British and Irish Lions Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Swiwi

sting60 wrote: »

Change of topic but just listening to talk sport and joost Van Der Westhuizen the brilliant Springbok.He is terminally ill with zero chance of getting better.He sounds very very sick indeed but my god is he a brave man.

He has motor neurone disease, and the average life expectancy is about 5 years. It's hard to know what to say in such situations, as "get well soon" is trite since it's unrealistic, the best I can say is that he was an absolutely fantastic scrumhalf, universally respected & feared in equal measure in NZ, and as it's quite hard to get the NZ public to acknowledge players from other countries, that says it all. Hopefully with modern medical therapy he can exceed expectations, and I would wish him well.

Swiwi

.ak wrote: »

I hope so. But tendions are a funny thing.

Tendions, British & Irish Lions

.ak

Swiwi wrote: »

Tendions, British & Irish Lions

That's how we be spelling tendons today. :cool:

thomond2006

Swiwi wrote: »

He has motor neurone disease, and the average life expectancy is about 5 years. It's hard to know what to say in such situations, as "get well soon" is trite since it's unrealistic, the best I can say is that he was an absolutely fantastic scrumhalf, universally respected & feared in equal measure in NZ, and as it's quite hard to get the NZ public to acknowledge players from other countries, that says it all. Hopefully with modern medical therapy he can exceed expectations, and I would wish him well.

This was a recent interview with him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsmFWrY8wzU

Poor guy.

schools rugby

Big weekend now for Conor Murray - Another big performance from him puts him in contention going into the Heineken

trouttrout

Really not as confident of a series win as I was six months ago

If I had to take a crack at naming a 23 now I'd go with:

1 Healy
2 Best
3 Jones
4 Launchbury
5 D Ryan
6 SOB
7 Tipuric
8 Beattie
9 Youngs
10 Sexton
11 North
12 Tualagi
13 BOD
14 Luke Fitzgerald
15 Halfpenney

16 Youngs
17 Marler
18 Cole
19 Wyn Jones
20 Armitage
21 Murray
22 Farrell
23 Hogg

Swiwi

trouttrout wrote: »

Really not as confident of a series win as I was six months ago

If I had to take a crack at naming a 23 now I'd go with:

1 Healy
2 Best
3 Jones
4 Launchbury
5 D Ryan
6 SOB
7 Tipuric
8 Beattie
9 Youngs
10 Sexton
11 North
12 Tualagi
13 BOD
14 Luke Fitzgerald
15 Halfpenney

16 Youngs
17 Marler
18 Cole
19 Wyn Jones
20 Armitage
21 Murray
22 Farrell
23 Hogg

I don't think Aussie will be as weak as people might (hope to) think. It's a shame Pocock is out, but Hooper & Gill are more than able replacements. I think Australia would love to have Giteau in the mix. There has been plenty of talent on display in the SXV, hopefully the big names like Genia, Horwill etc remain injury free.

thomond2006

Toulon are almost certainly going to be in the Top14 semis, remember the Top14 final is held the same day as the Lions vs Barbarians match in Hong Kong.

If Gatland wants all the players available for the Barbarians match then Armitage mightn't be available.

schools rugby

trouttrout wrote: »

Really not as confident of a series win as I was six months ago

If I had to take a crack at naming a 23 now I'd go with:

1 Healy
2 Best
3 Jones
4 Launchbury
5 D Ryan
6 SOB
7 Tipuric
8 Beattie
9 Youngs
10 Sexton
11 North
12 Tualagi
13 BOD
14 Luke Fitzgerald
15 Halfpenney

16 Youngs
17 Marler
18 Cole
19 Wyn Jones
20 Armitage
21 Murray
22 Farrell
23 Hogg

Not a bad shout, think Rob Kearney will still be in the 23 though along with Tom Croft - Croft with a start at 6 and SOB to 7 maybe

CIARAN_BOYLE

schools rugby wrote: »

Big weekend now for Conor Murray - Another big performance from him puts him in contention going into the Heineken

Its hard to have two great half backs playing in a game. When Johnny plays for Ireland Murray gets a little overshadowed but when Paddy is inside him Connor gets to put his mark on the game which makes him stand out a little.

Johnny being out might give him a little extra room to make his mark.

opinionatedfan

Murray is still not fast enough for me.

remember at least one occasion in the France game where he could have been a lot faster getting the ball away when we had an overlap.

trouttrout

opinionatedfan wrote: »

Murray is still not fast enough for me.

remember at least one occasion in the France game where he could have been a lot faster getting the ball away when we had an overlap.

When in the game was this?

Deano7788

schools rugby wrote: »

Not a bad shout, think Rob Kearney will still be in the 23 though along with Tom Croft - Croft with a start at 6 and SOB to 7 maybe

I think that unless he's starting Kearney won't be in the 23, simply due to versatility, and I can't see past Halfpenny for 15, unless he's played on the wing

jamiedav2011

trouttrout wrote: »

When in the game was this?

Just before he went off, up along far right touchline. Reminiscent of some of his form last year, it was fairly poor and slow actually.

bilston

trouttrout wrote: »

Really not as confident of a series win as I was six months ago

If I had to take a crack at naming a 23 now I'd go with:

1 Healy
2 Best
3 Jones
4 Launchbury
5 D Ryan
6 SOB
7 Tipuric
8 Beattie
9 Youngs
10 Sexton
11 North
12 Tualagi
13 BOD
14 Luke Fitzgerald
15 Halfpenney

16 Youngs
17 Marler
18 Cole
19 Wyn Jones
20 Armitage
21 Murray
22 Farrell
23 Hogg

7 Irish players in the starting XV? Not a chance.

Tox56

bilston wrote: »

7 Irish players in the starting XV? Not a chance.

Luke Fitz and D Ryan very unlikely to start (Luke Fitz in particular has next to no chance of travelling) but the rest really aren't that unlikely, which is surprising given how poor this 6 Nations has been for us

schools rugby

Deano7788 wrote: »

I think that unless he's starting Kearney won't be in the 23, simply due to versatility, and I can't see past Halfpenny for 15, unless he's played on the wing

Really i would think the opposite to be honest. Kearney brings massive experience and he is for me one of the best players in Europe on his day - Cant see Hogg and Halfpenny both in a matchday squad

jamiedav2011

schools rugby wrote: »

Really i would think the opposite to be honest. Kearney brings massive experience and he is for me one of the best players in Europe on his day - Cant see Hogg and Halfpenny both in a matchday squad

Nah, Warren Gatland isn't Deccie, outside back players on the bench will probably have to cover two positions, so the likes of Hogg, Browne, Fodan, Laidlaw, Tualagi, Davies would have bigger claims than a Biggar, Visser, or in forward context Heaslip for eg.

the baby bull elephant

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Nah, Warren Gatland isn't Deccie, outside back players on the bench will probably have to cover two positions, so the likes of Hogg, Browne, Fodan, Laidlaw, Tualagi, Davies would have bigger claims than a Biggar, Visser, or in forward context Heaslip for eg.

Kearney does to an extent cover wing and Halfpenny definitely does anyway. No need for versatility on the bench when you've got it on the pitch.

jamiedav2011

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

Kearney does to an extent cover wing and Halfpenny definitely does anyway. No need for versatility on the bench when you've got it on the pitch.

Not sure on Kearney covering wing, but yes good point on Halfpenney alright.

danthefan

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

Kearney does to an extent cover wing and Halfpenny definitely does anyway. No need for versatility on the bench when you've got it on the pitch.

There is never a situation where the bolded is true. The outside back on the bench in all circumstances should cover more than one position.

jamiedav2011

danthefan wrote: »

There is never a situation where the bolded is true. The outside back on the bench in all circumstances should cover more than one position.

Wouldn't agree with that at all.

Example: Leinster put out a team with Luke, Isa and MCF as the back three. You'd have Reid/Conway on the bench ahead of Kearney just because he covers more positions?

As the poster above argues, no real need to have flexibility on the bench if you have it on the pitch, though in the Lions context I'd probably have Hogg ahead of Kearney for eg for a sub position.

Hype710

Kearney was the outside back replacement in the first test 4 years ago.

schools rugby

Tox56 wrote: »

Luke Fitz and D Ryan very unlikely to start (Luke Fitz in particular has next to no chance of travelling) but the rest really aren't that unlikely, which is surprising given how poor this 6 Nations has been for us

Donnacha Ryan has a great chance of starting . Been brilliant in the lineout this year for Munster and Ireland , he is a leader too. I think Ryan will start and I would be surprised if he wasnt in the 23 for the first test on current form.

FellasFellas

If the Aussies put out a backline of Genia, Cooper, Mitchell, Giteau, Ioane, O'Connor and Beale, they could do serious damage. Pity Giteau isn't considered, good for the Lions though.

schools rugby

FellasFellas wrote: »

If the Aussies put out a backline of Genia, Cooper, Mitchell, Giteau, Ioane, O'Connor and Beale, they could do serious damage. Pity Giteau isn't considered, good for the Lions though.

O'Conner , Beale and Genia will be fresh coming back from injuries, my worry for the Aussies is Cooper at 10 in a Lions test - extremely unpredictable and hasnt been playing well so far this year in the Super 15

the baby bull elephant

danthefan wrote: »

There is never a situation where the bolded is true. The outside back on the bench in all circumstances should cover more than one position.

But there is...like the one I said. It's like the Irish backrow are you happy with Henderson on the bench? He only covers 6 but both SO'B and PO'M cover all backrow positions so it doesn't matter.

FellasFellas

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

But there is...like the one I said. It's like the Irish backrow are you happy with Henderson on the bench? He only covers 6 but both SO'B and PO'M cover all backrow positions so it doesn't matter.

He plays 8 and second row too..

Deano7788

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

But there is...like the one I said. It's like the Irish backrow are you happy with Henderson on the bench? He only covers 6 but both SO'B and PO'M cover all backrow positions so it doesn't matter.

He also covers 2nd row so there is versatility still there

irishbucsfan

FellasFellas wrote: »

He plays 8 and second row too..

When has Henderson played 8?