Opening test line up predictions

[Penne Rara]

Yea I agree... I have no issues really with Dagg, but I wish NMS had been picked. Would've had him ahead of Jordie and Rieko too. I'm confident he'll play himself back into the squad for the RC though.

Agreed.

The winning recipe for a 14 is fast feet, evasiveness, quick-thinking. A 14 doesn't run for the try that much compared to an 11 following the NZ rugby philosophy but finds space and launches counterattacks. He needs to be able to work in tight spaces with a bit less time than a left winger. I prefer to see him as a lightweight 13 who punches through dynamically formed holes in the defense (typically, an unstructured defense that scrambles back into shape). Aso has been playing out of position all year but still manages to score lots of tries because he works as a 14 on attack, and he's a good one to say the least.

NMS is the best attacking 14 in New Zealand. His stepping doesn't allow him to score that many tries but he creates numerous opportunities for his teammates out of nowhere. A formidable asset that will be missed during this tour. A shame his bones are made of glass.

Dagg is an all round fullback but he goes missing on defense. I much prefer to see him at 14 as he is an excellent attacking threat and will have less space to cover defensively on the right wing. He should be NZ's first choice 14 during this tour.

This is how I currently rate the left wingers:

1. Naholo
2. R. Ioane
3. J. Savea

 

[Saint Matt]

....

 

[Saint Matt]

Is Te'o really the best we have at 13? I somehow doubt it.

I've gone with him but it's an open position IMO. Joseph shows some nice touches, good feet but it depends what you want, Davies is neither here or there at the minute whereas Teo looks to be in good form.

I feel he'll go with Davies mind, having said all that.

 

[curtbob7]

Is this the team to beat New Zealand?

1 - Mako Vunipola
Scrummaging has improved immensely over the last 18 months and offers more than any other front row in the loose

2 - Ken Owens
Mr consistent, will hit his lineouts and be a rock in defence. Except George to come on before the hour mark to provide some x factor.

3 - Tadhg Furlong
The Best scrummager on tour, a handful with ball in hand as well

4 - Alun Wyn Jones
Experience and leadership will be invaluable, can link up well with Owens

5 - George Kruis
Lions will have to dominate set piece to keep the ball away from New Zealand, the lineout maestro will aide this.

6 - Maro Itoje
Too good to be left out, more than comfortable at 6 and can change the game with his class

7 - Sean O'Brien
Game comes a week early for Warburton to start, O'Brien is a beast at the tackle area as well as with ball in hand

8 - Taulupe Faletau
Player of the tour so far, has more than filled the void left by injury to Vunipola

9 - Conor Murray
Big physical 9 needs bully the smaller NZ scrum halves. World class kicking game can keep NZ in their own half

10 - Owen Farrell
One of the best players on the planet, world class kicking game, handling and defence.

11 - George North
A world beater at his best, we need him to just that

12 - Ben Te'o
Have to pick on form here and Te'o has played his way into the XV

13 - Jonathan Joseph
One of the headache areas for Gatland, Joseph gets the nod over Davies for his ability to be a match winner shown in the Scotland game during the six nations

14 - Liam Williams
Another physical winger who can frustrate the All Blacks, knows his way the try line too

15 - Anthony Watson
Injury to Hogg is unfortunate however Watson played his way into the XV with his performance against the Crusaders. Hushed doubters about his ability under the high ball

I like this a lot. Swap wyn Jones for Lawes and Liam Williams Daly for in my opinion though.

 

[hunthmc1]

I'd probably agree but their is more chance of us wining this series than Gatland starting nine Englishmen!

 

[TopTen2003]

Evening all. Been many years since I was on a rugby forum-ironically 12 years ago when the Lions were last in New Zealand. My passion for the Lions has not waned though!

I may be in a minority but I think these defeats in warm up games are good things for the Lions in the Test Series. Not ideal, because everyone wants to win, but they've been in some real high quality matches against some quality players and they're gonna be up against a ruthless AB side so it's best to learn the lessons now than in Test 1.

There are many areas to improve on but there are two that really concern me:

Breakdown
Gain Line.

If there's one thing that you learn very quickly in New Zealand, it is that the breakdown is fierce and fast. Only one person has made inroads in that area for me and that's Sean O'Brien. He's a natural 6, yet looks like the Lions' best 7. Warburton needs to turn up to the party extremely quickly if he is to lead out this team come the 1st Test and I have to say, his leadership doesn't stand out either on the pitch thus far. Faletau looks a good 8 and then at 6 CJ Stander looks to have made the most overall impact to me but more with carrying than at the breakdown. In an ideal world I'd like to go 6.O'Brien 7.Warburton 8.Faletau but I don't think we can bank on Sam to be on top form from what I've seen until now.

Who would you pick at 6 and why?

Then for me a big problem with the Lions is having a midfield platform that can enable phase building. As explosive and exciting as he can be against some teams, Jon Joseph adds very little in tight games where you need to do the simpler things well- and I say the same for England when he plays for us.(See the Ireland game). I personally think the Lions need their 13 to run the right lines and be able to take the ball into contact to set up more phases for the forwards to gain momentum.

Te'o looks the best at that thus far but the glaring issue is who plays 12. The Lions don't look to have a natural 12 at the moment and the one who looked most effective was Farrell- so there are huge calls to make there. I think he can be an intelligent 12 and it could aid our kicking game if he can play us into the right territory, but I'd be worried about NZ sending some hellish runners down that 12 channel at him and defensively it would be a test with him and Sexton together.

I'm scratching my head in the midfield- they have to get the balance right. If the backrow turns up and plays well the Lions have a chance but they need a cohesive midfield to enable those phases.

One thing that annoys me so far is we kick too much ball back to the opposition. We need to keep it where possible against the All Blacks-The less they have of it the better!

I do think the Lions will improve in the first test but odds are 3-0 to NZ right now. Let's hope not! Come on Lions

 

[Ground We Won]

@Caitlyn Jenner

After watching Naholo lastnight, he displayed all the attributes we like at 14. Great under the high ball, good vision, strong running, coming inside and creating. I think you might be right. He's in good form and developed a lot of his game, 11.Savea 14.Naholo could very well become a thing.

 

[MikeTheNative]

For the Lions so far I think the only definites are Faleteau, Farrell, Furlong and Kruis anyone else could possible start apart from Best, Laidlaw, Biggar, Payne, Haskell, Cole, I would say Jones and Warburton but i doubt Gatland agrees.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Evening all. Been many years since I was on a rugby forum-ironically 12 years ago when the Lions were last in New Zealand. My passion for the Lions has not waned though!

I may be in a minority but I think these defeats in warm up games are good things for the Lions in the Test Series. Not ideal, because everyone wants to win, but they've been in some real high quality matches against some quality players and they're gonna be up against a ruthless AB side so it's best to learn the lessons now than in Test 1.

There are many areas to improve on but there are two that really concern me:

Breakdown
Gain Line.

If there's one thing that you learn very quickly in New Zealand, it is that the breakdown is fierce and fast. Only one person has made inroads in that area for me and that's Sean O'Brien. He's a natural 6, yet looks like the Lions' best 7. Warburton needs to turn up to the party extremely quickly if he is to lead out this team come the 1st Test and I have to say, his leadership doesn't stand out either on the pitch thus far. Faletau looks a good 8 and then at 6 CJ Stander looks to have made the most overall impact to me but more with carrying than at the breakdown. In an ideal world I'd like to go 6.O'Brien 7.Warburton 8.Faletau but I don't think we can bank on Sam to be on top form from what I've seen until now.

Who would you pick at 6 and why?

Then for me a big problem with the Lions is having a midfield platform that can enable phase building. As explosive and exciting as he can be against some teams, Jon Joseph adds very little in tight games where you need to do the simpler things well- and I say the same for England when he plays for us.(See the Ireland game). I personally think the Lions need their 13 to run the right lines and be able to take the ball into contact to set up more phases for the forwards to gain momentum.

Te'o looks the best at that thus far but the glaring issue is who plays 12. The Lions don't look to have a natural 12 at the moment and the one who looked most effective was Farrell- so there are huge calls to make there. I think he can be an intelligent 12 and it could aid our kicking game if he can play us into the right territory, but I'd be worried about NZ sending some hellish runners down that 12 channel at him and defensively it would be a test with him and Sexton together.

I'm scratching my head in the midfield- they have to get the balance right. If the backrow turns up and plays well the Lions have a chance but they need a cohesive midfield to enable those phases.

One thing that annoys me so far is we kick too much ball back to the opposition. We need to keep it where possible against the All Blacks-The less they have of it the better!

I do think the Lions will improve in the first test but odds are 3-0 to NZ right now. Let's hope not! Come on Lions

hey, I agree with O'brien at 6 with the back 3 combo you have stated.
re jon joseph, i don't think he is the answer either. i thought he was running some good lines at the start, along with lawes and others, but that all seemed to fall apart. i think davies will get the nod as he is a very good defender.

te'o i think is seen by garland as a 12. i think he would originally have planned him to be an impact player with henshaw starting at 12 but henshaw played himself out of a starting spot and tee's played himself in. i think daly will be the utility back reserve, able to steal a game with a long range kick late. sexton farrell 10 12 will also be the plan late.

i'm thinking garland wants to play a kick chase game focused around defence and then bring in a running game to finish it off.

he hasn't gone for two opensides yet but i think that is one of the secret weapons he has up his sleeves. i wouldn't be surprised if tipuric is in the reserves too.

o'mahoney will be unlucky not to make it though.

i'm probably all wrong, but that's my best guess.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

For the Lions so far I think the only definites are Faleteau, Farrell, Furlong and Kruis anyone else could possible start apart from Best, Laidlaw, Biggar, Payne, Haskell, Cole, I would say Jones and Warburton but i doubt Gatland agrees.

really? i thought murray, kruis, and faletau are pretty much the only definites. the rest, apart from o'brien who has a lot of competition including the tour captain to contend with, have been under par at times.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Missed out Murray was meant to say him.

 

[Maverick1987]

If I was picking the team with the squad we have I'd pick
1. Mako
2. George
3. Furlong
4. Itoje
5. Kruis
6. POM
7. SOB
8. Faletau
9. Murray
10. Sexton
11. North
12. Farrell
13. Joseph/Henshaw (undecided)
14. Liam Williams
15. Watson
16. Owens
17. McGrath
18. Sinkler
19. Lawes
20. Tipuric
21. Stander
22. Webb
23. Daly

I'm going with a 6/2 split on the bench. If we are going to beat the ABs it will be with the forwards not the backs . Also went for George over Owens because of the relationship between him and Krutoje .

 

[ncurd]

If I were Gatland (and lets be clear my idea of whats best is obviously very different to this) I'd like to see this a test lineup in the backs.

9. Murray
10. Sexton
11. North
12. Farrell
13. JJ (I'd love to see what he could do with essentally an English style axis with a brllliant 9)
14. Will someone please please please put their hand up, any Wing could take this Nowell would of been my pick pre-tour but eh....
15. Watson (I hope eddie took note, Watson plays here for club and is far better than Brown he fits the Hogg mould best)

 

[MikeTheNative]

I would like to see a Sexton, Farrell, JJ combo but it's not going to happen, Gatland likes at least one massive ball carrying centre.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

@Caitlyn Jenner

After watching Naholo lastnight, he displayed all the attributes we like at 14. Great under the high ball, good vision, strong running, coming inside and creating. I think you might be right. He's in good form and developed a lot of his game, 11.Savea 14.Naholo could very well become a thing.

Yup was thinking about this before, and the more I think about it the more I like it. And if Dagg is sloppy vs Samoa I think it's a very real possibility, maybe even a probability.
ATM the Savea, Bender, Naholo combo is my preferred back 3 for the first test.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Aight, after the game vs Samoa and a bit of thought, this is my final prediction. The team I'd like to see and the team I think we will see:

1. Moody
2. Taylor
3. Franks
4. Retallick
5. Whitelock
6. Kaino
7. Cane
8. Read
9. Smith
10. Barrett
11. Savea
12. SBW
13. ALB
14. Dagg
15. Smith

16. Harris
17. Crockett
18. Faumuiina
19. Barrett
20. Savea
21. Perenara
22. Cruden
23. Ioane

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Aight, after the game vs Samoa and a bit of thought, this is my final prediction. The team I'd like to see and the team I think we will see:

1. Moody
2. Taylor
3. Franks
4. Retallick
5. Whitelock
6. Kaino
7. Cane
8. Read
9. Smith
10. Barrett
11. Savea
12. SBW
13. ALB
14. Dagg
15. Smith

16. Harris
17. Crockett
18. Faumuiina
19. Barrett
20. Savea
21. Perenara
22. Cruden
23. Ioane

Seriously harsh on Naholo (not criticizing you, I know it's just what you think will be selected). Didn't think Savea was particularly impressive this game and I wouldn't say Dagg did anything to keep him out either. It's hard to criticise Hansen but his selecting Savea and Dagg over Naholo, Lowe, Ioane and McKenzie is just a blatant disregard of form.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Seriously harsh on Naholo (not criticizing you, I know it's just what you think will be selected). Didn't think Savea was particularly impressive this game and I wouldn't say Dagg did anything to keep him out either. It's hard to criticise Hansen but his selecting Savea and Dagg over Naholo, Lowe, Ioane and McKenzie is just a blatant disregard of form.

Not wrong bro, no doubt Naholo's form has been superior, and I was as disappointed as anyone that Lowe and Dmac weren't selected... but yea, I reckon that's the way Shag will go. IMHO Savea and Dagg were good vs Samoa, but they did have a pretty easy ride really. Anyone would've looked good on the wings in that game, so maybe they'll give Naholo the nod. That's the only real spot in the 23 genuinely up for grabs imo, the rest are pretty set.

 

[Reiser99]

I'm going for this for the Lions.


Saturday 23:
1) Vunipola (or McGrath with Vunipola for impact.)
2) Owens (Though could just as easily be George)
3) Furlong
4) AWJ (I would have him Tuesday and Itoje instead)
5) Kruis
6) POM
7) Warburton (I'd have O'Brien)
8) Faletau
9) Murray
10) Sexton (I think they won't risk Farrell starting)
11) North
12) Henshaw (Could easily be Te'o this one is tricky)
13) Davies
14) Watson
15) Halfpenny

16) George
17) McGrath
18) Sinckler (What a bolter he has been)
19) Itoje (I'd have Henderson or Lawes if he's recovered with AWJ on Tuesday)
20) O'brien
21) Webb
22) Farrell
23) Daly

 

[corny]

Wyn Jones and Warburton will be drafted in. I'd be astonished if Gatland leaves out either. Teo will also play even though himself and Davies 12 and 13 is a death sentence for the wingers.

It'll be

1.Vunipola
2.George
3.Furlong
4.AWJ
5.Kruis
6.Warburton
7.SOB
8.Faletau
9.Murray
10.Farrell (even though he'll pay lip service to Itoje and POM this is his only real headache)
11.Doesn't matter
12.Teo
13.Davies
14.Doesn't matter
15.Doesn't matter but this one will kick.