Barbarian FC v British & Irish Lions

[Joseph14]

Very poor performance from the Lions team so far to be honest. They were always going to win against a pretty average Babas side. Scrums were good, line outs so so, but backs have been very poor. I think Mike Philips is not the right choice at 9 for the Lions. He has scored two tries and everyone will be jizzing themselves over him, but his passing has been pretty average at times, he constantly picks and goes himself and has this terrible habit of picking the ball up running towards the first receiver and then passing the ball as opposed to passing the ball of the deck. Sure do it on occasion to draw in defenders, but he does it 90% of the time. Farrell is a by the numbers 10, kicks well, passes well, but that's pretty much it. He doesn't seem to offer much else. The centres are solid, Roberts has been good, but neither centre has shown any real pace or creativity or guile. There is nothing in tonights performance that is going to make the Australian camp nervous. And the handling in general has been pretty crap. I'm guessing though, the side out tonight is pretty much the 2nd Xv? Most of the players playing won't be expected to start - is that right?

The poor opposition the Lions face on this tour could well leave them undercooked come test time.

Not impressed here either to be honest, especially given that a lot of these players know each other inside out.

 

[Tony Manx]

Much better second half against a tiring but willing opposition in trying conditions but overall..........a mediocre start to the Tour.

I would love to have seen some possession and territory figures to this game but feel they will have to up their game considerably over the nest few matches to make the Tests a real game and yield the wins that we all want against the Wallabies and would agree with Will when he said that this was easiest country to tour they could have had at the moment!!

PS Phillips is not one of ours...idiot!!

 

[Draggs]

Will be starting at 6 in the first test at this rate - unless Warburton comes back, plays well, and they want to play both him and Tips.

It is the headache Wales have had all season, replace Lydiate with Ryan Jones though. Hope we see some good rotation in the midweeks.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

For a first game that'll do!

Don't forget that, for all intents and purposes, the Lions side is Barbarians for the first game too - they've had a longer to gel with each other but this is their first game.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Will be starting at 6 in the first test at this rate - unless Warburton comes back, plays well, and they want to play both him and Tips.

I'm a big fan of Lydiate, but personally I'd have Croft and O'Brien ahead of him right now.

 

[Zed]

Just take into consideration as well the conditions.

The commentators were going on about the conditions. Was it raining or just really humid?

 

[Zed]

Sexton looked good when he came on and whoever the halfback was that came on for Philips - he was heaps better than Philips, or was that Sexton playing at halfback??

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

The commentators were going on about the conditions. Was it raining or just really humid?

80% humidity - they had water breaks too, with water spraying all over them, they were soaked and I'm guessing their jerseys got very greasy as did their hands.

Edit. That was Conor Murray the Irish scrum half, have to disagree though thought Phillips was outstanding.

 

[Draggs]

Winners: Leigh Halfpenny based on the kicking performance of others.

 

[Tony Manx]

Don't forget that, for all intents and purposes, the Lions side is Barbarians for the first game too - they've had a longer to gel with each other but this is their first game.

The mental attitude would be hugely different anf other than for the fact that the main combinations were Welsh (other than 2nd row)........do not think that can be compared as scratch teams or used as any kind of reason for the quality shown.

Incidentally, did not think that Parisse, of whom I a huge fan, showed up very much in this game and when he did it was not good?

 

[j'nuh]

It's rare that your team wins by 40+ points and you're unimpressed.

 

[Thingimubob]

Honestly, I thought it was a pretty decent performance? Don't really see where the negativity is coming from after a 59 - 8 win! Would people have only been happy if it was 100+ points or something?! :huh: There was a 5 - 10 min spell in the second half when they subs all started flooding on and the Lions intensity dropped a bit, but I reckon that might have had a fair bit to do with the subs fitting in, especially as many have only just joined up with the squad.
I'll definitely agree that they do need to pick it up a fair bit before the test series, but isn't that what the warm up games are for, preparation and getting the team in gear?

 

[Joseph14]

How uncomfortable must have that been out there!

Good run out for them but the point about it being the easiest nation to tour for the Lions right now is gonna be key to our chances!

First time in a looooong time that the Lions have not toured the best nation in the world.

 

[j'nuh]

England seconds, with much less preparation, beat a similar Baa Baas team by about 30 points. Score doesn't mean much against the Baa Baas. Just disappointed with the game plan tbh. All of the attack came from smashing the Baa Baas at the fringes and I don't think it'll work vs. the Aussies. Phillips was made to look much better than his actual skill level. Since he got his hands on the ball at every phase, he got more chances than most and he did well to take them. But his passing wasn't fast or accurate enough, and I know that the Lions will struggle in the tests if they plan on building their game around him darting the fringes. Worst of all, Farrell was shocking and is guaranteed test time.

 

[racingmetrofan]

lol I dunno why all this hate on Farrell, and amazed that people are suggesting he should have got a yellow, all he did was push/trip Brits over, which is far better than a punch in the head!

Fascinated by that call by Walsh given what I was saying about the Hartley card and big games last week!!!

Bit of a clumsy start to the tour but the pack looked good. Centres will need to change and Sexton as first choice 10 is a no brainer. Phillips looked surprisingly good, but wouldn't be my first choice 9! Farrell looked (and probably was) the smallest player on the pitch for the Lions - played alright but didn't look great. Not sure if it's nerves, the weather, or just that for probably the first time he's inbetween players that are vastly more experienced and better than him!?

Daly looked classy for the BaaBaa's for a 20 year old, should be in the England team tbh!

 

[ratsapprentice]

Have people forgotten what the first test of the 2009 tour was like?

Thee context of this match makes it incredibly difficult to take all that much from it from an analysis point of view.
But I'm sure the conditioning and mental benefits will stand them in good stead.
What was pointed out after the match was that all the players seemed to understand the gameplan, which is great at this stage.

Farrell played as Farrell plays: average skills, prone to big errors, decent short-range place kicking and a mouthy little ****.
Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
He was holding brits' shirt and got a punch in the face for it, he retaliated by pushing him, why does he deserve a yellow?
Come on guys...

Without wanting to over-egg it, I think some people are not understanding how hard those conditions are.
Big cities like Hong Kong and New York, with dense areas of tall buildings retain huge amounts of heat.
I was in NYC last year towards the end of the summer, and it's a different type of heat... even in the shade the air itself is hot, the wind is hot.
You then add the humidity and it's a ****ing nightmare, to have to train in that for days and then play in it is extremely taxing.

Also... Jamie Roberts shall henceforth be known as "Double-Goose".

 

[Tony Manx]

lol I dunno why all this hate on Farrell, and amazed that people are suggesting he should have got a yellow, all he did was push/trip Brits over, which is far better than a punch in the head!

Farrell cracked under the pressure, as he has done often in the past, and showed how poor he can be when this happens. Generally, his out of hand kicking was poor, his passing average, breaks non existent and he blew a certain try!!. He was hanging on to Brits's arm at the break down and, despite being requested not to, so Brits was actually retaliating with his over the top reaction, which missed, and Farrel then swung a punch at Brits that ended as a grip on his face before he pulled Brits back over his leg. Sorry do think he should have been at given a yellow and Walsh chickened out on the red card for Brits "for the good of today's game" in his own words.....and that cannot be right or equitable to others dismissed for attempted punches! Finally, the petulant little yob greeted the yellow card to Brits with ironic applause which showed not only his low level of intellect but also of his class!

Daly looked classy for the BaaBaa's for a 20 year old, should be in the England team tbh!

I agree and have thought that he has been so far ahead of Goode for some time that I cannot understand Lancaster's love affair with the Sarries player!

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I loved Mike Phillips at the end there, "Yeah Joe's my teammate I'm not big headed" basically I'm not a dick like Armitage

 

[ratsapprentice]

Farrell cracked under the pressure, as he has done often in the past, and showed how poor he can be when this happens. Generally, his out of hand kicking was poor, his passing average, breaks non existent and he blew a certain try!!

Completely agree with this, people that state he is calm have their heads in the sand, they are mistaking his uninteresting, dour personality for some sort of mental calmness.
How little confidence must he have in his own pace, he was almost certainly in for that try!

 

[LittleGuy]

Anyone else think the Baa Baas might be done for? These games are essentially becoming romps for the opposition, I know they are taking on Fiji at some point so maybe playing lower quality opposition is the answer, also the ticket prices for this game were absurdly high...hence the 11,000 empty seats.