Western Force v British & Irish Lions - 5/6/13

[Tony Manx]

He must be doing well considering he's 15,000km away from the pitch!

Against a tired and beaten team......talk about lack of pressure!!

Pluses.....Vunipola, SOB, Heaslip (not Ferris, as originally stated, who is 10958.16 miles away), Halfpenny (mainly for his kicking), Tuilangi/BOD combo (a good start but need to see lot more) and Sexton who has removed any doubts there were about a starting 10.

Minuses....Defense, defense, defense, Best and, of course, poor old Healy's injury

Sorted!!

 

[Peat]

Broken record time - not all lineout flaws are Best's fault; the one that bounced down off of Jones' hand, for example, was one Jones should have got. My feed froze on the second overthrow, but the first one I thought was a timing issue, with Best too early/the jump too late. Of course, with Hibbard having no problems, that's not great for Best - but really, it's a black mark for everyone involved in that lineout system. Including Best of course.

A lot of the organised forward play was poor I thought, mauls didn't do what they ought to, restarts looked dodge. Some of the ball security and offensive rucking wasn't all that.

But, barring a different scrum-half and maybe Jamie Roberts, that's the backline I would pick for the tests. And saying maybe Jamie Roberts is about as big a compliment as I can pay to the Tuilagi-O'Driscoll combo, looked really sharp.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Well that turned out well in the end. I thought that there were some excellent performances out there and that lots of the minuses can be put down to looseness and carelessness.

Really quite pleased with how the midfield worked. Mainly, because Tuilagi showed that he can play a very much team role and not try and be the star - it worked and his awareness of when to pass was great and allowed North to be utilised well of his wing. In the England shirt, he would have carried the ball up himself more often. We still saw his devestating power on occasion, but he played a team role - good on him. I still think Roberts is the deserving favourite for the 12 spot but Tuilagi has put in an excellent claim for a place in the 23.

Faletau and Heaslip must be giving gatland one hell of a headache..what performances. Healsip has arguably had the more rampaging impact, whilst Faletau has just been almost faultless in his play (and I say this as someone coming roudn a bit to the Faletau way of thinking as a former non-believer )

I still believe Healy is a strong scrummager, though I have to say today he didn't win any superiority over his opponent which maybe held the scrum back a bit...but we still had a perfectly good platform to work from so you can't complain to much. I think Cole had his man where he wanted him. But man, if Healy is out and I hope not ,Peats question of Cronbs or James is a huge one. This is where we all put our respective red/white tinted glasses on

I think todays wingers Bowe and North have put forward VERY strong claims through their all round game - North arguably being the one more permanently involved. Cuthbert hangs on in there because of his unerring ability to find his way to the tryline, but has less of the presence around the field that the other two have. Maitland, I feel, is really slipping off the pace and needs to sort it out - just hasn't impressed me agreat deal and I felt he mised some tackles off the bench today.

In terms of the lineout I don't think anyones record has been perfect. Hibbard/Lydiate got two lineouts messed up, Best overthrew some, and Youngs came on and his first was verywonky. Plenty to improve on but the leading candidate is surely Hibbard right now.

 

[Zed]

A weak Force side, but the Lions were good. Heaslip was great at 8, thought the centre partnership worked very well and both wings were pretty solid, especially North. Halfpenny doesn't seem to offer too much in attack, but his kicking tonight was immense. He never looked like missing. Sexton threw some nice passes, but he has a bad habit of taking the ball virtually stationary, which can slow the whole back line down. There were a few times the guy outside him had to slow to a virtual jog in order not to overrun him. Farrell was poor last week though, so no other options really. Youngs threw a few bad passes, but he adds a lot of pace to the game, the ball seemed to get recycled quicker with him playing.

 

[TNT88]

Sucks that they couldn't put up a better fight. But by the end it was virtually our reserves/academy vs the Lions so the blowout was inevitable. Hopefully they took something positive away from the game though and it helps them in their career path.

On a side note. That Lions team was the best XV I've ever seen. I've never seen the AIG All Blacks play but I can't imagine anyone playing at a higher level than that. Whoever has the pleasure of watching Australia vs the Lions, I can guarantee you'll enjoy it. For your own benefit, don't drink before you go, enjoy the rugby. Seriously, it's gonna be THAT good.

Also, Halfpenny should be a surgeon when he retires! Such fine precision with those sideline kicks. All in all, a fun night was had at the rugby, we need more midweek games.

 

[big ginger 8]

According to Gatland Kearney meeting his training targets and set to be involved after the weekend so probably not going to be a great tour for him.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Vunipola, O'Brien, Heaslip, Tuilagi, BOD, Bowe, North, Parling and Halfpenny all had great games.

Cole, AWJ, Evans, Sexton, Croft, Faletau, Farrell and the Youngs' went OK, if slightly anonymous at times.

Murray, Best had fairly poor games.

 

[jcahill1]

Vunipola, O'Brien, Heaslip, Tuilagi, BOD, Bowe, North, Parling and Halfpenny all had great games.

Cole, AWJ, Evans, Sexton, Croft, Faletau, Farrell and the Youngs' went OK, if slightly anonymous at times.

Murray, Best had fairly poor games.

Thought Sextons performance was reflected in the general back line plays tbh.

 

[big ginger 8]

Officials are confident that it's "only" a sprain for Healy.

Maybe there's some hope for him.

EDIT: According to Whiff of Cordite.

Heaslip: top tackler, carrier, most breaks, most defenders beaten, joint most lineout takes.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

EDIT: According to Whiff of Cordite.

Heaslip: top tackler, carrier, most breaks, most defenders beaten, joint most lineout takes.

Read that as Healy for a minute, and though "I know they're biased on there, but that's ridiculous" :lol:

None of that surprises me - Heaslip was superb.

 

[Peat]

Vunipola, O'Brien, Heaslip, Tuilagi, BOD, Bowe, North, Parling and Halfpenny all had great games.

Cole, AWJ, Evans, Sexton, Croft, Faletau, Farrell and the Youngs' went OK, if slightly anonymous at times.

Murray, Best had fairly poor games.

Ye what?

 

[big ginger 8]

Read that as Healy for a minute, and though "I know they're biased on there, but that's ridiculous" :lol:

None of that surprises me - Heaslip was superb.

Bias, never!

I'm only at halftime now but yeah Heaslip class. That break from the kickoff was superb think none of the intial tacklers actually touched him with two sidesteps. Wish they'd shown a replay.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Yup, I think bearing in mind Heaslips showing today and his level of experieeence, he's probably slipped ahead of Faletau for the 8 spot.

I'm a bit worried overall that the lions are going to be undercooked come the first test. The reds have something to play for still in super rugby, so I can imagine them throwing the lions game as well.

 

[TNT88]

Reds are gonna go out there to beat you guys. It will be the closest game on the planet to a test match, without actually being a test match. I'm sure it means a lot too them so don't worry about any whitewash.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Thought Sextons performance was reflected in the general back line plays tbh.

To be fair he did play well, but it could have been better.

Ye what?

I was perhaps a little unclear with the "anonymous" tag. I was referring to Cole, Evans and AWJ, who did their jobs with few/no errors.
But they hardly laid down benchmarks.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Reds are gonna go out there to beat you guys. It will be the closest game on the planet to a test match, without actually being a test match. I'm sure it means a lot too them so don't worry about any whitewash.

don't get me wrong man, I know they're a top top team, and yeah, why the hell wouldnt you want to beat the lions!?. However, I just want them to play their best players, and I think they've arguably got more reason to rest their best players than the force which is where my doubt is coming from..

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

The score (69-17) in favour of the B&I Lions over a 2nd string W Force reminds of the 74-14 for the 2nd string Golden Lions over a 2nd string Samoa. A good week for Lions. Not sure what to take out of either of these games but both Lions teams can only play what's in front of them. A few good signs for the B&I so early into the tour though; exciting times.

 

[McTallshort]

Good game enjoyed it. Thought the pack played very well but I am slightly concerned about the lineout. A couple of times Best throw it very well, high and down the channel but no one seemed to know who was jumping for it but I hope that will be sorted. Heaslip carried well as did Mako. Halfpenny kicked very well but would like to see him under more pressure as all he really needed to do today was jog about and take his kicks.

Didnt hear it in the pub but was that TMO decision in the first regarding an allegation of biting?

 

[j'nuh]

Ye what?

re: Sexton, I thought he played really well, but I do want to point out that he made a pretty big mistake in stepping out of the defensive line and being stepped for a try. I know it didn't matter too much in this game, but it could be fine margins against Australia, so I hope he's feeling a little gutted about it.

 

[Peat]

re: Sexton, I thought he played really well, but I do want to point out that he made a pretty big mistake in stepping out of the defensive line and being stepped for a try. I know it didn't matter too much in this game, but it could be fine margins against Australia, so I hope he's feeling a little gutted about it.

Had my head turned away for that moment, so wasn't certain if it was or him or the other defender, but yeah, sloppy. O'Brien's dogleg was even worse though, unbelievably naive!

Rat, I thought AWJ put in a very good day at the coalface, and thoughts the others I bolded did well too.

Personally I'd say Evans and Cole both underperformed.