British and Irish Lions Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Hype710

Twelvetrees is someone who's put his name in the hat. I think he's pretty inconsistent so he'd have to back up today's performance but he looked very threatening and offers something different to the other contenders.

WorldRugby99

Hype710 wrote: »

Twelvetrees is someone who's put his name in the hat. I think he's pretty inconsistent so he'd have to back up today's performance but he looked very threatening and offers something different to the other contenders.

inconsistent?was his first cap wasnt it lol! surely England will go twelvetrees/tuilagi-could be some pairing. Barritts a good player,but just doesnt offer the all round game you surely need to be a top class international. early days but twelvetrees has more potential.

was really impressed with hogg and maitland-with visser too,thats a back 3 with serious pace and attacking potential-one area scottish fans can be really positive about. At least one of them could make lions.

You cant base too much on one game,but jamie heaslip was outshone by faletau today and morgan went well for england before injury so 8 not perhaps the foregone conclusion it was.

clsmooth

Hype710 wrote: »

Twelvetrees is someone who's put his name in the hat. I think he's pretty inconsistent so he'd have to back up today's performance but he looked very threatening and offers something different to the other contenders.

True, but one game vs Scotland doesnt prove anything just yet. I'd love to see a 12 Tuilagi 13 BOD combo. Tuilagi to run at Cooper. BOD to pull the strings second phase. Can't see a Roberts Tuilagi combo, its too one dimensional, although raw physicalty should be enough to put the aussies away.

clsmooth

WorldRugby99 wrote: »

inconsistent?was his first cap wasnt it lol! surely England will go twelvetrees/tuilagi-could be some pairing. Barritts a good player,but just doesnt offer the all round game you surely need to be a top class international. early days but twelvetrees has more potential.

was really impressed with hogg and maitland-with visser too,thats a back 3 with serious pace and attacking potential-one area scottish fans can be really positive about. At least one of them could make lions.

You cant base too much on one game,but jamie heaslip was outshone by faletau today and morgan went well for england before injury so 8 not perhaps the foregone conclusion it was.

Wouldnt have Visser near the first 15. He's midweek team standard. Hogg's in with a chance of the 22 jersey. Gray will start in second row. I'd pair him with Hines (although he won't tour). Lawes should go, AWJ too and Donnacha Ryan depending on the numbers they take in the second row.

WorldRugby99

clsmooth wrote: »

True, but one game vs Scotland doesnt prove anything just yet. I'd love to see a 12 Tuilagi 13 BOD combo. Tuilagi to run at Cooper. BOD to pull the strings second phase. Can't see a Roberts Tuilagi combo, its too one dimensional, although raw physicalty should be enough to put the aussies away.

he may be a gatland favourite and therefore already on the plane but on current form jamie roberts does not deserve to be on the tour. jon davies didnt cover himself in glory today either.Both will need bigger performances over coming weeks.BOD was a bit behind but has had a good first game.

Hype710

clsmooth wrote: »

True, but one game vs Scotland doesnt prove anything just yet. I'd love to see a 12 Tuilagi 13 BOD combo. Tuilagi to run at Cooper. BOD to pull the strings second phase. Can't see a Roberts Tuilagi combo, its too one dimensional, although raw physicalty should be enough to put the aussies away.

Yeah that's what I'd like to see too, although I wouldn't rule out Davies. Had a shocker today but is usually class.

Tox56

WorldRugby99 wrote: »

he may be a gatland favourite and therefore already on the plane but on current form jamie roberts does not deserve to be on the tour. jon davies didnt cover himself in glory today either.Both will need bigger performances over coming weeks.BOD was a bit behind but has had a good first game.

He has been the Lions 13 for the last 3 tours, and that has to count for something. If he isn't playing well enough he obviously shouldn't start, but in a tight call that should come into the equation

clsmooth

Hype710 wrote: »

Yeah that's what I'd like to see too, although I wouldn't rule out Davies. Had a shocker today but is usually class.

He's a good player, but if BOD keeps playing as he is, he's still a class above him (even at this stage in his career). Have to say BOD's looked awesome ever game I've seen him play this year. Barring injury, he's still easily good enough to plsy another season internationally and be one of the players of the tournament. He's ridiculous.

Swiwi

clsmooth wrote: »

True, but one game vs Scotland doesnt prove anything just yet. I'd love to see a 12 Tuilagi 13 BOD combo. Tuilagi to run at Cooper. BOD to pull the strings second phase. Can't see a Roberts Tuilagi combo, its too one dimensional, although raw physicalty should be enough to put the aussies away.

I'm pretty sure Aussie will put Cooper at 15 on defence, 10 on attack. It's an old Deans trick that he's used before, both with Cooper and with Mehrtens for the Crusaders way back in the day.

Swiwi

WorldRugby99 wrote: »

inconsistent?was his first cap wasnt it lol! surely England will go twelvetrees/tuilagi-could be some pairing. Barritts a good player,but just doesnt offer the all round game you surely need to be a top class international. early days but twelvetrees has more potential.

was really impressed with hogg and maitland-with visser too,thats a back 3 with serious pace and attacking potential-one area scottish fans can be really positive about. At least one of them could make lions.

You cant base too much on one game,but jamie heaslip was outshone by faletau today and morgan went well for england before injury so 8 not perhaps the foregone conclusion it was.

I think Visser has issues with reading a game, and defensive positioning etc. He has potential, but I don't think Lions material yet. Maitland was absolutely on fire for the Crusaders in either 2010 or 2011 (I forget which), and has the potential, but was actually let go by Blackadder this year, hence one of the reasons he took the Scottish opportunity. I think he would need a massive 6N to make the Lions, which realistically with Scotland will be difficult.

Kiwi_knock

Cooper will be protected as much as possible, expect him to do very little in defence.

What do people see as the starting Aussie back line. I think it will be Genia, Cooper, Ioane, Barnes, Ashley-Cooper, O'Connor, Beale. It could be Pat McCabe instead of Barnes.

Swiwi

Kiwi_knock wrote: »

Cooper will be protected as much as possible, expect him to do very little in defence.

What do people see as the starting Aussie back line. I think it will be Genia, Cooper, Ioane, Barnes, Ashley-Cooper, O'Connor, Beale. It could be Pat McCabe instead of Barnes.

From 9 to 15: Genia, Beale, Ioane, McCabe, Ashley-Cooper, O'Connor, Barnes

But the Brumbies 10 (Christian Lealiifano) was very good last season, and would almost certainly have made the Aussie squad but for a season-ending injury at the end of the S15.

I'm not sure Cooper will make the team, unless he has a good S15. I think he has been found out at international level, and given the Aussies are unlikely to utterly dominate the forward battle, you need a 10 who can play off back-foot ball. Cooper is not that man.

sock puppet

I'd like to see Launchbury go. He looks like he'll very good player player. Don't think Hogg covering across the backline will be necessary with Farrell there either. So someone like Zebo, Gilroy or Brown could make the bench too.

Not to say none of the above could start (well probably not Brown) either.

pickarooney

Any chance Kearney won't make the squad? alfpenny is the clear front runner at 15 and there'll have to be a couple of Scots. Hogg might go in that case.

Swiwi

pickarooney wrote: »

Any chance Kearney won't make the squad? alfpenny is the clear front runner at 15 and there'll have to be a couple of Scots. Hogg might go in that case.

I think it's possible. If you take off Irish-tinted glasses, Halfpenny has been outstanding all season, and is clearly the Lions 15 at present, especially with his goalkicking ability. Therefore Kearney is in a battle with Hogg and the English 15s for the other 15 spot. In his favour, he was a standout in 2009, so has shown he can perform at a high level, but I thought he was pretty quiet yesterday.

Chabals Beard

Zebo is a starter if he keeps ups this form .. he is electrifying

rrpc

Swiwi wrote: »

I think it's possible. If you take off Irish-tinted glasses, Halfpenny has been outstanding all season, and is clearly the Lions 15 at present, especially with his goalkicking ability. Therefore Kearney is in a battle with Hogg and the English 15s for the other 15 spot. In his favour, he was a standout in 2009, so has shown he can perform at a high level, but I thought he was pretty quiet yesterday.

To be fair to Kearney, he's only back a couple of games now and has missed a huge amount of test rugby. He's got this six nations to get up to speed and hopefully will improve match by match.

It's too early yet for those kind of decisions, there could well be bolters who'll put their hands up during the 6N and it'll be only when the dust settles that the picture will become clearer. Even then, there'll be a fair bit of rugby to be played between March and the end of the season, so injuries could also be a factor.

Hype710

Kearney will 100% be on the plane. IMO they should take 3 full backs and 4 wings, as opposed to 2 FBs and 5 wings the last time. So Kearney, Halfpenny and Hogg/Foden for me, with the latter covering other positions.

thomond2006

Kearney was one of the best performers in the 2009 test series.

Hype710

If there was an injury or two on the wings I wouldn't be overly surprised to see Halfpenny there and Kearney at FB.

evil_seed

After yesterday this is my Lions starting XV. And when I say after yesterday, I'm going by yesterdays performance ONLY

Halfpenny, Cuthbert, O'Driscoll, Roberts, North, Sexton, Youngs, Healy, Best, Cole, Ryan, Parling, O'Brien, Tipuric, Faleteau

pickarooney

I think England's not picking and sticking with one full-back may mean none of them travel. Goode or Browne offer nothing for me and if they don't have confidence in Foden for whatever reason then Gatland probably shouldn't either.

evil_seed wrote: »

After yesterday this is my Lions starting XV. And when I say after yesterday, I'm going by yesterdays performance ONLY

Halfpenny, Cuthbert, O'Driscoll, Roberts, North, Sexton, Youngs, Healy, Best, Cole, Ryan, Parling, O'Brien, Tipuric, Faleteau

You don't think Ashton or Zebo played better than the Welsh wings yesterday?

Fishooks13

evil_seed wrote: »

After yesterday this is my Lions starting XV. And when I say after yesterday, I'm going by yesterdays performance ONLY

Halfpenny, Cuthbert, O'Driscoll, Roberts, North, Sexton, Youngs, Healy, Best, Cole, Ryan, Parling, O'Brien, Tipuric, Faleteau

On yesterdays performance you can't really say Roberts was that good. Twelvetrees was brilliant for England

And Zebo was much better than Cuthburt and North. Same with Mike Brown

rrpc

Fishooks13 wrote: »

On yesterdays performance you can't really say Roberts was that good. Twelvetrees was brilliant for England

And Zebo was much better than Cuthburt and North. Same with Mike Brown

36 is a bit of a one trick pony. He constantly runs at an angle around the corner and relies on a dummy to gain him yards. Better defences will eat him up.

Fishooks13

rrpc wrote: »

36 is a bit of a one trick pony. He constantly runs at an angle around the corner and relies on a dummy to gain him yards. Better defences will eat him up.

Ah ya but he was better than Roberts yesterday, which was my point because the poster said they were basing it on yesterdays games only

danthefan

Fishooks13 wrote: »

On yesterdays performance you can't really say Roberts was that good. Twelvetrees was brilliant for England

And Zebo was much better than Cuthburt and North. Same with Mike Brown

Zebo barely touched the ball yesterday, one of the touches was a once-in-a-career mad flick, I doubt it'll be considered when the Lions team is being picked. Don't think you can say he was "much better" than anyone tbh.

pickarooney

rrpc wrote: »

36 is a bit of a one trick pony. He constantly runs at an angle around the corner and relies on a dummy to gain him yards. Better defences will eat him up.

You need a particular accent for that to make sense. I'd go with 'Copse'.

Fishooks13

danthefan wrote: »

Zebo barely touched the ball yesterday, one of the touches was a once-in-a-career mad flick, I doubt it'll be considered when the Lions team is being picked. Don't think you can say he was "much better" than anyone tbh.

Much better might have been ott considering he didn't get much ball. But I don't think anyone can say Cuthbert or North were better than him

North was very quiet and Cuthbert (nice line for his own try aside) was awful in defense for Zebo's try

Zebo was good in defense, made a few nice touches, scored a try and played a huge part in another

Tox56

Swiwi wrote: »

I think it's possible. If you take off Irish-tinted glasses, Halfpenny has been outstanding all season, and is clearly the Lions 15 at present, especially with his goalkicking ability. Therefore Kearney is in a battle with Hogg and the English 15s for the other 15 spot. In his favour, he was a standout in 2009, so has shown he can perform at a high level, but I thought he was pretty quiet yesterday.

Excellent in 2009 and just last season he was European player of the year, and I think they will keep that stuff in mind. There's a lot of time left for Hogg or anyone else to make a big claim, but if it comes down to a 50/50 call Kearney has a lot on his side.

funtime93

I recall people destroying me in this thread a few months back for saying Zebo has a better chance of starting than Visser and look at him now.