v Blues

[Mikey Brown]

Jesus Christ.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Would now be the wrong time to demand an apology from Kev and Tana?

[morepork]

That's more like it.

[Numbers]

All this talk of "carrying" by loose forwards shows how far behind the thinking is. The Blues has Luatua who's offloading (3 or 4 beauties) made a significant part of the difference between the teams. It's not the carrying, it's how you keep the ball alive after the carry.

That would mean you have to carry the ball in the first place no?

[Len]

Wouldn't be a Lions tour if it didn't get a bit feral

[Banquo]

Why are people not going Warburton at 6 and Tipuric at 7? Seems like the obvious call to me.

Puja

Suspect it's because Warburton's arguably not as good or powerful a carrying 6 as Moriarty or Stander or for that matter Haskell.

Agree that Tipuric is the better 7 - I'd be happy with a 6 Moriarty/Stander 7 Tipuric 8 Faletau back row - but Gatland will stick with Warburton

what bollocks on Haskell. How Haskell is on the tour Is beyond me. Warburton is a quality player in either position.

[Banquo]

Should the esteemed Adidas Haka not be just for the all Blacks? I admit it lost some sheen a few years back in Cardiff when they behaved like babies and did it in the dressing room. But how many 'welcomes' do the Lions need? I would rather you just got on with showing us up on the rugby field with superior skills and players not called Haskell without yet another haka. More is less.

Thanks for explaining the Haka for everyone, you ignorant fuck.

Haha, good job you didn't over-react there.

[Banquo]

Should the esteemed Adidas Haka not be just for the all Blacks? I admit it lost some sheen a few years back in Cardiff when they behaved like babies and did it in the dressing room. But how many 'welcomes' do the Lions need? I would rather you just got on with showing us up on the rugby field with superior skills and players not called Haskell without yet another haka. More is less.

Thanks for explaining the Hakka for everyone, you ignorant fuck.

Their country is going through a bit of a racist patch at the moment mate, its fashionable. Quite why we should be sensitive about their terrorist attacks whilst they have a dig at our culture I'll never understand.

wow. Thought Cas was a tad sensitive....then you have been both oversensitive and utterly insensitive in one. Time to check out again.

[Digby]

What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here.

Provocative fecker!

[Digby]

What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here.

Provocative fecker!

you..., you rotter

[canta_brian]

I was having this thought about selections earlier and wanted to see what the brain trust thought. Gatland's been picking some very well shuffled sides for his first games, which I'm sure is lovely in terms of team bonding, but surely isn't particularly good for cohesion and momentum.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to pick a Saracens-heavy XV for one game, an Ireland-heavy XV for another, a Welsh-heavy side to lose the third, etc. You'd get less blending, but you'd also have Murray and Sexton playing together or Mako, George, Itoje and Kruis hunting as a pack, rather than people looking slightly lost at what the others are doing.

Given Gatland, it might still have been a disaster, but I can't help but feel it might've been resulted in a more auspicious start to the series.

Puja

I'd have thought that you would already know enough about the Saracens/Irish/Welsh combinations to know what they will bring to a test. Surely it's more useful to look at how players who usually oppose each other play together? I haven't heard anyone talk about an in situ 9/10 combo that the AB's should fear.

[Puja]

I was having this thought about selections earlier and wanted to see what the brain trust thought. Gatland's been picking some very well shuffled sides for his first games, which I'm sure is lovely in terms of team bonding, but surely isn't particularly good for cohesion and momentum.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to pick a Saracens-heavy XV for one game, an Ireland-heavy XV for another, a Welsh-heavy side to lose the third, etc. You'd get less blending, but you'd also have Murray and Sexton playing together or Mako, George, Itoje and Kruis hunting as a pack, rather than people looking slightly lost at what the others are doing.

Given Gatland, it might still have been a disaster, but I can't help but feel it might've been resulted in a more auspicious start to the series.

Puja

I'd have thought that you would already know enough about the Saracens/Irish/Welsh combinations to know what they will bring to a test. Surely it's more useful to look at how players who usually oppose each other play together? I haven't heard anyone talk about an in situ 9/10 combo that the AB's should fear.

I guess the choice is momentum vs integrating players from different sides. He's got plenty of training time and games to look at combinations, but he'll never get these first two games back.

Puja

[canta_brian]

I don't think your current combos beat the Abs. They might win some of the other tour games.

If you try some unusual stuff you might sacrifice some additional tour games but find a spark that could see them competitive in the tests.

Or you could find nothing and lose everything.

Depends what you call success. Would you be happy with a three nil test series and a few non test wins?

Or would you rather risk a bit knowing it may lead to losing everything looking for a chance to win the tests?

[jngf]

I don't think your current combos beat the Abs. They might win some of the other tour games.

If you try some unusual stuff you might sacrifice some additional tour games but find a spark that could see them competitive in the tests.

Or you could find nothing and lose everything.

Depends what you call success. Would you be happy with a three nil test series and a few non test wins?

Or would you rather risk a bit knowing it may lead to losing everything looking for a chance to win the tests?

I like the latter approach but I think it sounds more SCW than Gatland - who doesn't strike me as the experimental type and seems of rather conservative DNA.