Test Match 3: All Blacks v British & Irish Lions (Auckland)

[Bada-Bing!]

Lions team to face New Zealand: Liam Williams, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton (capt), Sean O'Brien, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Ken Owens, Jack McGrath, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes, CJ Stander, Rhys Webb, Ben Te'o, Jack Nowell.

 

[mania]

cant believe naholo gets dropped for julian. naholo did his tasks well. i hope julian doesnt seagull for most of the game.
i reckon nathanHarris shoulda got a start. taylors looking a bit tired.
agree with laumape being there, not so much jordieBarrett, but he should do all right.

hope perenara keeps his mouth shut. i thought it was pretty disgraceful him screaming at the ref "i was taken out" then when the ref speaks to him about it he says he didnt say anything. dude youre on international TV and its recorded. show some respect to the ref TJ.

 

[Reiser99]

Is that the scent of over confidence I'm picking up?
Excellent.

I agree with Munster, I think in terms of the tour it's an opportunity they maybe weren't expecting. 1-1 with some enforced changes and newish player in key positions.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Inspiring as ever from Gats... Handy home win!

 

[Reiser99]

Oh yes, cause last week was so dominant...

 

[The Jones Boy]

Lions team to face New Zealand: Liam Williams, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton (capt), Sean O'Brien, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Ken Owens, Jack McGrath, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes, CJ Stander, Rhys Webb, Ben Te'o, Jack Nowell.

Thats a very strong looking team.
Warburton will be a passenger if Kaino gets a full game this week. Kaino is immense, his class will come to the fore this Saturday.
AWJ needs an even bigger game this week.
Te'o in the mix is a good call.
Gatland needs to empty the bench this week.
Bring on Stander for Warburton around the 60 minute mark.

 

[munstermuffin]

I can't believe Gatland couldn't see scrum issue and basically did nothing only let lads out on ****

 

[Gavin]

cant believe naholo gets dropped for julian. naholo did his tasks well.

Naholo is injured surely. Ioane has been replaced by Savea

 

[mosfeldt]

I can't believe Gatland couldn't see scrum issue and basically did nothing only let lads out on ****

Yeah it's pretty disappointing. Poite is a scrum nerd and McGrath's prowess in the scrum is an obvious preference to Mako's power in the loose IMO. (I could be biased)

I'll reserve my judgement yet though. The AWJ and Warburton calls paid off. Also what happens if Sexton and Farrell get injured? 10-12 got injured for us in RD2 last year but we had Paddy Jackson on the bench. There is no obvious FH replacement that I can see.

 

[bazwaz]

I'm disappointed with Cruden, his game has really fallen away.

Based on...? Cherry picking one or two kicks ? This Hurricane/AB team that is facing the Lions this week has already lost to Cruden's led Chiefs twice already this year...

I would suggest it's Barret that's game has fallen away with no tries, no line breaks this series...his running game is non existent out in the wet...he's missed kicks - see how easy it is to cherry pick...- people see what they want to see

 

[mania]

.

Naholo is injured surely.

no mention of a naholo injury, but if thats the case then i'll forgive hansen.
reiko needed to come off. whilst he has heaps of talent i thought he was a bit lost in that 2nd test. he's young and has a long career ahead of him.

 

[The Jones Boy]

1. Joe Moody (27)
2. Codie Taylor (18)
3. Owen Franks (93)
4. Brodie Retallick (63)
5. Samuel Whitelock (87)
6. Jerome Kaino (80)
7. Sam Cane (43)
8. Kieran Read (99) - Captain
9. Aaron Smith (61)
10. Beauden Barrett (52)
11. Julian Savea (53)
12. Ngani Laumape (1)
13. Anton Lienert-Brown (12)
14. Israel Dagg (64)
15. Jordie Barrett (1)

16. Nathan Harris (7)
17. Wyatt Crockett (61)
18. Charlie Faumuina (49)
19. Scott Barrett (7)
20. Ardie Savea (15)
21. TJ Perenara (32)
22. Aaron Cruden (49)
23. Malakai Fekitoa (23)

Jordie starts - =D
Laumape starts - =D
Cruden on Bench - =(

Is this bonafide?
If it is I'm really happy with this, we might even see three Barrett brothers on the park in the same game? Can you imagine how their parents will feel?
Amazing stuff.
Check out the kids in the backline.
With 12 caps ALB is like the senior midfielder, Lol. He's been a great find that kid. He's a natural talent.
Laumape has to front up from the start this week. It's a big moment for the young man, I wish him the best of luck.
Prudent to put Fekitoa on the bench. His defence is powerful.
Dagg needs another performance like the first test.
Jordie Barrett at full back. If we get some go forward ball he could be a real danger, I hope he performs his defensive duties with aplomb.
I hope Savea gets a chance to shine, yeah he can drift out of a game but he is capable of turning nothing into something, he has gas to burn for a monster and he takes a fearful amount of stopping.
I was at the Millenium stadium when he bounced half the Frog team off and scampered away like a giant gloating warthog to bag his try.
Those kinds of tries are only worth 5 points on the scoreboard but what they do to the opposition psyche, you can't put a big enough value on that. He's a scary bugger when he gets going and he has something to prove after other blokes have been picked ahead of him in the first two tests. He's one of those anomalies who can look average at super rugby level and then explodes in an AB jersey.
You can say what you want about him but you have to respect his tries vs caps ratio.
53 caps - 46 tries.
He's a monster, it's a rare day that one defender can stop him... we just need to coax him out of his lair and into the game.

We are missing SBW, Ben Smith and Dane Coles. Thats a boat load of caps and talent.

 

[mania]

Naholo is injured surely. Ioane has been replaced by Savea

Waisake Naholo still under head knock protocols.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...teeled-for-a-muchneeded-response-at-eden-park

ok hansen forgiven

 

[bazwaz]

cant believe naholo gets dropped for julian. naholo did his tasks well.

Julian Savea won the last RWC for us did'nt he...? The Bus got alot of bad press before that tournament as well but he answered his critics in style- top try scorer of the RWC
...at least Julian goes looking for work...he's a different player when he pulls on the All Black jersey and i am wrapped for him

 

[TopTen2003]

I think Gatland has got this wrong.

I thought this was time to bring in the fresh athleticism and take NZ out whilst wounded. I just worry this might be like Australia v Lions in 2013- they raise their game in Test 2 but then can't raise it enough in Test 3 before the tired bodies succumb to the intensity of the game.

The bench will be EVERYTHING this week and his decision not to use a lot of it last week worries me whether he intends to this week.

Personally thought Tipuric, Joseph, Henderson should have been on the bench for impact.

Massive, massive games needed from AWJ, Mako, Warbs, and Sexton and Faz need protection.

Contrast it with Hansen, who has backed inexperience and been bold.

Head says NZ might power clear.

I'd never be happier to be wrong.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Based on...? Cherry picking one or two kicks ? This Hurricane/AB team that is facing the Lions this week has already lost to Cruden's led Chiefs twice already this year...

I would suggest it's Barret that's game has fallen away with no tries, no line breaks this series...his running game is non existent out in the wet...he's missed kicks - see how easy it is to cherry pick...- people see what they want to see

No mate.
Cruden used to be dynamite, but he seems to run out of ideas on attack and inevitably kicks possession away with inaccurate kicks. There was a time when he didn't do that...

A 14 man AB team was attacking the 15 man defensive line of the Lions last week and Beauden Barrett threaded an audacious grubber through to Read and it almost came off. Thats the kind of vision I want from my first five.
He's a stand out talent and last week any stand off would have struggled with 14 men for an hour against a quality side.
Yeah he missed a couple of kicks but he also stood out in his running from defensive situations and his uncanny strength in the tackle for a little guy.
I like Cruden but it seems like he has lost a lot of mana from the time when he was the 10 in waiting for Carter to go... then up popped Barrett and Cruden messed up badly getting rotten drunk and missing the plane... he blew his opportunity. Now it seems like he's already thinking about a northern pay check. If he didn't have the caps Sopoaga would have featured.

 

[Nubiwan]

Lions team to face New Zealand: Liam Williams, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton (capt), Sean O'Brien, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Ken Owens, Jack McGrath, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes, CJ Stander, Rhys Webb, Ben Te'o, Jack Nowell.

Status quo then which suits me in the backs. I think Te'o has been unlucky. Would have dropped Vunipola to a bench role. His scrummaging is dodgy and a weakness for the pack. Last thing the Lions need is the scum under pressure and/or penalized. For me, Alun Wyn has been lucky as has Warburton. If they were not part of Gatland's Welsh side, then would they have been so certain to be on the test sides? Not unhappy about either of them. I just don't think we are giving up much, if anything, with O'Mahoney, Lawes, Kruis or Henderson in their stead. Would prefer some ball carriers in the side, and neither AWJ or Warburton been that noticeable ball in hand. Warburton just about cocked up the last line out in test 2 only for it to be hacked downfield by Murray. Clearly Gatland feels beating 14 men by 3 points justification enough to leave his side unchanged.

 

[valley commando]

A

If the NZ even considered gatland it'd be crazy. Don't think any tier 1 side would want him.

Thats a stupid statement, one that you will need to retract if we win or loose in a close match, I don't think some people can grasp how hard it is to coach a scratch side to even compete against SA or OZ let alone the AB's

 

[Reiser99]

Lions team to face New Zealand: Liam Williams, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton (capt), Sean O'Brien, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Ken Owens, Jack McGrath, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes, CJ Stander, Rhys Webb, Ben Te'o, Jack Nowell.

Very disappointed in this selection. Firstly the Lions only just won last week, with Barrett missing kicks. They played badly for large parts and just won. If you were going to leave the team unchanged you would have hoped for some dominance or indication that it wasn't just fortunate circumstances. I've talked about individual players before and nothing is going to change the team now, so I won't moan about them. However my other big concern is the bench. Gatland was afraid to use it last week. Now if the Lions are in a position to win, I don't see it being by more than a converted try. If he's afraid to bring players on last week, how will this be any different. Based on last week this is now a squad of 18 excluding injuries.

Overall Hansen has taken a risk to trust form players where they are needed. Gatland is hoping the same team perform a second miracle from no where, probably hoping that Watson gets Laumape or ALB sent off this time.

 

[valley commando]

I think staying at Wales so long has been a mistake for him. The longer you stay in one place the more people forget the other things you've done in the career and it becomes harder to see you approaching rugby any other way. It's like the equivalent of becoming type cast as an actor! I think this is absolutely the case with Gatland. I wouldn't rule out that he could be successful playing rugby differently with a different coaching job, but it's hard to see past his last 10 years work with Wales which is currently suggesting he knows only one way.

You are right, he is a much better coach than some give him credit for, he has improved the culture and playing standard wherever he has gone, when you look at the resources he has in Wales and had in Ireland regarding player numbers ie 4 teams to pick from and then compare that to what the coach of England, France, New Zealand etc have and you'd have to say he is up there with the best.