First Test: Australia vs. British and Irish Lions (22/06/13)

[The big Kangaroo]

has anyone mentioned the JOC is an awful 10?

 

[munstermuffin]

Great win but did anyone else notice POC and BOD practically did all the talking and anytime there was a pen for us Sexton turned to POC or BOD. Still a great game and yes Beale missed last kick but I fear him a bit next week and despite injuries to their backs I think Aus will be even better in backs because of it and will the real elephant in the room (Quade Cooper) be back in squad

 

[ratsapprentice]

 

[TRF_Cymro]

They had two on the field but were both knocked out cold. One was definitely 100% malicious by North.

Ah you ...

Wondered when you would chime in again.

 

[dullonien]

For all the calls that supposedly went against the Lions, that Cuthbert try should've been called back. O'Connor only needed an extra foot or two to get to Cuthbert, and O'Driscoll prevented that from happening without a doubt.

I don't agree with that. The ball went out past O'Driscoll, if O'Connor hadn't have been drawn in and just drifted out, the tackle was there to be made. O'Connor falling for the dummy run doesn't = obstruction.

 

[Zed]

Great game. I thought both teams played really well. Shame about the result. Ref was fine.

 

[munstermuffin]

How can you question the Cuthbert try. It was a dummy line and BOD and O'Connor barely bumped but JOC was going for BOD and then after realising he was a dummy he had to readjust and that is where he was caught. It's called a good back move

 

[monkeypigeon]

I'm in general agreement with any negativity towards the ref here. There were times when it seemed the Aussies were given an a ridiculous amount of time to release the ball yet the slightest hint of a Lions player going off his feat (even after supporting his weight for a few seconds already) and the whistle is blown. Otherwise I thought he was very fair and anyone accusing him of bias I think is going too far.

On that last penalty, I think the Lions couldn't get any grip on the pitch. You could see the blindside slipping all over the place and I felt the scrum really should have been reset. So when Beale slipped I felt there was a bit of divine justice.


As for the players....
Starting front row was very good..
Second row was excellent.
Heaslip had a great match, Warbs was ok, Croft was poor in a match where they needed an extra bit of graft.

Phillips was terrible.
Sexton was amazeballs, and as much as I love bashing him at every opportunity, I would have given him MOTM over....

North who was excellent. Cuthbert was good but I feel Bowe would offer more. They were afriad to bring Maitland on because they know he's not good enough. Rather have any of Hogg, Zebo or Kearney on the bench.

Davies was OK but Manu or Roberts next week please. BOD was OK but with a different ref he might have had a happier day.

Halfpenny is phenomenal.


Beale to have a stormer next week. Terrified of him. Maybe Stevens was brought on tour to inflitrate the Aussie camp and set Beale astray (too harsh??).
OH, and JOC is not an Outhalf.

 

[jcahill1]

I thought Phillips had a shocking game today, Youngs has to start the next test. Corbs was great, Jones and POC did well also. Sexton played well and North was immense but we were still very lucky to get away with a win. On to the next one!

Edit: The first try Phillips was a disgrace, North busting a nut to try to stop it and Mike just having a casual jog.

Thank god someone else saw that i was screaming at him.

 

[profitius]

For Cuthberts try JOC wouldn't have been bumped if he didn't run towards BOD.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

They had two on the field but were both knocked out cold. One was definitely 100% malicious by North.

You've really refined the art of talking ***** haven't you

 

[dullonien]

I just want to add that imo North wasn't making any kind of gesture to Genia when he scored his try. I thought it looked like he was putting out an arm to fend, not fully realising he was clear already.

 

[lynam1104]

Great game watched it with a few Aussie mates so when they got that last pen one of them jumped up point his two middle figures at my and shouted f*** you, great feeling at the end amplified by that.

Real evenly matched teams, standouts for good performances were Genia, Folau, North and Sexton for me also 1/2penny was his usual excellences. Phillips was **** his sniping was awful and his passing was shocking at times.

The refs view of the breakdown was odd to say the least but consistently odd.

 

[j'nuh]

Unlucky Aus.

Phillips was poor today, his attempted snipes really didn't work. I thought Croft was also poor, especially when he messed up that overlap by trying too much himself, instead of just drawing the man and passing. Dan Cole really isn't playing well atm, he was under severe pressure at the scrum, and almost cost Lions the game. Full 80 from Adam Jones next week please.

I wasn't impressed with the ref either. Some of his breakdown calls were bizarre to say the least.

I warned about this way back in the Barbarians match. Directly hitting the fringes is as likely/more likely to get you turned over than see you through the gap. What worked against the Barbarians was never going to work against Aus. What upset me more was his box kicking. He only ever seems to go for distance. (I don't think any one of them was contested.) Fine if you're kicking into touch to clear your lines, or there's space, but it's a really cheap way of handing over possession otherwise. Chasers never had a chance even if they did chase.

FWIW, Youngs and Murray are rubbish too, but in their own ways.

Should have been Laidlaw and Care on the tour.

I can't remember which Aus player did it... but the kick that landed in North's hands that set him up for the try was really poor. All kicks done cross-field must be contested or into the corner, or else you're just putting the opposition winger into space. North's try was fantastic too.

 

[Wally]

I always thought if we were going to lose this game it would be because of our goal kicking. And that turned out to be the case. It was below par. I've never rated JOC in this department due to his inconsistency. And Kurtley, well he simply caved under pressure.

I think Australia will improve a lot more than the Lions will between now and game 2. We will come out a lot hungrier and we won't miss that many tackles. And there certainly won't be 4 injuries in the backline. That should be enough to take the series to a decider in Sydney.

 

[SelimNiai]

I warned about this way back in the Barbarians match. Directly hitting the fringes is as likely/more likely to get you turned over than see you through the gap. What worked against the Barbarians was never going to work against Aus. What upset me more was his box kicking. He only ever seems to go for distance. (I don't think any one of them was contested.) Fine if you're kicking into touch to clear your lines, or there's space, but it's a really cheap way of handing over possession otherwise. Chasers never had a chance even if they did chase.

FWIW, Youngs and Murray are rubbish too, but in their own ways.

Should have been Laidlaw and Care on the tour.

I can't remember which Aus player did it... but the kick that landed in North's hands that set him up for the try was really poor. All kicks done cross-field must be contested or into the corner, or else you're just putting the opposition winger into space. North's try was fantastic too.

Was Berrick Barnes, who then got burned to a crisp by that North sidestep.

 

[lynam1104]

The Lions won that in the second row, O'Connell and Wyn Jones were immense, and Johnny completely outplayed O'Conner. The injuries for Australia and Pollock not allowing the Lions contest at the breakdown probably evened out in the end. The Lions deserved the win just about!

A few changes are needed for the next game in my opinion.

6. O'Brien
9. Youngs
12. Roberts (If fit)
14. Bowe (If fit)

Agree on this mostly

Not so sure on SOB due to the penalty count he brings and Croft being are joint top line-out winner.
Philips was awful today really bad his running was ineffective and service was slow, but i'm not sure if Gats will drop him equally i'm not sure if Youngs is up to it.
Davis was good today but he didn't offer as much punch as Roberts would which ment our attacking plan didn't work as well, he did get through a ton of work in defense though so its a tough call.
Bowe is confirmed as fit and the way I see it a fit Bowe is one of the best wings in world him and North would be deadly.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Just finished watching it "as live", and haven't read the previous messages but my general opinion is that the Lions shouldn't have depended on some missed kick to win it, after being so awfully dominant during 50-60 minutes. They were bullying the Wallabies, there is something very wrong if they can't translate that into points.

 

[nealn]

I just want to add that imo North wasn't making any kind of gesture to Genia when he scored his try. I thought it looked like he was putting out an arm to fend, not fully realising he was clear already.

Just rewatching the match (it's a lot more enjoyable when you know the good guys win in the end ) and think sticking out his index finger was definitly a gesture... Not even the mighty North could hand-off an opponent with just his index figure!

 

[Groundhog]

I think the ref whistled us off the park in the breakdown. We weren't allowed any competition, which really renders our ball winning pack ineffective. I think the Wallabies had a lot of fight in them, and managed to play great rugby despite the injury list. We nearly lost that match because of sloppy mistakes, and idiotic missed tackles. Folau was a class act, as was Genia for the most part. I hope people don't make a big issue out of the North thing, he was undoubtedly taking the **** out of Genia, who had minutes before made a fool out of him. I would hate for this to be the main issue in an excellent game of rugby. Just look at the sportsmanship when lealiifano went down.