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South Africa vs British & Irish Lions - Test 1

Any opinions on who i should support?
If you needed to ask then definitely the Lions. 100% without question.

Otherwise true SANZAAR fans will always support the SH nations in rugby. I for one support the rest of the SANZAAR nations against the Lions and their respective nations.
 
Do you really believe this?
Kwagga at 8 naturally changes things the players that did change from the SA A game points to a slight change in tactic. Although emphasis on slight as we will still seek forward dominance and kick for teritory but i think with an emphasis on Jackaling and running the fringes. Think people might be supsised by the Boks attacking intent for all that was said.
 
Seen quite a few people on Facebook saying Hogg is the form 15. Really don't agree, he's not been bad, but not great either. His kicking for Exeter and in the 6Ns certainly wasn't great.
 


With the exception of Itoje/AWJ, which is understandable why they've not played, it's a bit weird to go in to the test so...untested
 


With the exception of Itoje/AWJ, which is understandable why they've not played, it's a bit weird to go in to the test so...untested

Especially as Gatland said there were 3 or 4 different combinations of players they could have used, yet they've gone with the combinations they haven't tried.
 
What concerns me the most is that most of the combinations in the test 15 haven't had any actual game time together on tour. I think Henshaw and Daly are probably the exception but the half backs haven't played together, nor the back row, front row & back three (possibly less of an issue given Duhan and Hogg play together at international level).

I'm also sceptical about Gatland's argument that AWJ HAD to play after the decision to play Price at 9 was made. He's basically suggesting we needed AWJ on the pitch in the absence of Murray as captain. No offence to Murray but he's not that much of a loss from a captaincy perspective. Gatland is just using that as an excuse to shoehorn his man in. So to accommodate AWJ the likes of Beirne and Henderson miss out of the 15 and 23 respectively which means overall the Lions are weaker. Hope I'm wrong but I'd have the Boks as favourites especially if their bench comes on around 50 and dominates the scrum.
 
They're about equal. The matches will certainly not be as clear cut as people believe. A penalty kick between the teams at most
Don't really agree, think Gatland, while still a very good coach, was proven to be a step below Jones and Schmidt with his 6n record, in terms of championships, being quite poor against both and Rassie is their equal at least. In fairness, I don't see it being 3-0 SA because he's clearly a great motivator but that only gets a team so far against good opposition but from what I'm seeing it's SA's to lose.
 
If you needed to ask then definitely the Lions. 100% without question.

Otherwise true SANZAAR fans will always support the SH nations in rugby. I for one support the rest of the SANZAAR nations against the Lions and their respective nations.
Ok now i feel shame. And it warms my heart to hear you still believe in sanzaar.

Definitely i would say id support the boks against any individual brotish or irosh team, but the lions are different. I want them to continue to be a thing and be supported, i want them to win in spite of the british and irish anti lions supporters beacuse that would be fun, and theres the intoguong selection debate that draws you in and then you accidentally feel like you support them.

often when i think i dont know who i support i quickly find out during the game by what i end up shouting about. My subconscious always knows
 
I think Henshaw and Daly are probably the exception but the half backs haven't played together, nor the back row, front row & back three (possibly less of an issue given Duhan and Hogg play together at international level).

Pretty sure Price and Biggar have had game time together haven't they? First match rings a bell...

Hogg is being given the chance to step up, he is a good enough player that it is well within his ability to do so. If he doesn't then I fully expect Williams to be starting the next game (and so he should), if Hogg does perform then its upto Williams to fight his way back in.

Hogg may not be "as good" under the high balls but his counter attack is much more potent, with VDM and Watson lets see what happens.
 
Do you really believe this?
Yes! Both teams were not using tactics they will be using in the tests. It was a boring match to watch because you could see occasions when both teams played basic rugby rather than running a move you know they have.
 
I've just seen someone on twitter say, unironically, that Henderson is 7th in line at lock for a test spot

Some people wake up on a Thursday and choose violence
Squidge went a bit mad about Faletau not making it and a few heads were saying Gatland picked the worst 8 available.

Like I know there's a lot of disagreement here but the hot takes would be considered conservative in some corners of twitter!
 
Yes! Both teams were not using tactics they will be using in the tests. It was a boring match to watch because you could see occasions when both teams played basic rugby rather than running a move you know they have.
I'd be more inclined to agree if we didn't have the last 13yrs of Gatland's career to look back on and see how many gameplans he has
 
I'd be more inclined to agree if we didn't have the last 13yrs of Gatland's career to look back on and see how many gameplans he has
It's a shame those last 13 years only saw one attack coach who was widely known as being useless. I don't believe Townsend will go for smashing it up the middle all day long.
 
Seen quite a few people on Facebook saying Hogg is the form 15. Really don't agree, he's not been bad, but not great either. His kicking for Exeter and in the 6Ns certainly wasn't great.

You need to remember a lot of people only watch internationals so Hogg played better than Williams in the 6 nations then watched no club rugby after that where he ended up being behind Cuthbert, so assume he's in form. To be fair Liam Williams has been struggling for form as well.
 
Squidge went a bit mad about Faletau not making it and a few heads were saying Gatland picked the worst 8 available.

Like I know there's a lot of disagreement here but the hot takes would be considered conservative in some corners of twitter!
Before the tour Faletau was a definite starter for me but since the first game has looked a bit off the pace, while he does seem to be getting better though. Conan is the form 8 of the actual tour games, not sure how people are not seeing that.
Saying that though I've seen a few people that are shocked that Price is starting, I know he hasn't set the world alight but have they seen how Murray and Davies have played?
 
You need to remember a lot of people only watch internationals so Hogg played better than Williams in the 6 nations then watched no club rugby after that where he ended up being behind Cuthbert, so assume he's in form. To be fair Liam Williams has been struggling for form as well.
True.

Definitely agree that no one has really stood out at full back. The most ridiculous thing I've heard Gatland say is that everyone has put their hand up and played well. Definitely at 9 and 15 it's more who has played the least worst.
 
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