Lions tour of SA - thoughts & speculation

Sport
1241

:D:D

Only Ferris came out of that back row with any credit, on his own there. Powell and WOrsely will hold a lot of tackle bags for the rest of the tour.

Front row impressed in the tight. FOrds throwing is pants though.

POC and DOC solid, POC very decent in the loose, DOC put in a lot of tackles.

Ellis a pest, but relatively limited and well behind Phillips.

Hook was impressive if poor in tackle, then again hes a 10.

Luke and Earls relattively quiet in the centre, done some good things, made their tackles, but they lost out on their wingers not getting involved in the middle enough. WIlliants tried, but he’s a shadow of the player he was last season. He’s toast.

Byrne was very tidy and is the best full back in the squad.

1242

O’Connell was at the same shit that fooking wrecked my head in the Six Nations during the bit I watched. That concerted period of play that ended with Byrne turning the ball over on their line was characterised by that goofy ginger lug standing in the centre, getting in the way and taking the momentum out of the backline moves. Get the fook out of there, clown, and let the backs do their stuff.

1243

Ah Bando…

1244

Byrne, Bowe, Fitz, BOD, Roberts, Phillips, Jones, Murray, Rees?, Jenkins, Hines POC, Ferris, Williams, Heaslip

Looks like the best test team for my money. Doubt its good enough to beat the Boks though.

1245

Brian O’Driscoll and Jamie Roberts will reprise their destructive centre partnership when the Lions tackle the Sharks in Durban on Wednesday.

Head coach Ian McGeechan has continued to mix and match his selections as the first Test against South Africa looms on the horizon.

But he has also returned to proven combinations in the form of O’Driscoll and Roberts, who proved almost unstoppable in the Lions’ record 74-10 victory over the Golden Lions, and in the back row.

The dynamic trio of Tom Croft, Jamie Heaslip and David Wallace will all start against the Sharks, who finished sixth in the Super 14.

Lions captain Paul O’Connell and O’Driscoll have both been named in the same team for the first time on tour. O’Connell is one of four players to be thrust back into action after starting Saturday’s tough win over the Cheetahs.

The others are Luke Fitzgerald, who returns to his more natural position on the wing, Shane Williams and Lee Byrne. O’Connell will pack down with his third different second row partner of the tour in Alun Wyn Jones.

The Lions are also trying new starting combinations in the half-backs, where Mike Phillips will link up with Ronan O’Gara, and in the front row with Lee Mears to hook between Welsh props Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins.

Lions XV v Sharks in Durban on Wednesday, 10 June at 6.10pm (Irish time).

L Byrne; S Williams, B O’Driscoll, J Roberts, L Fitzgerald, R O’Gara, M Phillips, G Jenkins, L Mears, A Jones, A-W Jones, P O’Connell(capt), T Croft, D Wallace, J Heaslip.

Replacements: M Rees (Scarlets & Wales), P Vickery (Wasps & England), S Shaw (Wasps & England), J Worsley (Wasps & England), M Blair (Edinburgh & Scotland), R Flutey (Wasps & England), L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues & Wales).

Fairly strong team IMO, front eight loos alot like what i think the test eight will be. think he may be giving another chance to williams to shine, may well be his last. suprised he hasn’t paired up Bod and gordo for a look but i think this will be the lions center pairing.

drop in bowe and ferris maybe and that would currently be my first test team.

1246

Yeah that’s a very strong team.

Williams and Fitzgerald both being given a chance to get the left wing spot. Fitzgerald will be pleased to get the start at 11 as compensation for having to play in the centre at the weekend.

Bowe will be in, Jones too and Murray or Vickery and then Ferris probably for Williams or Wallace and I reckon that’s about it.

1247

Very strong team ok… Only Murray, Jones, Bowe, Ferris missisng form the 22 that are possible starters in my opinion.

Fitz has a great chance on the wing now, with Monye and Williams being shite. Himself, Halfpenny and Kearney are surely battling for the last spot in the back 3.

Expect to see Croft getting a run at lock before the test as he would represent a good option as lock on the bench, Ferris will start 6 though.

1248

Interesting side. Big games for the following players

S Williams
Luke
AWJ (moreso as to how he combines with POC)
Wallace

Test side feel to this team apart from a few places, should be a good game.

1249

500×375 27.2 KB

Yours in Yawwwwn,
GSH.

1250

just how many chances is shane williams going to be given?

Luke Fitzgerald could rightly feel aggrieved.

1251

Shane Williams has a decent record against Bryan Habana but its hardly reason to be flogging him into form like this.
Id say the man must be mortified to be put out again and the other wingers must be rightly pissed off

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Lions XV v Sharks in Durban on Wednesday, 10 June at 6.10pm (Irish time).

L Byrne; S Williams, [SIZE=“1”]B O’Driscoll[/SIZE], J Roberts, L Fitzgerald, R O’Gara, M Phillips, G Jenkins, L Mears, A Jones, A-W Jones, [SIZE=“5”]P O’Connell(capt)[/SIZE], T Croft, D Wallace, J Heaslip.

Replacements: M Rees (Scarlets & Wales), P Vickery (Wasps & England), S Shaw (Wasps & England), J Worsley (Wasps & England), M Blair (Edinburgh & Scotland), R Flutey (Wasps & England), L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues & Wales).

Yours etc,
GSH.

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[quote=“Garda Sean Horgan”]Lions XV v Sharks in Durban on Wednesday, 10 June at 6.10pm (Irish time).

L Byrne; S Williams, [SIZE=“1”]B O’Driscoll[/SIZE], J Roberts, L Fitzgerald, R O’Gara, M Phillips, G Jenkins, L Mears, A Jones, A-W Jones, [SIZE=“5”]P O’Connell(capt)[/SIZE], T Croft, D Wallace, J Heaslip.

Replacements: M Rees (Scarlets & Wales), P Vickery (Wasps & England), S Shaw (Wasps & England), J Worsley (Wasps & England), M Blair (Edinburgh & Scotland), R Flutey (Wasps & England), L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues & Wales).

Yours etc,
GSH.[/QUOTE]

See previous page.

1254

Anyone else think Kearns is being harshly treated here? Not exactly getting a run at the test full back spot by the looks of it.

1255

If Byrne was playing poorly then possibly but Byrne is one of the form players and deserves to be keeping his place…

1256

Not really… he still cannot be 100% from the mumps, and expect him to get 80minutes on Saturday.

1257

Fair enough, but Byrne is the man in possession, he surely deserves to be challenged at least? He played Saturday and is out again on Wednesday now, just seem like a break might do him some good.

Some info on the beast that is Pierre Spies, the Springbok back row.

[list]
[]Spies power-cleans 135kg
[]Dead lifts 240kg.
[]Bench presses 165kg.
[]He can also do pull-ups with a 50kg weight between his legs.
[]Launches his 108kg body 1.4 metres onto a raised platform.
[]He can sprint for 835m before slowing on a repeated sprint ability test
[*]Has a body-fat percentage of just 6.5%t.
[/list]

1258

I would rate Spies as a far better player than Burger…

1259

I think thats widely accepted at this point.

I actually think Juan Smith is better than both, but thats my own opinion.

1260

Smith is a fine player as well, some strength in depth they have…Spies wouldn’t look out of place on the wing