British and Irish Lions vs Combined Country XV, Tues 11th June, 10.40 am, Sky Sports

spank_inferno

Carrying a knock or not, BOD is still the best on the park.

Peregrine

Phoenix Battye

Lovely little chip from Drico

64-0 isn't bad. The important thing is, nobody got hurt.

shuffol

I wonder will the lineout issues allow Croft sneak into the 23.

Buer

"Thanks for coming out and braving the weather".

It's 15C and dry. That's a summer's day, pal.

.ak

No major injuries = WIN

ongarite

BOD with a PR masterclass.

.ak

shuffol wrote: »

I wonder will the lineout issues allow Croft sneak into the 23.

For me, I'd be happy with either of:

6. Croft
7. SOB
20. Tipuric

or

6. SOB
7. Tipuric
20. Croft

Plenty of scope for cover in either combo.

Birroc

Strange that they are playing 34 year old BOD for full 80 mins.
Could that mean Gatland was planning not to start him in 1st Test?
He has to start now.

Zuffer

My take on centre combinations from the games played so far:

BOD + Tuilagi = works
BOD + Roberts = works
BOD + Davies = works

I'd be shocked if BOD dosen't start the tests.

It was nice hear Greenwood and Barnes joining the love in during the game. Sounds like they stopped watching during the second half and just stuck on some BOD youtube moments!

chris85

Phoenix Battye

Man I need to catch this game later with all the comments about BOD. Was it a pure masterclass? Even conisidering the opposition?

.ak

chris85 wrote: »

Man I need to catch this game later with all the comments about BOD. Was it a pure masterclass? Even conisidering the opposition?

He was very good, but not as good as the last game he started. He's purring along nicely tho, and did the Captain's thing very well today. Seemed to be the perfect foil for Hogg, the two of them linked up nicely at times too.

Went bit OTT to keep a ball in play and looks to have stressed his ankle a bit, hopefully he'll be rested til the tests.

WeegWarriors

I know it was against poor opposition but seeing Hogg looking so comfortable at 10 makes me think that he should be playing 10 for Glasgow and Scotland, imagine Matawalu/Hogg at 9/10.

It's unlucky for Hogg that he has no chance to be anymore than a bench player for the Lions against Australia but i think we need to start developing him as a 10 for the sake of Scottish rugby.

He's still only 20 years old i think its a waste having a talent like that at full back for a poor Scotland team who can't get him enough ball to influence games.

chris85

Phoenix Battye

.ak wrote: »

He was very good, but not as good as the last game he started. He's purring along nicely tho, and did the Captain's thing very well today. Seemed to be the perfect foil for Hogg, the two of them linked up nicely at times too.

Went bit OTT to keep a ball in play and looks to have stressed his ankle a bit, hopefully he'll be rested til the tests.

Great, look forward to catch this later on. This work thing is getting in the way of all the rugby.

twinytwo

Birroc wrote: »

Strange that they are playing 34 year old BOD for full 80 mins.
Could that mean Gatland was planning not to start him in 1st Test?
He has to start now.

personally i think gatland was deluded to leave him on for the 80, especially after the knock he took. there was no reason what farrell couldnt have been put on at 12 and davies to 13.

Drico will start, he is driving force in the backs.

Losty Dublin

WeegWarriors wrote: »

I know it was against poor opposition but seeing Hogg looking so comfortable at 10 makes me think that he should be playing 10 for Glasgow and Scotland, imagine Matawalu/Hogg at 9/10.

It's unlucky for Hogg that he has no chance to be anymore than a bench player for the Lions against Australia but i think we need to start developing him as a 10 for the sake of Scottish rugby.

He's still only 20 years old i think its a waste having a talent like that at full back for a poor Scotland team who can't get him enough ball to influence games.

Caught an hour of the game and I was amazed at how well Hogg ran the back line; he is a star in waiting.

molloyjh

twinytwo wrote: »

personally i think gatland was deluded to leave him on for the 80, especially after the knock he took. there was no reason what farrell couldnt have been put on at 12 and davies to 13.

Farrell not being in the match-day squad would probably have made that kind of difficult.....

twinytwo

molloyjh wrote: »

Farrell not being in the match-day squad would probably have made that kind of difficult.....

whoops forgot about 1/2p

Swiwi

WeegWarriors wrote: »

I know it was against poor opposition but seeing Hogg looking so comfortable at 10 makes me think that he should be playing 10 for Glasgow and Scotland, imagine Matawalu/Hogg at 9/10.

It's unlucky for Hogg that he has no chance to be anymore than a bench player for the Lions against Australia but i think we need to start developing him as a 10 for the sake of Scottish rugby.

He's still only 20 years old i think its a waste having a talent like that at full back for a poor Scotland team who can't get him enough ball to influence games.

It's off-topic, but you'll be interested to know WeegWarriors that Scotland are apparently chasing Highlanders openside John Hardie, who is Scotland-eligible. He's a great chance to move, I reckon, he's got little chance of AB honours, but he's actually a pretty good openside.

molloyjh

twinytwo wrote: »

whoops forgot about 1/2p

I'm sure Drico will get a bit of a rest now before the first Test anyway. He must be one of the first names on the team sheet for it at this stage.

Buer

twinytwo wrote: »

personally i think gatland was deluded to leave him on for the 80, especially after the knock he took. there was no reason what farrell couldnt have been put on at 12 and davies to 13.

Drico will start, he is driving force in the backs.

Well, one very good reason is that Farrell wasn't on the bench and all the subs had been used!

EDIT: As above.

little173

Thoughts - BOD is in great form, links the play so expertly - great spatial awareness, timing and decision making. I hope and suspect that will be him done until the 1st test. Play Roberts and Manu on Sat, nothing left to prove.

Hogg is some player, he may be just forcing his way somehow into the 1st XV or at least 22, gas and vision and he's only 20, he's got game.

Lineout is a worry for sure, Hibbard needs to work well with AWJ/POC on Sat to settle the nerves.

Heaslip is such an intellegent player and is superb at the restarts and I think holds the edge over TF.

Buer

little173 wrote: »

Hogg is some player, he may be just forcing his way somehow into the 1st XV or at least 22, gas and vision and he's only 20, he's got game.

Great talent but I'm reluctant to give him backing for the test 23 on the evidence of today. He has been given 3 starts on the tour now. In the first he was quiet enough. In the second he was simply poor. In the third, he was good. There's very little that can be read into today though especially given it was in a position where he won't be appearing again unless there are injuries.

Today proved he can do a job if required at 10. It also showed that Maitland is a competent full back and is growing in confidence. Given that Farrell covers outhalf and centre and Maitland can cover wing and full back, they'd get the bench spots for me now.

ScrubsfanChris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IMP-KqZNaw

GiftofGab

Hogg deserves alot of praise too. He was outstanding yesterday. Can't see him being left out of the match day 22 now. Zebo won't get a sniff of the first test unless someone gets injuried. I wouldn't mind Hogg playing the last 20 mins at outhalf against the 'Tahs. See what he's like against a real opposition.

jacothelad

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Caught an hour of the game and I was amazed at how well Hogg ran the back line; he is a star in waiting.

GiftofGab wrote: »

Hogg deserves alot of praise too. He was outstanding yesterday. Can't see him being left out of the match day 22 now. Zebo won't get a sniff of the first test unless someone gets injuried. I wouldn't mind Hogg playing the last 20 mins at outhalf against the 'Tahs. See what he's like against a real opposition.

I agree that Hogg looked good but in the real game against the Reds he looked like a schoolboy. He was very poor. Just as one good game doesn't make him Dan Carter, one bad game doesn't make him a bad player but that game was just a training spin.

Tox56

Buer wrote: »

Aside from Halfpenny and Grant, none of the subs have done their selection prospects any favours.

Halfpenny could have been single handedly responsible for 14 Combined Country tries, get himself sent off, and be caught snogging Gatland's wife in the changing rooms and he would still be starting the 1st test, as nailed on as nailed on can be.

Grant did show up well. Was unlucky that Corbs was brought in ahead of him although luckily it didn't matter, and he could be a dark horse to start the tests, certainly the 2nd or 3rd