Lions 2013 tour to Australia

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TarfHead

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I was looking forward to following this tour on TV. Paid extra to get SKY Sports added to my upc service for 2 months. Re-arranged commitments to get to watch Saturday games live. Enthusiasm was dulled somewhat by performances in the first two Tests.

After this morning's news, I'll likely not bother with watching the third Test live. Hope AUS win if only to create a stain on the CV of Warren Gatland.

:(
 
I think what was done to O'Driscoll was a pity (same applies in the Irish team context). Havent seen any of it - dont have Sky and not the biggest rugby fan anyway. Is it shown delayed on BBC or one of those?

Re wanting your team to lose, it happens a bit in soccer where, for the greater long term good, a loss might secure a badly needed change of management.
 
The Welsh coach, and assistant coach, picking 10 Welsh players, when there are better alternatives, is driven by pure pragmatism. Pragmatic to try to win the third Test, pragmatic to keep his Welsh players happy for when he returns to coach them in the Autumn. Graham Henry created enemies in Wales after the Lions tour in 2001 and Gatland is not going to risk repeating that mistake.

And he picked the wrong 10 Welsh players; if he's going to overpower AUS, then Evans should be in the second row ahead of Parling. And Parling should be third choice of the second rows available for selection.

He is setting the team up to play one way, and when AUS negate that way of playing, they have no Plan B. I am happy to support the Lions, but this selection is a travesty of what I understand the Lions to be. It's one thing to support your team through good times and bad, but what Gatland has done to the spirit of the Lions, and their history, is a travesty.
 
TarfHead said:
He is setting the team up to play one way, and when AUS negate that way of playing, they have no Plan B. I am happy to support the Lions, but this selection is a travesty of what I understand the Lions to be. It's one thing to support your team through good times and bad, but what Gatland has done to the spirit of the Lions, and their history, is a travesty.
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Cannot disagree with anything you've said and I share the frustration and annoyance, not just at BOD's dropping, but the style of play and selection. But, I still want them to win.
 
I lost interest in the lions series when they flew shane williams in for 1 game and off he went again. nothing against shane williams you understand. it's just when you see all the behind the scenes stuff from down the years and you hear geech/telfer/howley etc saying 'what an honour it is to wear the jersey', 'the badge gets bigger each time you win', 'this is the pinnacle' etc etc it just seems to me that it all went out the window with that one selection. the more I watch the lions the more it seems to be about branding rather than rugby. the lions have been decidedly average too. karma?

majee
 
majee said:
I lost interest in the lions series when they flew shane williams in for 1 game and off he went again. nothing against shane williams you understand. it's just when you see all the behind the scenes stuff from down the years and you hear geech/telfer/howley etc saying 'what an honour it is to wear the jersey', 'the badge gets bigger each time you win', 'this is the pinnacle' etc etc it just seems to me that it all went out the window with that one selection. the more I watch the lions the more it seems to be about branding rather than rugby. the lions have been decidedly average too. karma?

majee
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Agree. Calling up Tom Court from holidays as well. Gutted for O'Driscoll. Didn't deserve this. Having said that, the decision won't cost the Lions the match. The tactics will do that with or without O'Driscoll. Have to say, I would find it hard to get excited about a Lions victory on Saturday and I say that as a two tour vetern and huge fan of the concept.
 
I like the concept and all that but I'm not the biggest fan of WG and I agree with the comments above about the team he's selected and the one dimensional nature of the rugby they are playing. Newzealand or South Africa would make a show of this team, playing the way they are playing. The idea that the only way to score tries is on the front foot off a ruck is nonsense. There is a total lack of creativity from the team and it's not because there aren't creative players there.

I have no interest in watching the last test.
 
It would have been nice to win the third with O'Driscoll in the the team, but his performances haven't suggested that he had anything left in the tank. Heaslip has arguably been the stronger performer of the two in the the opening tests, and he is also out. It is hard to argue against Roberts and Davies playing 12 and 13, and they may well have been the opening pairing if Roberts had been there from the start.
The Lions isn't about picking players from each of the 4 countries, its about picking the best 15 from that large pool, and the Welsh have been consistently at the top for the last number of years. We still have 3 Irish starting and 1 on the bench, so why not support them?
 
I also have a problem with saying Wales have been consistently on top. How many Southern Hemisphere countries have they beaten to justify 10 starters? When did they last beat Australia? How many games in a row did they lose including against A poor Ireland team who embarrassed them in the first half? Wales are great when things are going well. They are not so great when asked serious questions. Besides the point though.

Having said that, I have no problem with Roberts coming back in. But I don't see how anyone can suggest Davies has been the better centre on this tour. Especially when you think how well Roberts and O'Driscoll played together in the last tour.

What has Philips done to justify selection?
 
There is a certain bizarre logic to dropping BOD, but I still don't agree with it. WG seems to like the powerhousing game, it has worked for Wales, but only in the 6 Nations. It nearly didn't work in the first game and nearly did work in the second. The problem is that this style of play is of no real threat to Aus, especially as they seem to be getting into their stride.

While BOD was nowhere near bad enough to justify being dropped (I think stats show he actually contributed a hell of a lot to the games), maybe he's a luxury that doesn't fit into the style. A bit like Stoke bringing in Iniesta.

I still think WG is wrong, but I can see where his flawed, wrong logic is coming from.
 
Latrade said:
WG seems to like the powerhousing game, it has worked for Wales, but only in the 6 Nations. .. The problem is that this style of play is of no real threat to Aus, especially as they seem to be getting into their stride.
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Wales have played Australia 6 times in the last 15 months. The tally is currently AUS 6-0 WAL. On Saturday, Gatland tries the same approach and hopes for a different outcome. Einsten had a pithy phrase for that behaviour :p.
 
Sunny said:
I also have a problem with saying Wales have been consistently on top. How many Southern Hemisphere countries have they beaten to justify 10 starters? When did they last beat Australia? How many games in a row did they lose including against A poor Ireland team who embarrassed them in the first half? Wales are great when things are going well. They are not so great when asked serious questions. Besides the point though.

Having said that, I have no problem with Roberts coming back in. But I don't see how anyone can suggest Davies has been the better centre on this tour. Especially when you think how well Roberts and O'Driscoll played together in the last tour.

What has Philips done to justify selection?
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On top in the northern hemisphere, which being the current grand slam winners backs up under even the most biased scrutiny. The last tour was 4 years ago, and at 34 playing 3 test games in three weeks was always going to be a tough task for the man.
 
Sunny said:
Agree. Calling up Tom Court from holidays as well. Gutted for O'Driscoll. Didn't deserve this. Having said that, the decision won't cost the Lions the match. The tactics will do that with or without O'Driscoll. Have to say, I would find it hard to get excited about a Lions victory on Saturday and I say that as a two tour vetern and huge fan of the concept.
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Agree with Sunny and majee, I think WG has done the Lions a disservice on this tour. I really feel for O'Driscoll and hope this doesn't affect his decision to remain on with Ireland for one more year. Even when you take the emotion out of it, O'Driscoll is an infinitely better player than Davies at 13. I think Gatland has played right into the hands of Australia with his selections - wins the first match (only due to the missed kicks it has to be said) and makes 5 changes to the team - loses the second and makes 6 changes - not the sign of a manager who knows his best 15!
 
Congrats to Bowe, O'Brien and Sexton for making the Welsh team to play the Aussies tomorrow. :rolleyes:
 
I think we should all probably stick to the day job and leave rugby coaching to the experts after what was a pretty darn solid performance.

:eek:
 
Latrade said:
I think we should all probably stick to the day job and leave rugby coaching to the experts after what was a pretty darn solid performance.

:eek:
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They would have won by more if O'Driscoll was playing!
 
I think any of us could have worn the #13 jersey on Saturday and the result would have been the same :rolleyes:.

If the game plan was to mince the Aussies up front, then saying selection was a rugby decision is even more questionable than it was last week.

Now, time to open a thread on Saipan :p ?

No ;) ?
 
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