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

[Leonormous Boozer]

umm green tinted glasses on Im afraid, the backrow is certainly not better than the one on Saturday, Murrey better than Phillips? Tuilangi better than Roberts? BOD in better form than Davis?.

regards sticking to one side for the test team, apart from 09 thats what normally happens and Gatland does not have the luxury of time....

I did say the backrow from Saturday was better!
Murray's not better than Phillips and I don't rate Murray high at all, take a look at any Ireland six nations thread but Sexton is so much better than Farrell it doesn't matter who you have at 9 the better halfback partnership will be the one with Sexton on it.
If I remember correctly both Roberts and Davies were in worse form prior to the Lions tour than BOD and Tuilagi so you can't judge those two until Wednesday.

 

[lynam1104]

I really don't think Davis should be near the test team he dosen't offer enough for me.

 

[McTallshort]

Sorry miss read, sexton is way better than Farrel thats why in my original post I said with the exception of him and Halfpenny this looks mid week. Think Gatlands played this well. The bulk of the test side will now be playing Saturday matches where as in 09 the "test side" ended up playing the Tuesday before.

 

[big ginger 8]

No Tallshort just no. Healy and North are in most peoples teams. Before the Baa-baas Ddavies' last game was a woeful performance against Ulster so I'm not sure about him being anywhere nailed on. BO'D and Tuilagi have so much talent it's hard to discount them. Bowe has a pretty decent chance of starting and if he goes well Best can't be ruled out. Also Heaslip is definitely a big challenger to Faletau with a good number of people picking him.

Really like this team if it clicks watch out.

 

[Zed]

I really don't think Davis should be near the test team he dosen't offer enough for me.

Yeah I agree. Roberts & Davis are good solid players, but they have never really troubled Australia before. If BOD can stay injury free, it has to be him & MT.

 

[McTallshort]

I understand regional, national loyalty but you guys have to start being a bit more objective, Healy might be in some peoples (not most) test sides but do you really see Gatland picking him over Jenkins? The bulk of this team will be midweek, injury and possibly a few like Maitland and Hogg may get dropped and cause a few places to come up but otherwise I dont see Gatland changing much in the Saturday team.

 

[lynam1104]

I understand regional, national loyalty but you guys have to start being a bit more objective, Healy might be in some peoples (not most) test sides but do you really see Gatland picking him over Jenkins? The bulk of this team will be midweek, injury and possibly a few like Maitland and Hogg may get dropped and cause a few places to come up but otherwise I dont see Gatland changing much in the Saturday team.

You do realize the team that was picked on Saturday was out necessity in most position right? 14 of the squad were never going to start in that game. Every player will be given a start by the Reds game at that point we we will be able to make predictions based on Gatland's selections.

 

[Zed]

That's not a midweek team. At least half of those guys will start.

 

[Zed]

"The Force won't reveal their team for the clash until tomorrow, but based on their training this morning, it appears many of the Force's first-choice players will not play.

With a Super Rugby competition game four days later on Sunday, coach Michael Foley looks to have prioritised victory over the Tahs above piling his best players into Wednesday's night match in the hope of a giant-killing scalp."

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/ru...f-australia-tour/story-fnh5q2e8-1226656115919

Disappointing. Should be a walkover for the Lions, a full strength Force side would still probably have lost, but would have pushed the lions. A second string will get pumped.

 

[TommyVercetti]

Glad Best is getting a start to show what he can do. I have a feeling he'll displace Hibbard as the starting hooker. Croft will hopefully show he'll be a danger on these surfaces with ball in hand, and Heaslip hopefully will continue to press for the starting no. 8 slot and continue his recent good form as I'd like to see a strong ball-carrier in the backrow.


Elsewhere, Sexton needs to show his class, and Tuilagi-BOD is a centre partnership I've been longing to see tested, although I may have swapped them over positionally. Bowe will hopefully show some form and Halfpenny needs to start getting involved more from an attacking sense.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

I understand regional, national loyalty but you guys have to start being a bit more objective, Healy might be in some peoples (not most) test sides but do you really see Gatland picking him over Jenkins? The bulk of this team will be midweek, injury and possibly a few like Maitland and Hogg may get dropped and cause a few places to come up but otherwise I dont see Gatland changing much in the Saturday team.

Nowadays, Jenkins is half the player Healy is. First test is in a long time, I don't think that the fact that the game against the Barbarians was on a Saturday and the Force game on a Wednesday implies anything about the former being the test side and the latter the midweek one.

 

[The big Kangaroo]

"The Force won't reveal their team for the clash until tomorrow, but based on their training this morning, it appears many of the Force's first-choice players will not play.

With a Super Rugby competition game four days later on Sunday, coach Michael Foley looks to have prioritised victory over the Tahs above piling his best players into Wednesday's night match in the hope of a giant-killing scalp."

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/ru...f-australia-tour/story-fnh5q2e8-1226656115919

Disappointing. Should be a walkover for the Lions, a full strength Force side would still probably have lost, but would have pushed the lions. A second string will get pumped.

Why The hell its not like they can make the finals or can spoil it for the tahs! if the lions stack on the points ill be changing the Chanel to state of origin thats for sure

 

[ratsapprentice]

Why The hell its not like they can make the finals or can spoil it for the tahs!

Exactly, it's a bit of a shame if true. Equally it could be in an effort to try and leave the Lions under-cooked for the tests...

I think it's pretty obvious that Gatland want's to get every player some game game-time ASAP.
Gatland is not stupid enough to fall into the strict mid-week/test team model.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

umm green tinted glasses on Im afraid, the backrow is certainly not better than the one on Saturday, Murrey better than Phillips? Tuilangi better than Roberts? BOD in better form than Davis?.

regards sticking to one side for the test team, apart from 09 thats what normally happens and Gatland does not have the luxury of time....

Don't see whats green tinted about that mate, even if you don't agree with it?

And I do..

 

[dullonien]

The way I see it, just about every player in the Lions squad has a genuine chance of making the test side. I could quite easily see Healy, Best, A-W Jones, Evans, Croft/SOB, Heaslip, Sexton, North, Tuilagi, BOD, Bowe and Halfpenny make the test side from this team.

At the same time I could also easily see Hibbard, A Jones, POC, Lydiate, Tipuric, Faletau, Phillips, Roberts, and Cuthbert making the test side from the team that played against the BaaBaa's, with Davies still in the running as well.

That's before looking at players like Jenkins, Parling, Warburton, B Youngs, and Kearney.

To say that Gatland is going to have a midweek and test side so soon is a little silly. The decision making for selecting the side v the BaaBaa's was based on those available to train, i.e. not involved in finals.This side has been picked from players who weren't involved in the last game. Nothing really to do with quality.

The competition for places on this tour is going to be ridiculous. Hopefully it really pushes all players to perform.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Tallshort what are you on about? Halfpenny, Bowe, North is what most people before the tour started had as their back 3, and probably still is. (Although we haven't seen Bowe yet). If BOD and Tuilagi partnership clicks, like it did with Roberts - it could have more potential than BOD / Roberts 09. With Farrell right now, it's 100% Sexton.
I think the backrows from both games are pretty similar, it'll just come down to personal preference. Front 5 is probably the same too.
Probably 11 of that team have a real strong contention for the first test.

Personally I would have started Farrell and Youngs - because we need to give the lad some confidence, and with coming off the bench for a small period of time he might feel he needs to force things. Using someone he knows like Youngs would have helped him too.

 

[Saintjay]

Why keep Kearney if he has a tear to his hamstring. He is missing this and the Queensland game so the chances of being test match fit is slim.So much for the alleged comment of if you miss two games due to injury your on the way home

If Hogg is the only 10 cover after OF then we look like we could have problems if we lose a 10 or a full back. The whole only taking two tens looks a worse call than I thought it was.

 

[big ginger 8]

I understand regional, national loyalty but you guys have to start being a bit more objective, Healy might be in some peoples (not most) test sides but do you really see Gatland picking him over Jenkins? The bulk of this team will be midweek, injury and possibly a few like Maitland and Hogg may get dropped and cause a few places to come up but otherwise I dont see Gatland changing much in the Saturday team.

We are being subjective.

Healy is in most peoples sides, Jenkins has been benching for Toulon and is currently injured Healy's had an excellent year and is one of the the best in his position.

You realise Gatland didm't have too much choice with the team against the Baa-baa's? He was in a situation where 13 of his players were ruled out from starting.

 

[Draggs]

You realise Gatland didm't have too much choice with the team against the Baa-baa's? He was in a situation where 13 of his players were ruled out from starting.

Thank you for realizing that this wasn't any sort of Welsh nationalistic flag waving **** as many think.
Yeah Geth had issues this year, but improved immensely over the course of the 6N.

 

[big ginger 8]

Thank you for realizing that this wasn't any sort of Welsh nationalistic flag waving **** as many think.
Yeah Geth had issues this year, but improved immensely over the course of the 6N.

Yeah it seems when he gets the gametime he's well up to speed and will be a useful player to have. I still think Healy's the likely starter but anything can happen.