British and Irish Lions Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

thomond2006 · 21-09-2012 12:01am

Hartley being Lions captain would make me physically ill.

wicklowwonder · 21-09-2012 12:01am

Podge_irl wrote: »

I think the Sky influence is massively over-rated. Best is a better hooker then Hartley, end of. Hartley will probably travel but I get the impression he'd make a poor tourist. As for him being captain, not in a million and one years.

I think many things of Gatland, but him being easily swayed by public opinion is not one of them.

I hope your right. Be awful see Hartley starting.

danthefan · 21-09-2012 12:03am

Hartley is not a bad player. People dislike him and it colours opinions of how good a rugby player he is. I would say he's overwhelmingly likely to travel.

Captain though - not a hope.

Cpt_Blackbeard · 21-09-2012 12:07am

thomond2006 wrote: »

Hartley being Lions captain would make me physically ill.

The captain has to be liked and/or respected by all the other lads on tour. I don't know if Hartley fills either of those criteria.

totallegend · 21-09-2012 12:15am

Podge_irl wrote: »

I think the Sky influence is massively over-rated. Best is a better hooker then Hartley, end of. Hartley will probably travel but I get the impression he'd make a poor tourist. As for him being captain, not in a million and one years.

I think many things of Gatland, but him being easily swayed by public opinion is not one of them.

Hooker is not a position of great depth for the Lions; England have no-one other than Hartley, Scotland have no-one full stop and Rees is very injury prone.

We could well see Best and Strauss out there.

danthefan · 21-09-2012 12:17am

totallegend wrote: »

Hooker is not a position of great depth for the Lions; England have no-one other than Hartley, Scotland have no-one full stop and Rees is very injury prone.

We could well see Best and Strauss out there.

?

You don't rate Ross Ford obviously.

jacothelad · 21-09-2012 12:20am

danthefan wrote: »

?

You don't rate Ross Ford obviously.

Neither do I. Watch him in a game. He is a woeful rugby player at the highest level.

Podge_irl · 21-09-2012 12:20am

I rate Ford at a reasonable level, though if Gatland only brings three hookers he could well see himself losing out to Hartley, Best and Rees. Personally I would have Hartley and Best competing for the jersey with Rees a bit behind (I'd actually probably take Ford over Rees but doubt Gatland will). There is a bit of a fall off after Best/Hartley.

danthefan · 21-09-2012 12:30am

Podge_irl wrote: »

I rate Ford at a reasonable level, though if Gatland only brings three hookers he could well see himself losing out to Hartley, Best and Rees. Personally I would have Hartley and Best competing for the jersey with Rees a bit behind (I'd actually probably take Ford over Rees but doubt Gatland will). There is a bit of a fall off after Best/Hartley.

Just had a look at some previous squads, some had 3 hookers and some 4, so there's a call to be made there. Best and Rees I would think are certainties.

totallegend · 21-09-2012 12:38am

danthefan wrote: »

totallegend wrote: »

Hooker is not a position of great depth for the Lions; England have no-one other than Hartley, Scotland have no-one full stop and Rees is very injury prone.

We could well see Best and Strauss out there.

?

You don't rate Ross Ford obviously.

No, not really. I know he was picked for the last tour but I reckon he benefited from lack of alternatives and the need to have a few Scots there.

Fishooks12 · 21-09-2012 2:36am

Ford is a decent if not spectacular hooker. Really don't think he would have started during the last tour had Jerry not been injured or had Best being playing to the standard he is now.

Right now the two best options are Best and Strauss. Which ever has the number 2 shirt for Ireland come May will probably be the front runner. Bar a major shake up of the books from Ford or Hartley, which I can't see happening bar their limitationss

bamboozle · 21-09-2012 9:29am

Fishooks12 wrote: »

Ford is a decent if not spectacular hooker. Really don't think he would have started during the last tour had Jerry not been injured or had Best being playing to the standard he is now.

Right now the two best options are Best and Strauss. Which ever has the number 2 shirt for Ireland come May will probably be the front runner. Bar a major shake up of the books from Ford or Hartley, which I can't see happening bar their limitationss

there's a chance that 3 Irish hookers could be selected...

Best is top hooker in NH, cronin and Strauss are made for the hard ground.
Hartley's discipline, penchant for biting and unpopularity with opposition players will not work in his favour of selection never mind captaincy. Ford's lineout is a lottery at the highest level.

Also, i think Sky will be too busy trumpeting the selection of Robshaw as captain and messers Lawes, Farrell, Tuilagi, Barrett, Morgan & Flood as potential tourists - none of whom maybe bar Robshaw & Lawes i think should travel.

thomond2006 · 28-09-2012 10:02pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/19767289

Dan Lydiate suffered a broken and dislocated ankle tonight. He's a definite tourist as it stands.

Podge_irl · 28-09-2012 10:04pm

Bloody awful news for Dragons more so - easily their best player sidelined. He was a definite tourist but faced stiff competition to start, at least it is somewhere there is a lot of options available.

irishbucsfan · 28-09-2012 10:10pm

Ah he'll be back and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him push his way back into the team

bilston · 15-10-2012 7:16pm

Sky are doing a Lions index after each HEC round this season. It's based on their pundits who rate all the players out of 10 and then they take the highest and lowest scores and work out an average for each player. It's a bit of fun really. I assume the points will be carried over each week so it may give some ideas on form eventually.

Noticeable picks from week 1 are Marshall and Zebo. Cipriani gets in as does Nick Easter. Tom Hayes gets a mention as do Chris Henry and Iain Henderson though none of those three are first choice.

Adam Jones at TH is probably the only player picked first in week 1 that will actually make the test team although Jonathan Davies and Chris Robshaw will doubtless be close.

totallegend · 15-10-2012 7:37pm

Stephen Jones in yesterday's ST said that Dylan Hartley is favourite for the #2 jersey. How odd.

Fishooks12 · 15-10-2012 7:38pm

totallegend wrote: »

Stephen Jones in yesterday's ST said that Dylan Hartley is favourite for the #2 jersey. How odd.

Might have something to do with the fact that Jones is a complete tool

cgpg5 · 15-10-2012 7:47pm

Any chance he said Henson for 12 aswell? :pac:

bilston · 15-10-2012 7:48pm

totallegend wrote: »

Stephen Jones in yesterday's ST said that Dylan Hartley is favourite for the #2 jersey. How odd.

The same Stephen Jones who said the Lions should have brought Henson and not BOD in 2009?

cgpg5 · 15-10-2012 7:53pm

bilston wrote: »

The same Stephen Jones who said the Lions should have brought Henson and not BOD in 2009?

He said POC shouldn't have started in 09 aswell iirc despite him being bloody cpatain.

Think the Henson one was in a team he picked in Summer 2010 when he was asked what would current lions team be. Was still utterly ridiculous, but I'd doubt many take him seriously anyway

Swiwi · 15-10-2012 7:54pm

Fishooks12 wrote: »

Might have something to do with the fact that Jones is a complete tool

I'll second that.

Swiwi · 15-10-2012 7:55pm

bilston wrote: »

The same Stephen Jones who said the Lions should have brought Henson and not BOD in 2009?

And that Shanklin should start ahead of BOD. Luckily, he was ignored (if anyone was listening to him in the first place), and Roberts + BOD was awesome.

cgpg5 · 15-10-2012 7:59pm

Barring something extraordinary you'd have to imagine Best is a shoe-in for 2. It'll be hard to pick a side alright, on current form the only certs are A.Jones, Gray, Roberts, North, Sexton and Best for me. Some very wide open positions

irishbucsfan · 15-10-2012 8:09pm

I would not be amazed if he won the jersey in the absence of Best. Yes he's a prat, but he would be our prat. He seems to be a pretty respected leader within the teams he plays in and he seems like a sharp guy.

Best is well ahead of him though for me. If Best got injured I wouldn't be appalled to see Hartley playing. He's a tough committed player and he'll wind the Ozzies right up.

15-10-2012 8:13pm

Currently
Best >> Strauss >> Hartley >>>>>>>>>>> Ford

Swiwi · 15-10-2012 8:26pm

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would not be amazed if he won the jersey in the absence of Best. Yes he's a prat, but he would be our prat. He seems to be a pretty respected leader within the teams he plays in and he seems like a sharp guy.

Best is well ahead of him though for me. If Best got injured I wouldn't be appalled to see Hartley playing. He's a tough committed player and he'll wind the Ozzies right up.

Especially as he's a Kiwi (even if he has gone well & truly beyond the pale in playing for England)

Ciaran-Irl · 15-10-2012 8:33pm

cgpg5 wrote: »

Barring something extraordinary you'd have to imagine Best is a shoe-in for 2. It'll be hard to pick a side alright, on current form the only certs are A.Jones, Gray, Roberts, North, Sexton and Best for me. Some very wide open positions

Gray is far from a test spot. He has been absolutely rubbish for Sale, who are bottom of the Premiership. Gray has been absolutely found out as miles off the pace in the tight. Yeah, he is a great ball carrier, but is that really what the Lions will want from their second rows? People appear to be wise to him now, and he could well have a serious case of second season syndrome.

Swiwi · 15-10-2012 8:36pm

Ciaran-Irl wrote: »

Gray is far from a test spot. He has been absolutely rubbish for Sale, who are bottom of the Premiership. Gray has been absolutely found out as miles off the pace in the tight. Yeah, he is a great ball carrier, but is that really what the Lions will want from their second rows? People appear to be wise to him now, and he could well have a serious case of second season syndrome.

Good coaching is what he needs. He has the raw goods. I'm sure Gatland is up to the task.

Tox56 · 15-10-2012 8:42pm

Ciaran-Irl wrote: »

Gray is far from a test spot. He has been absolutely rubbish for Sale, who are bottom of the Premiership. Gray has been absolutely found out as miles off the pace in the tight. Yeah, he is a great ball carrier, but is that really what the Lions will want from their second rows? People appear to be wise to him now, and he could well have a serious case of second season syndrome.

Australia aren't exactly known for their tight 5 though. If the Lions play an expansive game, he would fit in pretty well in that. Guarantees lineout ball for set-piece moves and can carry well for a second row.

British and Irish Lions Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

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