Channelling the spirit of whiff of cordite here but he's taken on the mantle of Donnacha O'Callaghan's unseen work.
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British and Irish Lions v Argentina
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You think Chessum is more athletic than Beirne??! I must have got their names mixed up. Chessum is the one that plays for Tigers right?
Yes. Since getting over his injury, Chessum looks really good.
Watched the first 20mins back again so far, it’s always interesting seeing a match again you spot different things.
I actually think the lions were a lot better than I remembered, there was a lot of good stuff out there and really, the daft things like offloads to an Arg player and some uninspiring kick choices won’t happen again.
VDM did some good stuff early on, think he’ll be lucky to get ahead of Lowe but he was more visible across the field than he is for Scotland imo.
Finn Smith I like but it’s early in his career yet, the crossfield
Kicks twice were to Jac Morgan (one where he was no where close to receiving) rather than a winger so not maybe the preferred choice.
I actually think the lions were a lot better than I remembered, there was a lot of good stuff out there and really, the daft things like offloads to an Arg player and some uninspiring kick choices won’t happen again.
VDM did some good stuff early on, think he’ll be lucky to get ahead of Lowe but he was more visible across the field than he is for Scotland imo.
Finn Smith I like but it’s early in his career yet, the crossfield
Kicks twice were to Jac Morgan (one where he was no where close to receiving) rather than a winger so not maybe the preferred choice.
Yes I saw this, think there is maybe a way certain clubs/nations run a support line and there was a few occasions where the carrier was putting an offload clearly to where he thought the man behind would be and they turned out to be in a different place. The support was there but incorrectly placed to link up together.
Yep
Exactly as you'd expect to see from a scratch side on their first run-out after not much time in camp. Especially a side like that who are actually trying things.
You have to make those mistakes in order to come out the other side, better integrated.
The question is, will five weeks be enough?
Based on seeing these things in club rugby - probably not.
But, these are the best players we can put out, and we should be making these mistakes whilst winning plenty. A club team trying this would likely be trying to find their groove whilst losing. Yes, we lost to Argentina, but Argentina are a very good international team, not a poorish club side.
Absolutely, I'm taking the view that Argentina are a proven very good side and that a mixed team with different coaches have managed to get within 4 points of them. On top of that, the was an almost freakish amount of Arg getting the bounce of the ball in the loose moments which is rarely seen - and their winning try was a thing of beauty.
I dont think there's a stadium in Ottawa big enough.
TD Place is all I can think of and it only holds 24K there are definitely enough Rugby fans in Canada to fill it.
My you unsure of stadia in Toronto or Montreal unless the Rogers Stadium can host Rugby.
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Watching it live the phrases running before you can walk and just pure dumb sprang to mind.
There are only a few games to sort it out and everyone needs some game time. Maybe it’ll gel, but it did feel over ambitious.
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I thought Farrells words after the match said a lot, he wasnt happy with the amount of high risk unnecessary passes and offloads to noone.
So not sure if Farrell wanted them to play that ambitious, or the players felt there were opportunities to be taken and opened up too much. It could have been over excitement as well, too many players trying too hard?
Could be, Scotland and Ireland have a strong offloading game in particular but they are executed slightly differently. If these offloads were attempted in the 6N all the home teams would likely be capitalising on them - it was the right thing with the run of play, the Lions could put massive pressure on the Pumas at times and looked dangerous.
Maybe a change at 10 and balancing out the centres a little more will help, I expect Russell to be good at communicating what is going on to his wingers and with say Jones at 13, the shape will look a bit more slick.
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Agreed. The stats were pretty positive for the lions, the negatives are easy to fix, the lineout, and offloads just need a bit of time together.
Obviously the selection of Marcus Smith caused chaos in the backline, I don't want to judge Freeman or VDM on that defencive performance, because I don't think they stood a chance. Smith probably only selected to be another ball player, as Farrell wanted to see the bash brothers in midfield.
That was a failed experiment. But what the lions did well was bread and butter stuff, some of the forwards lines off 9 were easy and effective, especially when Tomos came on.
I think the pack deserved to win that game, the coaches decision in backline selection lost it, Tuipoltu was found narrow, couldn't get to grips with either winger defensively, but I think they were both one eye on covering Smith.
I know it sounds like Im slating him a lot, but he truly was a loose foundation pebble in the wall, Argentina targeted him early, made both wingers nervous and feel the need to drop deep, then Argentina exploited the space out wide. Almost like a boxer using his jab, and when his opponent steps inside he rocks the body.
It's not Smiths fault, he isn't a 15
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Sounds much more like a France tour will be added before any Argentina tour.
British and Irish Lions demand Australia release stars for tour matches
The British and Irish Lions have warned Australia the Wallabies' superstars must appear for their Super Rugby sides in the tourists' pre-Test series matches.
www.bbc.co.uk
All this talk of Lions tours of Argentina and France
I think people need to think like a 70yo board member of a home union or one from Aus, Nz, SA rather than an optimistic rugby fan. Plus chuck in the views of sponsors and the dreaded key partners and "tradition" bores.
I think it's a great idea but I've more chance of plaiting fog.
I think people need to think like a 70yo board member of a home union or one from Aus, Nz, SA rather than an optimistic rugby fan. Plus chuck in the views of sponsors and the dreaded key partners and "tradition" bores.
I think it's a great idea but I've more chance of plaiting fog.
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Well you say that, but the first Aus only tour was only in 1989. Prior to that they’d been joint with NZ most recently in 1966.
I don’t really mind where they go in future but just can the warm up matches. Get the players where they’re going with proper time to acclimatise and don’t risk injury in non-matches.
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The France tour sounds possible - perhaps financially it would be even more lucrative.
A better warm up schedule for Aus would be to play Fiji, Tonga and Samoa with a combined AUSNZ team
SA and NZ probably have the depth for good warm up games generally
SA and NZ probably have the depth for good warm up games generally
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Using France and Argentina sounds like Lions politicking to get SA, NZ and Oz to take a pay cut.
Listened to some of the podcasts today, a few of them shed some light on it for me. The issue with the back 3 for this one is that Argentina identified both Smith and VDM not being great in the air, so when the kicks went in that direction it bore some fruit. Daly at either 11 or 15 would have been a better choice from the start, Freeman did some good stuff with the odd error so quite pleased for him, he's a quick guy. I also didn't realise Duhan was playing his first game in 8 weeks after injury, I think this tour may bring some new skills to him from different coaches, Farrell likes his wingers to pair up and work together which will be interesting to see.
I don't like sounding harsh on Smith either, he did OK really it's just that 15 is not his position at International or International+ level that the Lions represents.
As far as additional tours, France would be amazing (not least for the fans) but would it be a bit too much like a 6N/World Cup megamix? Also a bit messy with some of the UK & Ireland players clubs being in France - there is less of them going to the SH for club rugby!
An Americas tour with based in Argentina with Uruguay and Chile in the midweek, maybe Arg, USA and Canada in there as well, that would be a cool tour and would build interest in the game outside of a World Cup. I am led to believe that Argentina doesn't have the pro-game foundations like SANZAU to support the mid week games so the format would need a tweak from current convention. Could work though.
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Farrell was quoted as saying he selected Marcus because of his ability to play at 10+15. I don't want to bash him either but will be amazed if we see him at 15 again unless it's a case of needs must. I also think Duhan has a massive uphill battle to get into the test 23 as Schmidt will just target him with bombs. The back three selection just exposed his weaknesses even though he is just back after a lay off.
I thought Daly looked decent when he came on and I would start him at 15 on Saturday if Keenan isn't fit. We also look light at 12 and I assume Sione will get a start there with Jones or Ringrose outside him. I know we joke about Tom Jordan but him instead of Marcus would have made so much sense. He was in better form, is a better 15 and also covers 12 which is a position where we look a bit light.
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