Warm Up Match 1: New Zealand Barbarians v British & Irish Lions (Whangarei)

[The Jones Boy]

Not always. England beat the abs in NZ 13-6 (13-9?) as I recall. 2003 was it? It pi553d down rain. The other thing might keep scores to a minimum in matches is the weather. The lions will look to play a 10 man game if the weather allows them. 5hit, they will probably do that if its sunny and bone dry. On the basis of the opener - long few weeks ahead

Carlos Spencer missed a sitter from 18 yards right in front of the posts.

Numpty.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Rewatched the extended highlights of the game....kind of regret it now.
My stream froze in a few points so I'd actually missed a few of the most rage-inducing moments such as Hogg passing Watson into touch in a certain try situation, as well as Henderson and Laidlaws attempted 'tackle' on the Barbarians try-scorer.

I think though that on another day Hogg would have nailed that pass as we see him to do every week, Warburton and Laidlaw would have made less hilariously terrible attempts to ground the ball, and Joseph might have also got it down. We definitely could have lost that game but on most days I think those opportunities would have been converted and the score would have looked a lot less embarrassing. It's no excuse for the performance but I think we weren't far from scoring a couple more tries.

 

[General Melchett]

Is the team to face the Blues announced tonight or is it tomorrow?

 

[Which Tyler]

 

[The Jones Boy]

Thats the spirit.

 

[SomeOke]

Not always. England beat the abs in NZ 13-6 (13-9?) as I recall. 2003 was it? It pi553d down rain. The other thing might keep scores to a minimum in matches is the weather. The lions will look to play a 10 man game if the weather allows them. 5hit, they will probably do that if its sunny and bone dry. On the basis of the opener - long few weeks ahead

I said in the near past, 2003 was a completely different team. NZ have evolved since then.

 

[Nubiwan]

I said in the near past, 2003 was a completely different team. NZ have evolved since then.

So you did, but my point about weather also rings some truth. Rain and wind can be the universal equalizer. My opinion is that the lions will feel they need to slow down all they can at set plays, and take their sweet time getting formed for line outs etc. Understandably not caring to get into any sort of free for all, which sees any NZ side throwing the ball about, offloading and shooting gaps. You know, the fun stuff we all love. Weather could play a big part in this sort of tactic if the intent is to stifle the opposition, and bore us all to tears

 

[MikeTheNative]

I'm rather concerned with Sexton's form at the moment. On form he's my first choice 10 for the tests but he didn't play very well in the semi final and looked even worse Saturday. Unless it improves I would have Farrell starting.

 

[ianw16]

I'm rather concerned with Sexton's form at the moment. On form he's my first choice 10 for the tests but he didn't play very well in the semi final and looked even worse Saturday. Unless it improves I would have Farrell starting.

I don't think the opposition will be losing too much sleep over whichever of them starts. The main interest will be whether or not the Lions expect their 10 to be a part of this 'rush' defence, flying up to put pressure on BB. In my view, that would be suicide. A little sidestep, a quick shuffle and you're looking at 7 pts. Nobody is catching the boy. Or a quick crossfield kick to the wing (to which he's partial, and rather good) and, again, it's try time. TBH, the only way to deal with him is to a) make sure that he rarely sees the ball (difficult), or (b) to have someone equally as good (they haven't).
I suspect that Gatland will attempt to go for the former. Starve the ABs of decent possession, and hope that he only gets the ball in pressure situations. That won't work though. If the AB pack is at full strength, then nobody is going to get much better than parity against them. Read, Kaino and Coles are important players to have fit for the ABs in that respect. And they could do without losing Retallick or Whitelock, as well. We saw how the physicality of Ireland upset the ABs in Chicago, when they were missing the latter two, and Romano had to go home, with Kaino playing at lock (!!!). I don't think we'll see Kaino at lock again. Just a guess.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Just had a look at the match stats and am about to rewatch. However the stats suggest Joseph had a weaker game than I thought at the time. Too many missed tackles and turnovers conceded - also the fewest metres in the backs. Meanwhile Te'o made 5 line breaks - not half bad. Too many penalties conceded by Jones in the pack (3), that discipline prevented us getting any momentum.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Joseph didn't have a very good game but it wasn't helped but Laidlaw and Sexton inside him having a nightmare. Teo to his credit did his job, which is break the gameline at centre, rather well.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I'm a big fan of Te'o. He's a very powerful guy but he's also got good feet for a man his size. I wouldn't start him over Henshaw but I'd say he's a real contender for a bench spot. He's not just a big crash ball centre.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I don't think the opposition will be losing too much sleep over whichever of them starts. The main interest will be whether or not the Lions expect their 10 to be a part of this 'rush' defence, flying up to put pressure on BB. In my view, that would be suicide. A little sidestep, a quick shuffle and you're looking at 7 pts. Nobody is catching the boy. Or a quick crossfield kick to the wing (to which he's partial, and rather good) and, again, it's try time. TBH, the only way to deal with him is to a) make sure that he rarely sees the ball (difficult), or (b) to have someone equally as good (they haven't).
I suspect that Gatland will attempt to go for the former. Starve the ABs of decent possession, and hope that he only gets the ball in pressure situations. That won't work though. If the AB pack is at full strength, then nobody is going to get much better than parity against them. Read, Kaino and Coles are important players to have fit for the ABs in that respect. And they could do without losing Retallick or Whitelock, as well. We saw how the physicality of Ireland upset the ABs in Chicago, when they were missing the latter two, and Romano had to go home, with Kaino playing at lock (!!!). I don't think we'll see Kaino at lock again. Just a guess.

NZ were kept to just 21 points when they came to Dublin, BB is good but he can be stopped. A wide blitz defence will do well with a good covering 9 and 15 will really limit what he can do, Sexton on international form is someone who can, and has dealt, with him very well.

 

[ianw16]

NZ were kept to just 21 points when they came to Dublin, BB is good but he can be stopped. A wide blitz defence will do well with a good covering 9 and 15 will really limit what he can do, Sexton on international form is someone who can, and has dealt, with him very well.

You may have a point. However, Ireland at home, fresh, against an ABs at the end of the season, with a few out and a few just limping back, is a whole different ball game to a fresh ABs at home (esp. Eden Park) against a Lions team at the end of their season. The ABs weren't particularly impressive at any stage on that tour. Well, maybe Italy, but they're pants. A number of teams have pushed the ABs close in Nov/ Dec, and even beaten them. When the roles are reversed, however, they usually get a pasting down in NZ. And Sexton was nowhere when Barrett scored the controversial try against Ireland in Dublin. BB waltzed past one of their midfielders straight from a scrum. Sexton almost pulled off the tackle in goal, but was seemingly coming from the other side of the scrum! Makes me think they didn't want him up against BB one on one. Have a look at the ease with which Barrett hurtles past their centre (?).

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

You may have a point. However, Ireland at home, fresh, against an ABs at the end of the season, with a few out and a few just limping back, is a whole different ball game to a fresh ABs at home (esp. Eden Park) against a Lions team at the end of their season. The ABs weren't particularly impressive at any stage on that tour. Well, maybe Italy, but they're pants. A number of teams have pushed the ABs close in Nov/ Dec, and even beaten them. When the roles are reversed, however, they usually get a pasting down in NZ. And Sexton was nowhere when Barrett scored the controversial try against Ireland in Dublin. BB waltzed past one of their midfielders straight from a scrum. Sexton almost pulled off the tackle in goal, but was seemingly coming from the other side of the scrum! Makes me think they didn't want him up against BB one on one. Have a look at the ease with which Barrett hurtles past their centre (?).

I don't expect it to work for the Lions at all, it's impossible to set up a professional side from scratch in 5 weeks to beat a competent international side imo and I've predicted a comfortable 3-0 win for NZ. I think the Barrett try was a case of covering him with our best defender in Payne, who even made the correct decision and left him to the inside man rather than create an overlap, Murray, the 9, underestimated Barrett's turn of pace and he's the best in the world because when given half a chance he makes no mistake. Sexton's best quality is probably his defence as a 10 though, he's arguably the best 10 in the world in that regard, he hasn't looked fit of late though.

 

[Zootalaws]

What the **** was everyone expecting? 2 days in New Zealand with a scratch side playing a young team of Professionals in wet conditions, was everyone expecting a Cricket score? This is the 3rd Lions Tour of New Zealand I have followed and that game was about what I expected.

Yes, they were professionals - vets, farmers, shopkeepers, architects. Not professional rugby players, though, although two of them are in the extended training squads for a couple of Super teams. They were up against few hundred international caps, weren't they?

And if you're using 'two days in NZ' as an excuse, then why? Why give such little prep? To put that into perspective, they did have a huge two hour flight from Melbourne where they've been camped for four days. Can you get jet lag on a two-hour flight?

The Barbarians had less than seven days together as a squad - was there no prep in the UK before the Lions left? If that's the case, why? And they are all full-time professional players, all internationals, are they not?

The cricket scores I saw bandied about were for the lions to put 40 or 50 points on the board.

Squeaked a win, by a c@nt hair.