Road to Lions 2017

[Rich Taff]

To be fair, I'm not sure if Gatland was just predicting the future with his ' Ireland are.....blah blah blah Wales....blah blah blah most'.
I've gone from the 'as long as we beat the English we don't care' song to 'I don't care who wins, as long as it's not Ireland'. I've spent a few years living in the South of England, attending rugby games, and we have cracking banter in the bar afterwards. The only people who 'take it too far' are the Irish guys.

I think Keith Woods tantrum about BoD has really not helped things.

 

[Peat]

The really interesting calls are going to be made in the pack however. Do they go for a punishing front five that could possibly shove New Zealand around in the set piece and try to physically batter them or do they go for a quicker pack that can get to the breakdown sooner and nag the All Blacks all day?

I could be wrong, but I am personally convinced that you're probably not going to get too much change out of the All Blacks if you go after them in the set-piece. They've all cut their teeth on withstanding SA brute squad assaults while remaining more mobile. Every game I've seen where they look uncomfortable, it starts with them struggling at the breakdown. That's where I'd put my emphasis.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I could be wrong, but I am personally convinced that you're probably not going to get too much change out of the All Blacks if you go after them in the set-piece. They've all cut their teeth on withstanding SA brute squad assaults while remaining more mobile. Every game I've seen where they look uncomfortable, it starts with them struggling at the breakdown. That's where I'd put my emphasis.

Yeah, that's pretty much my thinking too. You very rarely see an All Blacks side get blown away at the scrum. We should look to get an advantage there, but if we're pinning our hopes of winning the series on set piece dominance we're in for a long tour.

 

[Shaggy]

I could be wrong, but I am personally convinced that you're probably not going to get too much change out of the All Blacks if you go after them in the set-piece. They've all cut their teeth on withstanding SA brute squad assaults while remaining more mobile. Every game I've seen where they look uncomfortable, it starts with them struggling at the breakdown. That's where I'd put my emphasis.

The breakdown could be interesting come 2017, I guess McCaw will be done, so you could be up against Cane, Matt Todd, or possibly even Ardie Savea, if he can get some game time with the Hurricanes between now and then

 

[goodNumber10]

I could be wrong, but I am personally convinced that you're probably not going to get too much change out of the All Blacks if you go after them in the set-piece. They've all cut their teeth on withstanding SA brute squad assaults while remaining more mobile. Every game I've seen where they look uncomfortable, it starts with them struggling at the breakdown. That's where I'd put my emphasis.

IIRC.

They seldom get outplayed by a ground hog back row, they tend to struggle when people flood the BD and just send them backwards all day.

That needs a dominant set piece though.

 

[Jbobo]

Schmidt head coach works for me. Although I do have reservations about the fact that he's a notoriously slow starter. You don't have much time in the job to get things right as Lion coach and neither Ireland nor Leinster were stellar for his first couple of games in charge.

2 years out I don't see anyone taking the 10 jersey off Sexton. 9 looks to be Murray's which is nice. The really interesting calls are going to be made in the pack however. Do they go for a punishing front five that could possibly shove New Zealand around in the set piece and try to physically batter them or do they go for a quicker pack that can get to the breakdown sooner and nag the All Blacks all day?

Schmidt would hopefully be able to iron out any creases with the warm up games prior to the test matches, which are what really matter.

At the moment Sexton looks good, but i'd say Biggar is playing out of his skin and is on equal footing now. He's been in form for a couple of seasons and now offers something which not a huge amount of 10's can - extreme bravery which is invaluable at test level. I'd agree with Murray being first choice too, he's been outstanding since the last lions tour. But again, from a Welsh perspective Webb offers something else and is right on Murray's tail. For me, his distribution is quicker than Murray' and he is developing a kicking game which is starting to rival his. 2 years is such a huge amount of time in rugby, and to say that Sexton and Murray look unshakable i think is very premature. Biggar and Webb also have age on their side, however Sexton and Murray are the more proven at this point in time - especially Murray.

This is all ignoring any other rivals who may peak and over the next two and a half years from all the lions nations. I think the halfbacks positions are amongst the most open of all to be honest. Again, from a Welsh perspective i predict big things for G. Davies at scrum half in the future.

 

[welshglory]

Rhys Ruddock?

Jordi Murphy

 

[big ginger 8]

To be fair, I'm not sure if Gatland was just predicting the future with his ' Ireland are.....blah blah blah Wales....blah blah blah most'.
I've gone from the 'as long as we beat the English we don't care' song to 'I don't care who wins, as long as it's not Ireland'. I've spent a few years living in the South of England, attending rugby games, and we have cracking banter in the bar afterwards. The only people who 'take it too far' are the Irish guys.

I think Keith Woods tantrum about BoD has really not helped things.

And I thought you were cool.

 

[Rich Taff]

And I thought you were cool.

Wouldn't read too much into my 2am generalisation after spectacularly falling off the wagon on the anniversary of a bad event.

I am cool, even my emoticons wear shades!

 

[big ginger 8]

Wouldn't read too much into my 2am generalisation after spectacularly falling off the wagon on the anniversary of a bad event.

I am cool, even my emoticons wear shades!

Yeah I had a spectacular riposte planned and then saw the time of posting.


Anyway the lovely and controversial question of who will captain the Lions?

 

[munstermuffin]

Jordi Murphy

Any more bad comments like that and you'll be banned

But surprised no one mentioned guys like Olding or Henshaw either.
Henshaw was like a BOD in his prime Thursday.

Also is there many like CJ Stander who may be a possibility to tour. And by that I mean isn't playing international rugby now but will be soon.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Anyway the lovely and controversial question of who will captain the Lions?

POC

Nailed on

 

[munstermuffin]

POC

Nailed on

Ha he will be on well earned retirement by then.

Captaincy will be between Sexton, POM, AWJ and maybe Jamie Roberts I think

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Jamie Roberts?! Blimey.

My guess would be Warburton, if Gatlands in charge, or whoever the incumbent Irish captain is if it's Schmidt.

 

[Irishkid]

Dylan Hartley:huh:

 

[SteffiSaints]

Dylan Hartley:huh:

Nice and inflammatory there

 

[lynam1104]

AWJ for me, was a outstanding leader on the last tour and with Wales. Gats shouldn't be near the coaching set up.

 

[munstermuffin]

AWJ for me, was a outstanding leader on the last tour and with Wales. Gats shouldn't be near the coaching set up.

Id probably agree as I think now it's only him and POC left playing that have that respect which is above the rest and well POC won't be touring but even if he was AWJ would be my 1st choice.

 

[Peat]

IIRC.

They seldom get outplayed by a ground hog back row, they tend to struggle when people flood the BD and just send them backwards all day.

That needs a dominant set piece though.

Agreed that they struggle more with people flooding the BD than with ground hogs - but I don't think that needs a dominant set-piece, or at least not massively so. Parity or a slight nudge back will do. Depends how you define dominant I guess. Burgling lineouts and scrum penalties? Or just making ball from those a bit messy?

 

[Every Time Ref]

I third the flooding the breakdown option, but I also think we do need more than parity in the set pieces. NZ are never going to get crucified in the scrum and driving maul like Australia, but we need to make both a clear area of strength while still blitzing every breakdown, all over the park, for 80 minutes. Oh, and we also need plenty of ball carriers coming round the corner to keep them tackling and tackling and tackling, as well as varying the point of attack to keep them guessing and working hard. So in summary, to beat New Zealand we need to pick a big, powerful ball carrying pack who are also very athletic and fit as well as being set piece specialists and having good hands. Simple.

Based on that, picking tomorrow (assuming all injured players are back to fitness and their best form before KO) my first test pack would be:

1. Corbisiero
2. Ford
3. Cole
4. AWJ
5. R. Gray
6. O'Brien
7. Warburton
8. Morgan