luke Fitzgerald (knee strain and chest infection) and England centre Riki Flutey (knee strain) had been available for selection: neither player is being risked.
Their opponents, the Golden Lions, go into the match having just fired their coach Eugene Eloff. Former Springbok coach Jake Whiteâs company was invited in to review the rugby structures and after a meeting with Eloff it was decided he should be replaced with immediate effect. The decision did not meet with the approval of some senior players who threatened not to play.
This was averted after Eloff asked them not to go down that route. âWhen I heard about the possible strike I rang Cobus Grobbelaar (the Golden Lions captain) and asked him not to go ahead with it,â confirmed Eloff.
Hans Coetzee has assumed the coaching reins and selected a team that contains about two thirds of the regular starting side from the Super 14. He is without injured Springboks secondrow Jannes Labuschagne and prop Heinke van der Merwe.
He is able to call upon former South African international outhalf Andre Pretorius and his fellow Springbok, prop Lawrence Sephaka. The replacements bench includes two forwards bound for English Premiership club Saracens next season, hooker Ethienne Reynecke and flanker Ernst Joubert. A crowd of 60,000 is expected tomorrow night ensuring Ellis Park will be a more volatile environment than the quiet of Rustenburg.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (England), Marius Jonker (SA); TMO: Johann Meuwesen
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 6.10 (Irish time) tomorrow
On TV: Sky Sports 2
there wont be an easy game in this tour but id suspect this may be one they will overcome with just a little less difficulty than others.
The Lions are pretty hopeless themselves and have probably been the worst SA franchise over the last few years, they are to the Blue Bulls and the Sharks what Connaught are to Munster/leinster, in fact thats unfair and a huge disservice to Connaught.
Currently in disarray and with no coach youd have to say if the B+I Lions dont get back on track tomorrow youd worry even more for the rest of the tour.
Blue Bullsâ display shows scale of Lions task
ON RUGBY: South African rugby appears to be in the rudest health judging by an awesome victory in the Super 14 final, writes GERRY THORNLEY
AS REALITY checks go, that weekend bit pretty hard. Profoundly uninspiring displays and flattering wins for the Lions and Ireland were one thing, but what was frightening was the scale of the Blue Bullsâ 61-17 victory in the Super 14 final over the Waikato Chiefs. In that 80 minutes at Loftus Versfeld especially, the odds on an unlikely Lionsâ Test series win assuredly grew even longer.
This is all the more so in the light of the Bullsâ 37-23 win over the Crusaders in the same stadium a week earlier. Then, the Crusaders began superbly and were 20-7 ahead after half an hour before wilting at altitude and being blown away; Morn Steyn filleting them with four drop goals including one towering effort from around the halfway line.
On Saturday he added another, his 11th of the Super campaign. He simply doesnât miss. Add to that his all-round command and he looks sure to be the solution to what was perceived as the Springboksâ problem position at number 10, all the more so as the second Test is in Pretoria and given his Bullsâ partnership with the outstanding Fourie du Preez.
Given a 13-point buffer wasnât sufficient for the Crusaders to withstand the debilitating effects of playing at altitude, the Chiefsâ probably needed more than the early seven-pointer courtesy of Lelia Masagaâs try from Mils Muliainaâs counter-attack.
Whereupon du Preez virtually decided the game on his own with a two-try salvo in no time. His broken field running, sniping and physicality were the dominant features here, coupled with which is probably the best kicking game of any scrumhalf in the world.
Bryan Habana also added a brace by half-time, in the process reminding the Lions he remains the gameâs interception king and that skip passes out wide going left to right are simply not worth the risk. Four more tries followed in the second half and all their big guns appear to be firing.
Bakkies Botha looked like the best lock in the world and Victor Matfield was his imperious self. By contrast, although he adorned the game with another trademark long-range try, Pierre Spies was something of a luxury item.
But it wasnât just the established Boks who shone. Fullback Zane Kirchner and centre Wynand Olivier are also pressing for inclusion in the starting team come the first Test on June 20th. Thereâs a saying in South African rugby that âWhen the Bulls go well, the Springboks go wellâ, and with the Bulls set to be the bulk suppliers to the Boks â in every sense â that somewhat compensates for their lack of warm-up games.
Every one of them seems like a man mountain, and such was the all-round dynamism of their display the Lionsâ efforts against the Royal XV almost looked like a different sport. The Lionsâ set-pieces went well enough but theyâre just not as important as the collisions cum breakdown.
A striking feature of both games was how much the South Africans piled into rucks and were so regularly off their feet, coming in from the side and/of playing the ball illegally. In this, they were given all manner of licence by Joantah Kaplan in Loftus Versfeld and Marius Jonker at Coca-Cola Park, and the Test referees, Bryce Lawrence, Christophe Berdos and Stuart Dickinson, could be massively influential figures.
The Lions did not commit sufficient numbers to rucks, or as fiercely, as they needed to do and they will have to revive this strategy. Perhaps, at altitude, they didnât have the energy to do so. No one tried harder than Paul OâConnell but apart from him, the only players who enhanced their reputations were backs â Lee Byrne, Jamie Roberts, Tommy Bowe and Ronan OâGara. Even Bowe looked more interested in sucking in the thin air than accepting any congratulations for his try. The Lionsâ physio Phil Pask rated the effects of the heat as 9/10 and Martyn Williams admitted he âhad nothing in his legsâ, while such was the hardness of the pitch that seven players involved on Saturday were receiving treatment.
The suspicion that the SARU won this Test series before a ball was kicked has been reinforced, with odds lengthening on a Lionsâ series win from 2 to 1 to 5 to 2 after the events of the weekend. They donât look especially generous either. With that second Test in Loftus Versfeld looking to be in the snowball-chance-in-hell category of winnable matches, itâs equally clear the first Test at sea level in Durban is as near to a knock-out must-win for the Lions as makes no difference.
Halfpenny joins Lions in Johannesburg
Lions Tour : Leigh Halfpenny arrived in South Africa today and joined up with the British and Irish Lions after completing his rehabilitation programme with the Cardiff medical team.
Halfpenny touched down in Johannesburg and immediately underwent a post flight recovery session with the Lions medical team.
âWe are delighted that Leigh has rejoined the group, having seen the medical team this morning they have confirmed that he has arrived fully fit and so is available for selection following tomorrow nightâs game against the Golden Lions,â said Gerald Davies, Lions Tour manager.
"Itâs just great to be back with the team,â added Halfpenny. âIâve been working really hard with the Cardiff medical team and they have got me back to full fitness so I am raring to go for the Lions.
âAlso as the youngest player on tour I now have responsibility for Lenny the Lion, so Keith (Earls) officially handed over custody as soon as I walked into the Team Room."
It is always better to engage the brain before opening the mouth but failing that it can be equally effective not to say anything at all. Wales and Cardiff number eight Andy Powell might appreciate these sentiments a little better after his efforts to come up with a name for the Lions mascot.
Paul OâConnell revealed to the media at Wednesdayâs press conference that Powellâs suggestion for the mascotâs name was . . . POWELLY. He wasnât able to confirm how long the number eight had been deliberating before he settled for Powelly.
It wasnât a massive surprise then when Lions team manager Gerald Davies promptly suggested that any names would be gratefully considered.
Gordan DâArcy has accepted a call up to the British and Irish lionsâŚbandage must be gutted
Ah no, I can only surmise that heâs going with the sole intention of getting a few digs at the British/Munster players in squad training sessions. What was initially a great few days for Wexford with the hurlers beating Offaly and the Youths beating Waterford in the derby has really turned sour with the Rose of Tralee and now this.
Disappointing Paddy Wallace is injured but best of luck to Darcy. In good bit of form and will do well down there I reckon. Had a shocking time in New Zealand so will be looking to make amends Iâm sure
Whoâs he in for?
Whoâs he in for?[/QUOTE]
Backs cover for a couple with niggling injuries