Second Test: Australia vs. British and Irish Lions (29/06/13)

[Raskolnikov]

Disappointing the lions basically didn't play any rugby! The midfield partnership was non-existent. JD has had a very good tour but I thought he had a poor game yesterday, a couple of knock-ons, kicked away possession with unsuccessful grubber kicks and it was his man that scored the try. BOD didn't do much better, the pass to Folau and his poor kick under pressure had us in all sorts of trouble.

Tuilagi or Roberts needs to come in to 12 to give Sexton an option, then hopefully we can through a few phases and get the wingers involved.

The lineout has been an absolute shambles on this tour. 1 minute to go, 1 point down and you lose your throw 15 metres out #facepalm. But maybe we should give the Aussies some credit here, it's a strength of their side.

Corbisiero
Youngs
Jones
Parling
AWJ
O'Brien
Heaslip
Warburton

Phillips
Sexton

North
Tuilagi
BOD
Bowe
1/2p

I think we need O'Brien and Tuilagi to get some go forward ball.

 

[sifplay]

Bullsh*t.

The English blame everyone else, and everyone else blames the English

This statemen is so true haha

The national sport of Wales is arguing. A Welshman takes great pride in his ability to argue with anyone for no apparent reason, even if secretly he agrees. Being from a different county/town/village/street/house/side-of-the-bed is usually enough to guarantee a fight. Supporting a different rugby team guarantees a war. The only time when Welshmen refrain from arguing with each other is when there's an Englishman present

 

[Groundhog]

So the Lions choose a coach and the bulk of the squad for a tour of Australia on their ability to beat England, how very Celt!
Only an idiot would build his test team around the players from a nation that lost 3 nil to the Wallabies last year, Gatland is that idiot.

Well you would probably rather we pick English players because an entirely different team won a World Cup 10 years ago, after all that's your justification for every argument on why England is far superior to everyone else. Who else do we pick for coach ? Tell me what else do we pick a squad for, except for how they play in the six nations. I think winning the six nations is more impressive than beating an All Blacks team with the runs, or having a 'touring record' I think the fact that Wales won the 6 Nations is proof that they're better than England. They're better than us too.
Why do I bother feeding the troll?
That's pretty much the team I would pick Raskolnikov. The only problem is that we don't appear to have a single thrower in the squad of any consistency. We do need a lot more go forward though, we were playing across the pitch yesterday, looking for penalties to kick ourselves a victory.

 

[Saintjay]

I was under the belief Corbs is out for the remainder of the tour.

 

[cyRil]

Wow, reference to my arse and penis all in one post and signature, I`ll ignore the casual regional stereotyping though, you obviously have issues!
I do feel your pain, you Irish boys knew along that Gatland was a **** poor choice and that there is a world of difference between an over promoted club coach getting a team up to beat England in a one off game and a fortunate WC semi-final appearance and a coach with the tactical nous to win a test series in the SH. The one-dimensional Wales playbook and Gatland have been found out, and he had the gall to talk about the "English baggage"!

Who's this guy?!

 

[dullonien]

1. Corbisiero (Grant jumps ahead of Vunipola to start if Corbs is still injured)
2. Hibbard
3. Jones
4. AWJ
5. Parling
6. SO'B
7. Tipuric
8. Faletau
9. Phillips
10. Sexton
11. North
12. BO'D
13. Tuilagi
14. Bowe
15. Halfpenny

16. Youngs
17. Vunipola
18. Cole
19. Gray*
20. Croft*
21. Youngs
22. Farrell
23. Cuthbert

If Warbs is injured thats almost what I'd go for, though I'd bring Evans into the second row at the expense of Parling. He put in 14 tackles on Sat, but did absolutely nothing else.

 

[SomeOke]

What a match! First time I think I've ever shouted for the Wallabies, not because I dislike the Lions, but as a neutral I didn't want to see the third match cheapened.
Now we get to see the all or nothing, ball-tightening final clash. Super keen.

Lions don't need to change tactics they just need to execute the game-plan better. The only team that can beat the Wallabies at their own game is NZ, because they have that type of talent. The Brits and us saffers emphasis structure from the ground up and the Aussies with their league obsession emphasis more of a flairy style of play. That's not a bad thing that's just how it is.

Chocking, territory based rugby needs pin-point accuracy from your 10, a well oiled line-out, a strong carrying 12 for go-forward ball and a dominant forward pack at the breakdown. Lions have most of these, they just need to improve execution and make a few tweaks.

Aussies looking better and better, just cutting down handling errors would improve their effectiveness by a large margin, going to be a real handful in the Rugby Championship!

 

[Largejanner]

Well you would probably rather we pick English players because an entirely different team won a World Cup 10 years ago, after all that's your justification for every argument on why England is far superior to everyone else. Who else do we pick for coach ? Tell me what else do we pick a squad for, except for how they play in the six nations. I think winning the six nations is more impressive than beating an All Blacks team with the runs, or having a 'touring record' I think the fact that Wales won the 6 Nations is proof that they're better than England. They're better than us too.
Why do I bother feeding the troll?
That's pretty much the team I would pick Raskolnikov. The only problem is that we don't appear to have a single thrower in the squad of any consistency. We do need a lot more go forward though, we were playing across the pitch yesterday, looking for penalties to kick ourselves a victory.

Mate, Samoa are better than you! I simply don`t buy into this Wales are the dog ******** bullcrap, England the last time I looked were the fourth best team in the world. Winning a yearly low-level NH tournament don`t mean diddly squat when you play the top SH nations in their own backyard.

 

[SelimNiai]

Mate, Samoa are better than you! I simply don`t buy into this Wales are the dog ******** bullcrap, England the last time I looked were the fourth best team in the world. Winning a yearly low-level NH tournament don`t mean diddly squat when you play the top SH nations in their own backyard.

You are pathetic.

 

[Jbobo]

Mate, Samoa are better than you! I simply don`t buy into this Wales are the dog ******** bullcrap, England the last time I looked were the fourth best team in the world. Winning a yearly low-level NH tournament don`t mean diddly squat when you play the top SH nations in their own backyard.

Funny how quiet you went for over 3 months isn't it? I have only one thing to say to you, as i'm not entirely sure you can even read.

​16/03/13

 

[Ospreylian]

Mate, Samoa are better than you! I simply don`t buy into this Wales are the dog ******** bullcrap, England the last time I looked were the fourth best team in the world. Winning a yearly low-level NH tournament don`t mean diddly squat when you play the top SH nations in their own backyard.

Ok, for a start the rankings mean bull. France are above Wales and had an awful six nations. Samoa are above Ireland, and I find it extremely hard to believe (as much as I admire Samoa) they are better than Ireland.

If you're a troll, then you're a pretty sh** one. If you're for real, why don't you pack up on this thread and move over to a forum where you'll feel more at home >>>>

http://englishdefenceleague.org/forum

 

[Big Ewis]

​16/03/13

that does ring the bell...

 

[cyRil]

Funny how quiet you went for over 3 months isn't it? I have only one thing to say to you, as i'm not entirely sure you can even read.

​16/03/13

I want to change my vote for Best Newcomer!!

 

[sifplay]

What a match! First time I think I've ever shouted for the Wallabies, not because I dislike the Lions, but as a neutral I didn't want to see the third match cheapened.
Now we get to see the all or nothing, ball-tightening final clash. Super keen.

Lions don't need to change tactics they just need to execute the game-plan better. The only team that can beat the Wallabies at their own game is NZ, because they have that type of talent. The Brits and us saffers emphasis structure from the ground up and the Aussies with their league obsession emphasis more of a flairy style of play. That's not a bad thing that's just how it is.

Chocking, territory based rugby needs pin-point accuracy from your 10, a well oiled line-out, a strong carrying 12 for go-forward ball and a dominant forward pack at the breakdown. Lions have most of these, they just need to improve execution and make a few tweaks.

Aussies looking better and better, just cutting down handling errors would improve their effectiveness by a large margin, going to be a real handful in the Rugby Championship!

Yeah that entertaining style of rugby is certainly going to help them when they field a heavy pack like that. Hope we play them at Loftus this year again. They will run out of puff within 60 and considering their 10 tactical kicking is non exsistant they might get a good wallop.

Hooper cleared of the ball makes one wonder where their ruck cleaners was. Having a 120kg and a 115kg lock is no surprise the mobility was lacking

 

[Ospreylian]

Just looking at ESPN Scrum stats, and one thing to worry about is that only 1 player from the starting line-up made an offload, Parling. Lions need to be a bit more daring if they are to break this Aussie defence in the last test.

Also, was very impressed with how Parling filled in for POC. Turns out he made 14 tackles and missed 0. He's developing into a very well-rounded lock. Also like the combination of him and AWJ.

 

[dullonien]

Also, was very impressed with how Parling filled in for POC. Turns out he made 14 tackles and missed 0. He's developing into a very well-rounded lock. Also like the combination of him and AWJ.

Maybe it was just me that wasn't impressed with him then? His tackle stats were very good, but he made no real impact in any other area of the game imo. He didn't really carry the ball with any conviction, I didn't notice him hitting too many rucks, and whilst not entirely his fault, he didn't help too much at the lineout. I think it's also obvious that he doesn't really add much grunt to the scrum either.

Considering Ian Evans had an excellent game in his last showing, dominating the lineout against the Rebels, I think he would offer a little more. His workrate is usually excellent in the tight, and he offers some genuine grunt in the scrum. He's not a great carrying lock, but he'll offer himself all game, even if he doesn't make huge metres.

I'd possibly consider Gray ahead of Parling as well. I'm a little worried about his general form over the past 18 or so months though, and that he'll just go missing in what is a do or die game. But his height should offer us a good target in the lineout, and he is a great ball carrying lock when on-form.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on Parling, I dunno.

 

[j'nuh]

Just looking at ESPN Scrum stats, and one thing to worry about is that only 1 player from the starting line-up made an offload, Parling. Lions need to be a bit more daring if they are to break this Aussie defence in the last test.

Also, was very impressed with how Parling filled in for POC. Turns out he made 14 tackles and missed 0. He's developing into a very well-rounded lock. Also like the combination of him and AWJ.

It just wasn't the right game to be offloading to be honest. Offloading works when you're hitting defence which is going backwards, so that your guy is coming onto the ball with momentum and will hit someone struggling for positioning. But FWIW, Lions barely set up any attacking plays. 2/3 of the game was in the Lions half. The majority of the time in the Aus half was spent in between their 22 and their half. And 7 of the occasions where the Lions had possession in the Aus half ended with penalty kicks (maybe we'd have seen more in attack had Aus not given away so many penalties). The Lions never set up an attacking platform to make breaks and such off of.

Which means we have to be a lot better with the kicking game...

 

[Largejanner]

Ok, for a start the rankings mean bull. France are above Wales and had an awful six nations. Samoa are above Ireland, and I find it extremely hard to believe (as much as I admire Samoa) they are better than Ireland.

If you're a troll, then you're a pretty sh** one. If you're for real, why don't you pack up on this thread and move over to a forum where you'll feel more at home >>>>

http://englishdefenceleague.org/forum

Oh, I`m a Fascist now? .......as someone said earlier, that escalated quickly! If the six nations is going to be your only point of reference then the world rankings are bull I suppose, sorry to prick your bubble, but France are better than Wales.

 

[Amiga500]

Admin, is there an ignore function on this forum?


edit: Never mind found it.

Settings > My Account > Edit Ignore List

For anyone else that is interested. [I would appreciate if certain posts weren't quoted, so I wouldn't have to read them....]

 

[SelimNiai]

Oh, I`m a Fascist now? .......as someone said earlier, that escalated quickly! If the six nations is going to be your only point of reference then the world rankings are bull I suppose, sorry to prick your bubble, but France are better than Wales.

Yes, yes you are