v AB'S - First Test

[skidger]

Sexton to start with Faz and Foxy outside. Back 3 to remain. I'm not sure what benefit Halfpenny brings to the bench, given that Daly and Watson can both play FB if required.

Faz is no 12 at this level imo.

What level would he look good at 12? There should be a ban on any international coach picking him at 12.

[skidger]

That was a great performance from the Lions. The first try (ruined for me by Sky Pacific playing the halftime ad break 2 minutes early - I shit you not) was brilliant and garnered a round of applause (on replay) from the room of about 2 dozen kiwis I was watching with.

We were genuinely nearly just a bit worried at half time.

Ha! Are there is the difference between New Zealand rugby and the rest of us. Easily a tier above and apart from starting Itoje i am not sure what the Lions can do. Well maybe finish off some nearly moments.

The Lions just need a Barrett or two, and a winger who can chase down R. Ioane.

Did you see that bit where he outpaced both your wings at once? Did you? I did.

(sorry, I've been drinking fruit cocktails involving creme de menthe)

We don't have any apart from possibly George Ford. B) We dont have any.

[Cameo]

I thought the lions were okay but NZ were very impressive and might have run away with it without the injuries in their backs. They just seemed to make yards on every carry. I think that was probably good angles more than poor tackling. Retallick was my man of a match.

For the Lions, it is still a questions of supporting breaks and finishing tries. I dont think I would have started from here but I would bring Tipuric in and Itoje. I'd also bring Joseph or maybe North onto the bench for Halfpenny. Dont think itl be enough though

[Cameo]

Ha! Are there is the difference between New Zealand rugby and the rest of us. Easily a tier above and apart from starting Itoje i am not sure what the Lions can do. Well maybe finish off some nearly moments.

The Lions just need a Barrett or two, and a winger who can chase down R. Ioane.

Did you see that bit where he outpaced both your wings at once? Did you? I did.

(sorry, I've been drinking fruit cocktails involving creme de menthe)

We don't have any apart from possibly George Ford. B) We dont have any.

To be fair I think Finn Russell is closer in style to Barrett than Ford. Not that I dont rate ford

[Banquo]

Sexton to start with Faz and Foxy outside. Back 3 to remain. I'm not sure what benefit Halfpenny brings to the bench, given that Daly and Watson can both play FB if required.

Faz is no 12 at this level imo.

What level would he look good at 12? There should be a ban on any international coach picking him at 12.

He's fine at club level. Pains me to say even that!

[Timbo]

Lions could definitely still make a game of it next week. For all the NZ brilliance they scored from a quick tap when the Lions switched off, a scrum advantage when the Lions switched off and a high ball that went through Liam Williams' hands.

For me, Lions must get their line out drive going. I don't know if the AB's were doing anything dodgy sacking it repeatedly, but they need to sort it. Keep being aggressive in defence. I felt that the AB's showed some slick skills on the adv line early and after that the Lions were too quick to stand off and drift. And it was noticeable to me that they looked a bit shell shocked on a few occasions after NZ had scored. They must believe they can beat them, or everything else is pointless. And breakdown, got to get better - Warburton in on the flank and Itoje for AWJ would help.

[Cameo]

The NZ tries might not have been from phase play but I think on another day they could have got a couple more that way. Agree Lions have a chance though, as they should

[skidger]

These are great ratings for the Lions.....

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... s-13233286

[Doorzetbornandbred]

AB's just did what they always do and attacked what was perceived to be the Lions strength and nullified it. Rowntree needs to sort his shit out with the scrum "hokey cokey" scrummaging wont get us anywhere. Next 2 weeks are going to be hard going for the Lions, the AB's will get better yet.

[old-n-slo-2nd-row]

Williams played well until his knock, should have been off and that try from the high ball wouldn't have happened. Davis missed a number of tackles, including two in the build up to the first try. Scrum only came under pressure after the subs, as did the functioning of the lineout. I don't think AWJ offered anything. Kruis was nowhere near his best.

[Spy]

Haven't felt a buzz like that around Eden Park since the 2011 RWC, although I guess tonight was a more festive occasion. Less grimly serious than WC knockouts. A LOT of Lions fans, and all good humoured stuff.

I thought Read was outstanding in his first game back, and Retallick was just immense. I was surprised at how easily we broke the Lions defence down. We played a lot of rugby close to the ruck and got a lot of mileage with offloads in that area. Very smart tactics.

Pleased to see SBW really charging hard onto the ball. He did a good job. Scrum went well. Lineout not so much.

Stunning try for the Lions. Genuine standing ovation material. Generally though, their predicted game plan of smothering defence, set piece dominance and lineout drives didn't really happen for them tonight. It's looked effective against some good NZ teams, but the All Blacks beat the defensive system and counter mauled quite well.

Good game. Thoroughly enjoyable occasion.

[Banquo]

Lions could definitely still make a game of it next week. For all the NZ brilliance they scored from a quick tap when the Lions switched off, a scrum advantage when the Lions switched off and a high ball that went through Liam Williams' hands.

For me, Lions must get their line out drive going. I don't know if the AB's were doing anything dodgy sacking it repeatedly, but they need to sort it. Keep being aggressive in defence. I felt that the AB's showed some slick skills on the adv line early and after that the Lions were too quick to stand off and drift. And it was noticeable to me that they looked a bit shell shocked on a few occasions after NZ had scored. They must believe they can beat them, or everything else is pointless. And breakdown, got to get better - Warburton in on the flank and Itoje for AWJ would help.

Breakdown is the key (speed up ours, slow down theirs), plus ceding the tackle line too easily and not stopping offloads. Plus soft turnovers and overdoing the box kicks.

[Banquo]

These are great ratings for the Lions.....

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... s-13233286

ouch. Bit harsh on George, whose throwing was top notch.

[old-n-slo-2nd-row]

These are great ratings for the Lions.....

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... s-13233286

What a joke!

[Big D]

These are great ratings for the Lions.....

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... s-13233286

ouch. Bit harsh on George, whose throwing was top notch.

I thought George had a decent game. Plenty of tackles made too.

[Banquo]

These are great ratings for the Lions.....

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... s-13233286

ouch. Bit harsh on George, whose throwing was top notch.

I thought George had a decent game. Plenty of tackles made too.

me too, solid first international start

[skidger]

ouch. Bit harsh on George, whose throwing was top notch.

I thought George had a decent game. Plenty of tackles made too.

me too, solid first international start

Nice to see him eased in at Eden Park with low quality opposition.

[jared_7]

Good test match, I thought there were periods when it looked like the ABs were going to run away with it but the Lions kept going and surprised me. I don't think the injuries to Smith and Crotty helped the ABs, Cruden has stagnated and isn't a patch on Barrett and Crotty was looking solid.

The Lions try was something special and there was another break, eventually breaking down when Watson pushed a pass, that was magical as well.

In the end it probably came down to the fact the Lions had maybe 3 opportunities and converted just one, while the ABs took their 3. I suspect this may be the closest the Lions get, at least in terms of performance. The ABs are usually rusty first test and as we gel hopefully those periods of dominance will get longer and longer.

Read and Smith my two ABs MOTM. Great to see Smith back to his best and Read leading from the front.

[Adam_P]

Lawes had to be involved in the next test. He has been the form lock in the previous Lions fixtures and Kruis and AWJ were average to poor today. Yet again, the omission of Lauchbury is made to look laughable.

Though Teo went well at 12, especially defensively in the second half. Sinckler looked good when he came on, and I would have brought him on far earlier.

[skidger]

Lawes had to be involved in the next test. He has been the form lock in the previous Lions fixtures and Kruis and AWJ were average to poor today. Yet again, the omission of Lauchbury is made to look laughable.

Though Teo went well at 12, especially defensively in the second half. Sinckler looked good when he came on, and I would have brought him on far earlier.

I thought Lawes was so good in the last game that he could be even in the running to cover the back row from the bench let alone lock. I would like to see Kruis given another go but i think Lawes is needed somewhere on the pitch being a pain in the arse.

[Banquo]

Lawes had to be involved in the next test. He has been the form lock in the previous Lions fixtures and Kruis and AWJ were average to poor today. Yet again, the omission of Lauchbury is made to look laughable.

Though Teo went well at 12, especially defensively in the second half. Sinckler looked good when he came on, and I would have brought him on far earlier.

wouldn't underestimate Kruis's influence on the lineout, but he turned it over badly today.

[WaspInWales]

ESPN has Farrell down as missing two tackles. I thought he missed at least 4.

Those walesonline ratings are a piss take.

[Adam_P]

Lawes had to be involved in the next test. He has been the form lock in the previous Lions fixtures and Kruis and AWJ were average to poor today. Yet again, the omission of Lauchbury is made to look laughable.

Though Teo went well at 12, especially defensively in the second half. Sinckler looked good when he came on, and I would have brought him on far earlier.

wouldn't underestimate Kruis's influence on the lineout, but he turned it over badly today.

A good argument if our line out was faultless, but it wasn't particularly great today. He coughed up a lot of ball around the park too. Having said that though I'd still go with Kruis paired with Lawes and Itjoe on the bench.

[dk4]

Cracking game!

Well done to Lions. What a try and fantastic effort.

The difference is in the forwards. The AB forwards kept ball alive, made Lions defense go backwards and scrum was v good.

The absence of Ben Smith and Crotty had an impact on the AB defense. Suspect that probably they wont feature in next games?
do they bring fekitoa as replacement?

AB forwards pack outstanding.
They need to work on midfield defense with ALB.SBW. Wings good but must make sure they dont spill the kick boxes.

For Lions, they should not have replaced Teo. Mistake because immediately ABs started using SBW.
They need to focus on forwards and how to use their 11/14 and 15 more.

Again it was a fantastic game. As an AB fan i was v impressed with the effort of Lions.

[Banquo]

Has Bin Smuff had problems with concussion before?