Here is your chance to discuss today’s match between the Blues and the Lions.
Were the Lions any better than in their first outing on Saturday? Which players stood out for you? Which combinations worked well?
How did you rate the Lions’ opposition?
Give the match a rating out of ten and share your thoughts in the comments below.
Loading ...Here are some highlights for those that weren’t able to see the game:
Unable to watch but would welcome some comments from those that did. A few lineouts gone begging in decent field position?
A frustrating game, ultimately won by a moment of brilliance from the Blues.
Several positives from the Lions, but they need to play to their strengths. None of this Rugby Chaos nonsense – dominate the set piece, attack the lineout, destroy their scrum, drive some mauls. When the Lions did that, they looked in control – as soon it became loose, they looked comfortably second best.
‘Rugby chaos’ may actually be a good description of Howley’s coaching ability.
PS – how many lost lineouts does it take before someone realises Best is crap at throwing in?
Yes surely an unstructured, open game will suit any NZ super rugby side. Stick to what the NH is good at.
Hartley’s high setpiece percentages not looking too shabby now…
Best is comfortably playing his way into the midweek hooker shirt. Owens and George have looked so much more composed. Looking forwards to the weekend game where we should see close to the test team
lol…
Didn’t get to watch but keeping up with online commentary. Seems like Best was off with his darts, discipline was poor and Biggar kicked too much to the opposition. Not much of a shock on two of those points if correct. Best is probably the worst thrower out of the options and Biggar is not a fly half to get your backs moving, but is good at kicking ball away. We can guess who will be starting against the Crusaders by who was rested today and last weekend, and I suspect it will be a much stronger squad.
As NIck Evans has just said though, don’t keep kicking the ball back to them. Keep it in hand and play the phases.
When will they learn not to kick the ball downthe Kiwis throats they are brilliant in broken play.Thirteen penalties didn’t help
Didn’t work for Wales last year, wont work now. But then again…that’s all Biggar’s game consists of.
I actually think it must have been a tactic as all Murrays kicks from the base of the ruck were infield even when in their own 22. If the tactic was to allow the Blues to play to their strengths then the tactition needs to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror
We’ve been concerned about the coaching setup for some time, Leon!
Isn’t that Howley’s standard tactic in attack?!?! Why else would Wales keep picking Biggar. No good in the SH I’m afraid and it’s been exploited today. Farrell needs to start on Saturday along with T’eo and JJ or Daly. But I’m assuming JD will start as he hasn’t played at all yet, unless he’s injured??
based on who’s played the least your saturday side should be
Vunipola, George, Furlong, Kruis, AWJ, O’Mahony, O’Brien, Faletau, Murray, Farrell, Teo, Davies, Williams, North, Hogg
Called it
Seems a bit harsh blaming Murray when he wasn’t playing Leon.
Yes realised that shortly after posting but was hoping no one would call me up on it.
Thanks
Murray was not playing
Didn’t think Halfpenny showed up tonight (kicking aside, which is given from him). Defensively unassured and offered little going forward….Need more from the back 3 in general IMHO.
Agreed, Halfpenny was fairly quiet, and Liam Williams had a shocker when he came on for Payne. Hogg was fairly hit and miss on Saturday as well.
Ah for the solidity of Mike Brown…
1/2P hasn’t showed up for a long time in a Wales jersey. He offers very little when compared to the other NH full-backs.
Hopefully Hogg steps up, or could Gatland look to Watson or Daly at fullback to allow more of our attacking threats to be played at the same time.
Mike Who?, don’t you mean Andy Good
And his passing ability *cough*
Sean Fitzpatrick said some players are playing there way in and some are playing there way out of the test team. Any thoughts on who he may be referring to.
Itoje Lawes Stander(at6) Faletau Webb in
Haskell Laidlaw Sexton Biggar Nowell out
Not sure that Nowell’s performance was as bad as Barnes seemed to think it was.
He got decidedly burnt by R Ioane at one point, but there’s not much shame in that.
I don’t think he can blamed for the try though. Haskell came in too early to try and take man and ball but missed leaving Nowell covering half the pitch and a 2 on 1. A brilliant pass to Iaone meant Nowell was never going to catch him – the fastest winger in the world couldn’t have caught him.
Other than that I thought Nowell was decent. Always busy, made ground with his runs, often the first person to reach rucks out wide and did a good job of preventing turnovers.
I would have liked to see the wingers get some ball in a bit of space but with Biggar playing and Sexton in poor form, that was always unlikely
Haskell ditto – a defensive error leading to the try but other than that not too bad. Nice run from him as well – didn’t see too much of that from other players.
The fact that I haven’t read Dalys name anywhere suggests he didn’t get to touch the ball once. Another indication of a lack of distribution maybe.
I was quite impressed by Daly. He was starved of ball in attack but was very tactically astute and accurate when fielding kicks and chasing. Certainly had a better game than Nowell. For me Daly has to be on the bench for versatility of covering of 13-15
Equally could see Sinkler and Marler making the the test bench for the impact they brought in the loose yet still held dominance in the scrums
Agreed – looks classy and composed (and actually quite powerful) whenever he’s put under pressure, as he was a few times today
Also agree – I’m a big fan of Daly, and his versatility will be handy on the bench. And landing a 55m penalty to win the series in the 2nd Test…
Out: Best, AWJ, Biggar, Henderson, Williams, Halfpenny, JJ.
In: Itoje, lawes, Stander, Faletau, Webb, Watson, Moriarty, Sinckler, Mako, T’eo,
Shame that Sexton hasn’t turned up because he needs to at least be on the bench. I don’t want Biggar anywhere near the test team!!
Harsh on Jj I think Dazza. He was quiet on Saturday but was playing outside an out of form 10 who was hesitant and crabbing across the field. Didn’t do much wrong in defence and I think it is too early to write him off. Agree about AWJ but think he will still get picked, open minded about the back row apart from Faletau, and Marler and Cole are both looking solid. After Saturday I don’t think Furlong is as nailed on as he was. Regardless of what team we pick I still think we will lose the series 3-0 and at least two other games.
Haven’t seen all of the game but as last match Lions looked good at certain aspects, and again some strange reffing decisions…..
Agree Dazza Biggar is hopeless and what is wrong with Sexton. it seems Teo and Jonathon Davies will be the centres next week with Murray and Farrell at9and 10 back3 of Watson North and Hogg
If that lot cant score tries with a decent pack in front of them then god help us
g
Watched the game and these are my thoughts.
Relative (team) positives:
Strong scrum, driving maul and line out (think Owens missed one).
Larger of individual 1:1 contact battles won
Some clarity around who isn’t putting their hand up for tests (at this point)
Improvement on last match (saying that Broadwoodwidger 3rds play better rugby than the Saturday game.
Team weaknesses:
Playing too flat and taking the ball at little pace
No one straightening the line to create outside space and capitalise on overlaps (this happened repeatedly…like Saturday) – top players must be able to straighten defences up by simply taking a step in and turning the defender’s hips, when moving the ball down the line.
Little creativity? (or effective basic plays)
Like Saturday turnovers gained by opposition largely due to a lack of support – against the NZ teams being 3-5 yards behind the ball carrier who is going to take contact is only going to end in a turnover.
Poor kicking (almost every box kick incontestable) – defensive line out strong so putting off park a better option.
Individual plusses: In order
Lawes, Itoje (both considerably better than Saturdays pairing, even though not at their best), Stander, Owens.
Did no harm to chances: Daly, McGrath, Tipuric and Payne
Average:
Halfpenny (Largely solid and kicked goals but average D and little attacking threat – is Daly in pole FB position at this point.
Nowell (Worked hard and usually beat first defender however gassed by Reiko for try which is a worry – definitely 5th/6th fastest winger in squad!
Henshaw (enveloped by defence repeatedly so perhaps not his fault as well sent up that ally too often)
Haskell (couple of decent carries and combative)
Webb: Couple of good defensive efforts and decent service but box kicks were poor.
Poor: Biggar (very little positive to say) – neither got the backs going nor kicked well.
My Test XV (and reps) after 2 matches:
Mako
Owens
Furlong
Itoje
Lawes
Stander
Tipuric
Faletau
Murray
Farrell
North
Teo
Jonathan Davies
Watson
Daly
Reps: George, McGrath, Sinkler, Kruis, Warburton, Webb, Sexton, Nowell,
Watching it back I think the criticism of Nowell is pretty harsh. Haskell bites in on the forwards receiving the pass and leaves Biggar and Nowell to deal with a 3-on-2. If Nowell doesn’t come in there is a huge gap in the middle. Ioane has gas and trying to turn and catch someone running onto the ball is never going to end well. Also, where was Halfpenny covering across? He looked very laboured. Nowell also put in a try saving tackle and couldn’t have done anything for the 2nd try.
Davies to start the final test? I know we haven’t seen him play yet but his distribution is often poor and hes too one dimensional. Imo him and Teo are too similar, although Im sure Warren will love that combo.
Agreed Jake – as I said above, no winger in the world would have caught Ioane having been left in the position Nowell found himself in.
In fact, if Ioane had not managed to score that try then he would have had to hang his head in shame. the damage was done earlier in the move and all he had to do was run it in.
And you’re right about Halfpenny. Just re-watched it and he looks like he can’t be arsed to bust a gut and try to stop the run in. That can’t be right so it must be that he is incredibly slow. He looks like he his running through treacle.
A midfield combo of anything from Teo, Davies and Henshaw is going to be far too one-dimensional. I really hope Sexton pulls on his big boy pants, gets over the yips and wen see Gatland play him at 10 with Farrell at 12. Its the only way I can see the Lions playing with enough inventiveness to cause the ABs issues
Gone are the days where Halfpenny is a lean, whippy winger. He’s bulked up and looks slower and less agile for it. Also think its why he gets left on his arse half the time when defending.
Sexton still has time but it isn’t looking promising. Some people saying he will click with Murray…I hope for all our sakes they’re right.
Also noticed I paraphrased your breakdown of the Ioane try…apologies.
No need for apologies. I thought it was quite obvious at the time but the way Barnes went on about Nowell made it sound like it was entirely his fault, which was vastly unfair
Think Sexton needs to click for the Lions to have a chance. Biggar as the only back up does not fill me with confidence
Agree re: Sexton/Farrell – that’d be my preferred choice but only if Sextons form significantly picks up
My selection of Davies in the team (as of this moment), a bit like Daly at FB is down solely to the poor performances of competitors for that shirt. Talk about players not taking their chances!
For me the Lions have huge problems in backing based on this performance although I thought Webb was industrious but maybe to much kicking.I thought Itoje, Standers snd TumEric all played well and the scrum in general were ok.The backs however showed no innovatoon at all,no imagination , no line breaks and for me never looked like scoring a try.We will not beat any super rugby team or the All Black’s with forward play only so hoping for much improvement on Saturday@
So, I think that the penalty and error count was the real story. All of the Blues scoring chances came from unstructured rugby, and we contributed to that success.
Second concern, phase play attack is not allowing strike runners to get in the game and take shots – 15 phases was a good start in the first 3 minutes. Most people would be happy with that, and the gainline was challenged and holes punched. But, we didn’t get a sense of where the edge of the defense was and that meant that they could soak pressure, wait for an error and relieve pressure. That one observation has actually made me very aware of how coaches use analysts or do their own analysis. I think that for example, Eliot Daly and Jack Nowell, in an England context would have identified mismatches earlier and been more of a threat – is that because of patterns, or is it because of the packages of highlights prepared for them in the build up to a game so that they see different pictures? Clearly still a function of coaching, but a thought none the less…..
In terms of people putting hands up AWJ in for mid-week now, Kruis, Lawes and Itoje shown more capability in all parts of their game, and not just in little bits, but in every action; Rhys Webb went well, and Stander was good, and Haskell good. I felt Tipueric was over powered in collisions and I’d question is role in a “one off runner” system.
We kicked far too much for grass, and not enough for touch. Our lineout effort on D was excellent and we should have recognised that and changed plan….
Rhys Webb went well Gerry? Imo he is in urgent need of a masterclass in box kicking from Richard Wigglesworth. Far too many long aimless boots straight into the waiting arms of Blues players in yards of space, not a single successful break from the base of the scrum. Seriously hope that Murray is in good form and Farrell doesn’t get hurt on Saturday or we are in real trouble.
Andy- he had a flaw In his game. Laidlar, the ONLY other benchmark on this tour was turgid so in that context yes, he went well.
I actually thought we looked better when Laidlaw came on Gerry. His pass is slow and he is not that quick, but he organises what is in front of him well and given that there seemed to be absolutely no flair in the Lions backs his kicking game might have given us a better chance. Webb´s “flaw” was a serious one in that it gave an enterprising Blues Teams lots of opportunities to run the ball straight back.
Can only say that there has been little or no mention of {for me} the best back in British rugby player atm , he was sent off not for dirty or foul play but for commitment imo, his bravery has no bounds either and i think he will play in all 3 tests if fit ,someone said” he had a shocker”, without guts and bravery like his you have no chance against the ABs. Probs/hopfully instead of 1/2p,.. another point, Webb has played against Murray 4 times in the past year, i have yet to see him win the contest,Webb all day if allowed to play his game, there is no outstanding 10 in the whole squad , not one can even side step ffs , farrell is my choice as he is good at bringing others onto a pass,but i can think of 3 others who are better that will be watching from the UK,..Sexy was always a little over rated imo, too slow off the mark , I can’t think of a center pairing that really complement each other, joseph/davies not big enuf, teo/henshaw too similar maybe? so this would be my team based on what we DO have Mako,Owens,Furlong,itoje,AW,Tipuric,Warbs,Falatau,Webb,Farrell,Joseph,Davies,Daly,North,Williams,..Lions cant win tests in 50 yrs without the backs being 50%+ Welsh, ask Woodward, he tried it – failed, 71/74/best lions teams in history, 2013 with 10 Welsh= biggest test win ever!
Love a man with a sense of humour Osiboy. At least three too many Welshmen in this side and Williams was plain stupid to get done for the same thing twice in five minutes. AWJ well past his best and shouldn´t even be there. Warburton has a lot to prove before he gets anywhere near and Tuperic is a lightweight. I would take Stander and O´Mahoney any day. Webb´s kicking from the base was appalling, so Just praying that Murray returns to the sort of form he was in last year.
This would be my starting XV against the Crusaders and this would suit the Lions power play jt also I would also provide a balance in the backs.
1)Mako Vunipola
2) Ken Owens – because he is more experienced than George and Best throwing is off
3) Tadhg Furlong – Cole has the superior scrummaging but Furlong is better in the loose and more experienced than Sinckler
4) Maro Itoje – Much better than Alun Wyn Jones
5) Courtney Lawes – Impressive in the loose and much better than Henderson
6) CJ Stander – Just over Moriarty because he is more experienced.
7) Sam Warburton – The Captain needs to prove his worth
8) Taulupe Faletau – I have decided to put him and Stander on field together as they are both so good at the moment.
9) Conor Murray – The best Northern-hemisphere scrumhalf at the moment.
10) Owen Farrell – I netted some much needed urgency in the PNZ Barbarians game and is much better than Biggar and Sexton
11) George North – North is on for at the moment
12) Ben T’eo will serve the power play purpose.
13) Jonathan Joseph – a good balance in the backline
14) Anthony Watson – Try-scorer in the win vs PNZ
15) Stuart Hogg – Will hope to improve from his last outing
Pretty good calls there, i’m beginning to be swayed toward your 2nd row choice too on recent form, can’t agree with the choice or reason Re Murray tho, maybe you don’t see the pro12? ,…Davies {championship final} and Webb have outplayed Murray on every occasion , no if or doubt about it , …i will be suprised if you don’t choose Williams in your team AFTER the tour, I rate him very highly , Tips also, right him off at your peril