Lions: Return to Oz

[lucky number 7]

Ferris is some man.

 

[big ginger 8]

Ferris is some man.

That he is.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Has Ferris ever had a spell of poor form?
Even when he's playing on one leg that seems to make him better, as if he's ****** off at his body and is punishing it for daring to be injured.

 

[big ginger 8]

Has Ferris ever had a spell of poor form?
Even when he's playing on one leg that seems to make him better, as if he's ****** off at his body and is punishing it for daring to be injured.

The Wales game was the worst I've seen him play for ages and it was still a 7/10 performance in the Irish Times veiw I think and their ratings are usually fairly tough.

 

[lucky number 7]

Sadly I feel that as a consiquence of how good Ferris is at 6 we might not get to see SOB at his barnstorming best for quite a while , however remove Heaslip and it's problem solved for me.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Sadly I feel that as a consiquence of how good Ferris is at 6 we might not get to see SOB at his barnstorming best for quite a while , however remove Heaslip and it's problem solved for me.

Excuse my ignorance but has SOB played 8 much? I think he is an amazing player but i have no idea what his best position is?

 

[big ginger 8]

Excuse my ignorance but has SOB played 8 much? I think he is an amazing player but i have no idea what his best position is?

6 is his best position but he's a very good 8. Played there a good number of Rabo games, a few H Cup games and an international I think. Is playing there against Ulster tonight.

 

[Peat]

I think a lot of people underrate Croft. The wing thing is clearly instructions from the coach imo, and he's far from the only forward to show up regularly on the wing. He's a great support runner and strong over the ball. His carrying is underrated imo, possibly because he doesn't do enough of it. I'd personally like Croft to be more assertive - he strikes me as very laid back - but he's still a damn fine player, lineout or no lineout. What's more, he's got fine form as a tourist, and really comes into his own over hard ground. Australia should suit him just like South Africa did.

Tallshort is really underrating Ferris. He has been the standout forward in some poor Irish performances, he has become Ulster's talisman and he offers a lot both in defence and attack. He's not the set-piece operator Croft is, nor do I think he's the support runner Croft is, but those are the only two areas I'd put Croft ahead of him in. Then again, Tallshort thinks Heaslip's been ******** since 2009, which is just as much ******** as saying Croft's been ******** since 2009. It's all a bit ********...

Whoever will play at 6 will face a hell of a challenge to get there. Nobody's even mentioned Kelly Brown yet, which is understandable as he's been permacrippled for a bit, but is also crazy as he's quality. There's a lot of quality 6s who've barely featured in this debate and a lot of people who could put together a real case as a bolter with a good year.

 

[big ginger 8]

People also seem to forget that Ferris was pretty much a certainty for the Lions test place before his injury and that Croft wouldn't have even been there if not for Quinlans ban. This shows a lot can happen in a short time. At the moment Ferris is ahead of Croft. I agree with you about him needing to be more assertive. I thonk Croft drops in and out of games whereas Ferris is nearly always at the heart of everything good.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

I don't think Croft drops in and out of games BG8, I think he drops in and out of the genuine blindside role. For the Lions Croft will only get a real chance at 6 if by some unfortunate chance Warbuton and Rennie get injured, and we end up(god forbid) playing 6's such as SOB or Robshaw at 7. In other words, as long as we have a genuine openside at 7, we'll need a genuine 6 at blindside, very likely Ferris or Lydiate. Corft at 6 will only make sense if along-side him at 7 there's someone with a bit of the blindside flanker in him. That's basically why it's worked fairly well for England.

By the time of the tour, I think we will have 3 strong contenders for 7, possibly with Seymour or Tipuric coming through to join Warburton and Rennie. However, if the Lions tour started today, we'd be only two injuries - Warbs and Rennie - away from playing 2 opensides alongside one another

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Croft may not go at all, to be honest.
Robshaw and/or Haskell could well take his spot - especially as they both have experience of more than one backrow position at international level.

 

[lucky number 7]

Seaaaaannnn O'Brien..


Hopefully he gets into 8 soon for Ireland...errebody watch tonight and mire him

 

[Peat]

By the time of the tour, I think we will have 3 strong contenders for 7, possibly with Seymour or Tipuric coming through to join Warburton and Rennie. However, if the Lions tour started today, we'd be only two injuries - Warbs and Rennie - away from playing 2 opensides alongside one another

Tipuric's already there for me. This time next year we'll be seriously considering him; rightly or wrongly, Seymour won't get the international chances to impress. I'd also mention John Barclay's name, serious quality on his day, even if that day's been pretty irregular for the last little while.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Tipuric's already there for me. This time next year we'll be seriously considering him; rightly or wrongly, Seymour won't get the international chances to impress. I'd also mention John Barclay's name, serious quality on his day, even if that day's been pretty irregular for the last little while.

I'd probably agree with TIpuric, its just that if warburton and rennie were injured tipurics selection as a test match starter wouldnt quite be a no-brainer, with guys like robshaw doing a job there.

Given a couple of opportune injuries seymour could have a place in south africa and from there who knows...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Stuart Lancaster was at the Sale vs Bath game, and Seymour had yet another great game, so hopefully he's taken note (though I presume he was there to see Henry Thomas/Rupert Harden/Tom Heathcote/Rob Miller etc.)

 

[McTallshort]

You said you'd pick Croft every time over Ferris obviously you don't actually consider it to be stiff competition.

Have you watched Ireland and Ulster this year? You said he was poor for Ireland which makes me think you didn't watch them as everyone was saying either him or Kearney was Ireland's best player and he was in some people's opinion a candadaite for player of the tournament. While for Ulster he's always there best forward and 9 times out of 10 their best player he's got a bucket load of MotM awards in the H Cup and from th times he's played Rabo.

Whos everyone?

 

[dullonien]

I'll also put forward Ryan Jones' name as a backrow option. He's in blistering form for region and coutry (probably the best form of his life). He's just behind a pretty special player in Lydiate for country. Ryan offers a lot from the bench as well, because he's more experienced than anyone else at playing both 6 and 8, with 4 and 5 thrown in for good measure. SOB can play 8, but hasn't done so too often, especially at international level. Brings along a lot of leadership qualities too....

Man, there's going to be some excellent players missing the tour no matter who they decide to take....

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Have to agree with that as well - been on excellent form for Ospreys.
Hanging around with all these youngsters in the Wales squad seems to have taken 5years off him :lol:
He's also looking a lot quicker than I remember him being!

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I think in the last few years he had lost all form and ****ling injuries meant he never got going. Add to that he was gutted when he was removed as Wales captain also, contributed to his loss of form.

Under Gatland I think he's been given his confidence back, not only this Warren has pinpointed him as a leader within the camp, giving him the responsibility that he used to have before it was taken away and given him a new lease of life. The young guns I also believe have had a major effect on him because they have pushed him to work harder to improve his game, which he has done.

 

[McTallshort]

Congratulations you're now on my ignore list.

Oh no!