3 x Welshmen 23 - Australia 21....discuss

prb007
prb007 Posts: 703
edited June 2013 in The cake stop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP9g6ixh ... r_embedded

Awesome display today, justifies Gats' decision to select 8 welshmen in the starting line-up, AFAIC.
Light blue touchpaper aaaand retreat....
If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
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Comments

  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,921
    Will never know if selecting all those sheep admirers restricted the points gap to 2 will we? :lol:
  • prb007
    prb007 Posts: 703
    Baaa... :D
    If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
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  • jezzpalmer
    jezzpalmer Posts: 389
    edited June 2013
    The other 3 nations need to up their game for the next test; Lions were damn lucky today. If the Aussies could kick they'd have been stuffed.
    Still damn satisfying, no matter how ugly a win's a win and all that. :D
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    It was awful!! A Full strength Aus (hell, just an Aus with a kicker) would have battered us!!

    One of those times where I feel slightly ashamed to have won

    (I say I/we, you know what I mean)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • prb007
    prb007 Posts: 703
    ddraver wrote:
    It was awful!! A Full strength Aus (hell, just an Aus with a kicker) would have battered us!!

    One of those times where I feel slightly ashamed to have won

    (I say I/we, you know what I mean)

    Awful? Beating the Aussies in their own backyard, along with a classic individual try (see link in OP).
    Strange adjective, 'awful'.
    Narrow margins in top-flight rugby, these days, I'll take that one, as a rugby fan tvm.
    Be interesting to see how the second test unfolds...
    If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
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  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    I know the welsh are nt used to it in fairness... ;)

    That Johnny Sexton's a bit good though.
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • vitesse169
    vitesse169 Posts: 422
    +1 for most of the above.... All tour it's been the welsh holding the lions together as a squad. But then, look at the 6 nations over the last few years - the welsh have been consistantly good...

    edit - I'm English BTW...
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    Phillips was the worst player on the pitch today. Hate saying it but Youngs, Corbeseiro and Croft impressed me together with Sexton. North and Cuthbert are natural finishers plus North is going out with a member of my cycling club and comes along to the kids coaching sessions occasionally so gets bonus points. Halfpenny is pretty much flawless at kicking goals, taking high balls and making tackles. That said Genia was by far the best player on the pitch. Really felt for Beale and hope it doesn't affect him too badly on his return from such bad problems. Gatland changed the front row too early IMHO, scrum looked far weaker after the changes.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Philips is so one-dimensional it hurts. He's big and strong, but that's it. Put a man on him to get in his face at the breakdown and you completely nullify his entire game.

    Other than that, it was a good performance by the Lions. Thought O'Driscoll was a bit quiet. Will be interesting to see what happens if Jamie Roberts is fit for next week.
  • Mike Healey
    Mike Healey Posts: 1,023
    How well I remember the British & Irish Lions (population 60m and 4m sheep) taking on and finally beating the mighty All Blacks (pop. 4m and 60m sheep)
    Organising the Bradford Kids Saturday Bike Club at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre since 1998
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  • RDW
    RDW Posts: 1,900
    prb007 wrote:

    Right at the end, North seems to take out Genia using Jedi powers!
  • FatTed
    FatTed Posts: 1,205
    Prb007
    Please no spoilers in thread title.
  • prb007
    prb007 Posts: 703
    FatTed wrote:
    Prb007
    Please no spoilers in thread title.
    Apologies...I assumed, 8hrs after kickoff, that the result was common knowledge.
    My bad...
    For those of you in God's country (and maybe some in the West Country?),
    the Junior World Cup final is on S4C at 17.45 , later.
    England v Wales...the lions of the future.
    England beat NZ, Wales beat SA, to both qualify for the final...
    If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
    Planet X Ti Sportive for Sportives & tours
    Orange Alpine 160 for Afan,Alps & dodging trees
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  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    prb007 wrote:
    FatTed wrote:
    Prb007
    Please no spoilers in thread title.
    Apologies...I assumed, 8hrs after kickoff, that the result was common knowledge.
    My bad...
    For those of you in God's country (and anyone else in the country with digital TV),
    the Junior World Cup final is on S4C at 17.45 , later.
    England v Wales...the lions of the future.
    England beat NZ, Wales beat SA, to both qualify for the final...

    Fixed :wink:
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    image_zps56cecee2.jpg
  • prb007
    prb007 Posts: 703
    Pross wrote:
    image_zps56cecee2.jpg
    :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
    If Wales was flattened out, it'd be bigger than England!
    Planet X Ti Sportive for Sportives & tours
    Orange Alpine 160 for Afan,Alps & dodging trees
    Singlespeed Planet X Kaffenback for dodging potholes
    An On-One Inbred for hard-tail shenanigans...
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    Would have been up for this but won't buy in to the sky machine and no highlights anywhere else...
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Would have been up for this but won't buy in to the sky machine and no highlights anywhere else...

    Had a similar problem, I've got Sky but not Sky Sports. Luckily my parents have and Sky Go has been invented!
  • dai_t75
    dai_t75 Posts: 189
    Pross wrote:
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Would have been up for this but won't buy in to the sky machine and no highlights anywhere else...

    Had a similar problem, I've got Sky but not Sky Sports. Luckily my parents have and Sky Go has been invented!

    Yep, I 'borrow' my parents subscription through my xbox :twisted:
  • RDW
    RDW Posts: 1,900
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Would have been up for this but won't buy in to the sky machine and no highlights anywhere else...

    Don't the pubs have TVs in Cornwall? :)
  • simonhead
    simonhead Posts: 1,399
    Didnt enjoy it except for the try, good posession and territory but the team had no ruthless streak. OK 1 very good try but the Aussies were caught napping, North had no back up. As pointed out if the Aussies had kicked well it would have been a different result. I think the Lions will still win the series but will suffer a defeat in the last game.
    Life isnt like a box of chocolates, its like a bag of pic n mix.
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,366
    simonhead wrote:
    Didnt enjoy it except for the try, good posession and territory but the team had no ruthless streak. OK 1 very good try but the Aussies were caught napping, North had no back up. As pointed out if the Aussies had kicked well it would have been a different result. I think the Lions will still win the series but will suffer a defeat in the last game.

    Nerves absolutely shredded by the end - still a magical win though.

    Phillips was far from good. Apart from anything else, missed the (easy?) tackle on Genia - a mistake that led to the first try by (the excellent) Folau.

    Cuthbert quiet except for his try (which was finished beautifully but I think Zebo could replace him in Melbourne), North majestic at times, Halfpenny almost faultless, AWJ hardworking, Warburton pragmatic but not outstanding. Davies uninvolved for most of the game despite being my player of the tour so far - Adam Jones is a legend. Is that all the Welshmen?

    BOD - as Davies.

    I would think that Tom Youngs could easily be man of the match for that first test. We will miss O'Connell and Corbiseiro massively in Melbourne and need to make more use of Croft's unique talents - what an opportunity for (assume) Parling and Vunipola in the second test!

    Sexton good enough to go again but, up until Saturday, I have to say I think Farrell has played better rugby.

    IMHO, the single biggest factor in the closeness of the game was the refereeing . . . it was awful and very much biased (not intentionally) toward Australia. There were some truly jaw dropping decisions at the breakdown.
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  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    Please not Vunipola in the second test! He's great and doing the Gethin Jenkins role of extra flanker but the scrums really suffered when he came on. Is there no other loose head option??? Agree on most of the rest though. Unfortunately the Lions never really gave the dangerous backs enough opportunities. Part of me would like to see Lydiate in for the second test as he would stop those dangerous Genia runs at source but then Croft had a decent game even though his tackle count was low for a blindside. Wonder if he could fill in at second row for O'Connell but then there'd be a loss of bulk and probably better having a specialist there.
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,366
    Pross wrote:
    Please not Vunipola in the second test! He's great and doing the Gethin Jenkins role of extra flanker but the scrums really suffered when he came on. Is there no other loose head option??? Agree on most of the rest though. Unfortunately the Lions never really gave the dangerous backs enough opportunities. Part of me would like to see Lydiate in for the second test as he would stop those dangerous Genia runs at source but then Croft had a decent game even though his tackle count was low for a blindside. Wonder if he could fill in at second row for O'Connell but then there'd be a loss of bulk and probably better having a specialist there.

    Remember that ALL of the front row changed (Cole and Hibbard too) at the time that Vunipola came on - a lot was made in the commentary about Vunipola and the ineptitude of the scrum without mentioning the other two. Cole was the one who looked compromised to me - perhaps because of the ridiculous way that the scrummage was refereed. A alternative to Vunipola could be Court . . . frankly, I have played with better scrummagers and he is not a patch on Vunipola around the park.

    As far as Croft goes, he is not your run-of-the-mill 6. I believe that Gatland has asked him to stand wide in order to create mis-matches in the centres and use his amazing (for a big lad) pace - he's not going to make as many tackles if that is the case and the other back/2nd row forwards will need to up their tackle count accordingly. He can fill in at second row but I think Parling will be the replacement for O'Connell there.

    Frankly, I can't wait!!
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • gimpl
    gimpl Posts: 269
    Pross wrote:
    Please not Vunipola in the second test! He's great and doing the Gethin Jenkins role of extra flanker but the scrums really suffered when he came on. Is there no other loose head option??? Agree on most of the rest though. Unfortunately the Lions never really gave the dangerous backs enough opportunities. Part of me would like to see Lydiate in for the second test as he would stop those dangerous Genia runs at source but then Croft had a decent game even though his tackle count was low for a blindside. Wonder if he could fill in at second row for O'Connell but then there'd be a loss of bulk and probably better having a specialist there.

    I agree. I don't think Croft has done much wrong however I think we need more 'dog' to begin with and DL certainly offers that. I also think that would make Warburton and Phillips more effective too so double bonus. Bring Croft on with 20 minutes to go and let him run rings around them when they're knackered. I also think TF would be better at eight than JH to start. Think if we had had that back row Genia would not have been able to break away to set up the try.

    I'd also like to see Paul James drafted in quick like to replace Corbs in the front row. I think he is one of the really unfortunate ones to miss out.

    Overall I think it was a poor performance and the good news is that Gats will not be satisfied - hoping for a significant improvement on Saturday.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    Yep, I think one of the reasons Warburton appeared out of form at the start of the season was that he was having to do more tackling himself. With Lydiate there knocking down anyone in sight it gives Warburton a chance to get over the tackled player and do some jackalling earning some turnovers.

    I also agree with Laurentian that Cole was part of the problem with the scrum going downhill. Ever since he came on the scene I've felt people have given him too much credit as a scrummager, he just doesn't seem able to get low enough. At least Vunipola is useful in the loose but Cole doesn't even help there. I assumed Paul James was injured when he wasn't called up to replace Jenkins? If not then it seems strange that he still has been called out, as a scrummaging prop I prefer him to Jenkins and he's able to cover both sides.

    Couple of cracking tries in the match today so far and some other excellent runs where the final pass hasn't quite gone to hand.
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,366
    Lydiate had made 13 tackles by half time in the Rebels game . . . 13!! The man is a machine.

    I think that Dan Cole has an excellent all round game including in the scrummage - he's great on the floor. I do think that the refereeing was a major factor in the BILs impotence in the scrum as they were desperate not to give away any penalties.

    That devastating run to set up the try means it looks like Tuilagi will be in contention in Tests 2 and 3. I think Jonathan Davies has been superb on this tour but we do need someone to get over that gain line in the middle of the park and Tuilagi stands more chance of doing that than Davies.
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    I would play Tuilagi at 12 and Davies at 13, BOD is past his best and although he occassionally shows glimpses of his old self they are fairly infrequent these days. I'm a fan of Twelvetrees too. Decent result there and good to see them so determined to nil the opposition. The one point of concern though was that the Lions didn't protect the rucks well enough and the Rebels really attacked them there, if they do that against the Aussies they'll get punished. Lydiate took it easy second half so only ended up with 16 tackles I think, lazy git :lol:
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,366
    I wouldn't be upset about that selection - as I said, Davies has been one of the stand out performers. I think you're right insofar as BOD has lost a bit of that pace but some of his off loads and delayed passes really can put players outside him in to space - I think it would be a huge call on Gatland's part to leave him out. Before the tour started, I thought that if Aus were frightened by one player, Tuilagi was that player and I'd love to see him start now that Roberts seems to be out of the picture after a relatively quiet few weeks in Aus.
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  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    Roberts and Corbisero looking very doubtful according to twitter...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver