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British & Irish Lions - New Zealand 2017


TrentVilla

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Is Gatland losing the plot? dropping Te'o makes no sense. Farrell and Sexton are talented, but Sonny Bill and Read will target them so much that we'll always lose ground. Also Kruise is a better option than Wyn Jones

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11 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said:

Is Gatland losing the plot? dropping Te'o makes no sense. Farrell and Sexton are talented, but Sonny Bill and Read will target them so much that we'll always lose ground. Also Kruise is a better option than Wyn Jones

I think I'm with you on the first point but not the second. Te'o can consider himself extremely unlucky not to be in and he linked up nicely with Davies in the first test. Sexton and Farrell could well have storming games though to be fair and I suppose gatland doesn't want to go down wondering what if.

However, for me Kruis can't feel hard done by. He's lost form at completely the wrong time and made handling errors in both the first test and the Maoris game. I'd potentially have gone for Lawes and Itoje but not sure how well they'd complement each other and also Lawes played 60 minutes in the week. 

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I'd also add Jack Nowell to the list of players who can consider themselves a bit unlucky. For me he's looked the most effective winger on the tour so far but he's not been given a go against the all blacks. Hopefully he'll get some proper game time tomorrow to show what he can do. He seems more suited to the game plan that Gatland was looking to use than someone like Anthony Watson for example.

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Back late last night from my quick trip down under. Following the Lions is really a great experience (so long as you're not expecting a test win!). I managed to catch the Maori game, 1st test and the game against the Hurricanes.

The general feeling from those in NZ at the moment is that Gatland hasn't a clue what he's doing. I'd say more than half of the fans down there just now are Welsh - presumably they're all hoping for a call-up due to their proximity. Team selections are generally baffling and of the ex-pros we've spoken to, most don't seem to think he knows his left hand from his right just now. 

The one odd thing about being out there is that you're hard pushed to keep up with the media and to catch replays/highlights of the games though so it's interesting catching up on the stories in the papers and online. 

Watching rugby over there really is an experience. They really know their rugby over there. Will post a couple of photos later.

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9 hours ago, choffer said:

Back late last night from my quick trip down under. Following the Lions is really a great experience (so long as you're not expecting a test win!). I managed to catch the Maori game, 1st test and the game against the Hurricanes.

The general feeling from those in NZ at the moment is that Gatland hasn't a clue what he's doing. I'd say more than half of the fans down there just now are Welsh - presumably they're all hoping for a call-up due to their proximity. Team selections are generally baffling and of the ex-pros we've spoken to, most don't seem to think he knows his left hand from his right just now. 

The one odd thing about being out there is that you're hard pushed to keep up with the media and to catch replays/highlights of the games though so it's interesting catching up on the stories in the papers and online. 

Watching rugby over there really is an experience. They really know their rugby over there. Will post a couple of photos later.

What did you think of Rotorua,choffer?

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6 hours ago, theboyangel said:

With the latest welsh, I mean Lions line up I can only see a demoralizing loss by over 15 points. 

Garland sure likes his tried and tested doesn't he? 

Another criticism which I don't really get.  There's 5 Welsh, 6 English and 4 Irish players. If we look at the Welsh players in the team we have:

Faletau - surely nobody is saying he should be dropped.

Davies - one of the better performers on tour particularly last week in the first test

Warburton - O'Mahony struggled last week so can't really argue with this one.

Williams - Probably wouldn't be in the team if Hogg hadn't got injured but did well last week.

AWJ - I wouldn't personally have him in the team but he's experienced. Took a knock last week and was ineffective but I still thought Kruis was the weaker of the two.

So I'd have 4 of the 5 in the team as pretty much no brainers. 

To be honest I think Gatlands done OK but it's a tough ask to beat one of the strongest New Zealand sides in history. I do wonder if he wishes he hadn't taken this tour in as the criticisms he's had have been way over the top and largely based on preconceptions.

Yes we probably will lose but if it's anything like last week it'll be down to all black brilliance rather than Gatland's failings. 

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9 hours ago, Derryvillan said:

What did you think of Rotorua,choffer?

The town is a bit of a dump but I've been before and always love visiting. So much to see and do there. The stadium is a bit of a throwback though. 

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1 hour ago, choffer said:

The town is a bit of a dump but I've been before and always love visiting. So much to see and do there. The stadium is a bit of a throwback though. 

Lots of NZ is lost in time really lol.

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Was so excited for this second half but it's been the ultimate letdown. Absolute shit from the Lions. Complete lack of bottle and a textbook example of how to lose a game. Need to get Webb and T'eo on ASAP. 

Edit: Haha posted immediately before the try! What a finish!

Edited by JB
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