The Lions squad for 2021 prediction

[Leonormous Boozer]

When's the last time a country's HC went on a Lions tour as an assistant coach? Wouldn't be super happy about Farrell going, especially if we do end up having a tour ourselves.

Same, Farrell should not be focusing on this at all, he has enough problems here and even if we don't tour there should be training camps and exhibition matches.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Borthwick/Rowntree/Farrell is a very England heavy coaching setup even if none are employed by the RFU at the moment

Times reporting that all 3 have made themselves unavailable for various reasons.....

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Surely Sean Edwards will be considered by Gatland for defense coach? He was in SA in 2009.

And POC for Borthwick?

 

[McTallshort]

Rob Howley should be OK now Cheltenham has finished

 

[Leinster Fan]

I would also be annoyed if Andy went on this. Assuming it goes ahead this summer tour is pretty crucial for us, lots of young talent needing to be integrated and that can't properly happen if the HC is on the other side or the world.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Amazed and so happy about Borthwick.
Apparently had a lions clause in his contract but I think he was expecting Tigers development to be a bit slower than it had been.

 

[Dean Cooperfield-West]

Could be a blessing in disguise. It opens the door for John Mitchell, Scott Robertson, Stuart Lancaster and Shaun Edwards. All fantastic coaches in their own way.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Townsend is attack coach

 

[Leinster Fan]

Townsend is attack coach

Seems reasonable, as good a choice as any.

 

[Dean Cooperfield-West]

We might actually have an attack game this time unlike 2017 under Howley.

 

[bushytop]

We might actually have an attack game this time unlike 2017 under Howley.

I think you'll find the attack was under Sexton & Faz Jr in 2017... at least for the last two tests anyway

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

We might actually have an attack game this time unlike 2017 under Howley.

You can bet on it.

 

[Dean Cooperfield-West]

I think you'll find the attack was under Sexton & Faz Jr in 2017... at least for the last two tests anyway

If SOB's claim is correct, Faz and Sexton have gone down in my opinion. Even the attack in the last two games wasn't stellar.

 

[Leinster Fan]

If SOB's claim is correct, Faz and Sexton have gone down in my opinion. Even the attack in the last two games wasn't stellar.

How so? We'd probably have lost the series 3-0 otherwise.

Think expecting the attack to be stellar with the players in charge for two weeks is very very unrealistic, it was good enough and that's what matters, not to mention being a huge improvement on the first test.

 

[Dean Cooperfield-West]

How so? We'd probably have lost the series 3-0 otherwise.

Think expecting the attack to be stellar with the players in charge for two weeks is very very unrealistic, it was good enough and that's what matters, not to mention being a huge improvement on the first test.

Things I recall shouting at the TV -

Lack of decoy runners. There were some but obviously decoys
Lack support runners. "He had no one to offload to" was my common quote
Running from static. No one really ran onto the ball so it was easier to defend against
Overlaps continually blown
One dimensional - run get tackled. Very little creativity (few chips over, not many cross kicks, not a lot of offloads)

We scored no tries in that last test.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Things I recall shouting at the TV -

Lack of decoy runners. There were some but obviously decoys
Lack support runners. "He had no one to offload to" was my common quote
Running from static. No one really ran onto the ball so it was easier to defend against
Overlaps continually blown
One dimensional - run get tackled. Very little creativity (few chips over, not many cross kicks, not a lot of offloads)

We scored no tries in that last test.

I think you really missed the point.

Was the attack in the last two tests brilliant? No, was it better than the first, yes.

So Sexton and Farrell who are two players, managed to improve and coach the other players attack in 2 weeks as well as the other training.

Now compare this to Howley who should have been a coach focussed on attack vs the all blacks for some time.

That's the point.

 

[big ginger 8]

 

[TRF_heineken]

It makes sense, England are a mess atm
I would've thought Proudfoot would be up there as a choice (great coach and also inside knowledge) but Rowntree is an excellent coach and has a good bit of history with the Lions as both player and coach

Borthwick/Rowntree/Farrell is a very England heavy coaching setup even if none are employed by the RFU at the moment

Neither Proudfoot or Mitchell? With their inside knowledge of the country and the local stadiums and players??

Mitchell especially would have been of great help as he coached the Lions for a long time, and knows Ellis Park very well. I think Gatland missed a trick here...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

That lineup reads like when people take the **** out of Gatland for favouring his boys

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]