Tell us what you thought of the game between the Highlanders and the Lions in Dunedin today.
Which players performed well? How is Test selection looking now?
Loading ...Rate the Match: Highlanders v Lions
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Great game to watch. Lions threw that away but the Highlanders did very well to come back.
Not a great game from the bench other than Daly, who I thought looked good. Most notably missed when taken off were Sinckler and Webb
Warburton completely anonymous in the first half, definite improvement in the second. Stander, Seymour and Joseph all massively frustrating, some great stuff mixed with some awful bits. Lawes missed when he went off. Henderson, Haskell, Best and Nowell all improved without being great. Payne and Henshaw not great – Teo definitely ahead of Henshaw now. Biggar definitely improved but still not to test level. Sinckler, Webb both excellent. Marler great in the scrum and round the ruck, needs to offer a bit more ball in hand
Great game to watch, and a few standout performances from Lions players. Too many penalties again, which ultimately led to the Lions win, but it’s still fairly encouraging.
Sinckler, Webb, Joseph and Nowell were the top performers for me. Warburton was very quiet and almost anonymous until his try, Haskell was quiet, Stander had a mixed game, so did Henshaw. AW Jones was better than previous outings, but still not at the level of Kruis and Itoje for me.
Lions have some serious issues and are running out of timeto correct them.Dan Cole and Rory Best for one The loose fowards were poor so were the back 3 especially Payne. Poor of loads and poor discipline how many penalties today.
The half backs played well so did Joseph who was the only one of the starters today who is in with a chance of selection for the test team.
Entertaining game but once again too many penalties cost the Lions, you just cannot afford to concede ground so easily against these teams. No really outstanding performances for me, Webb, Biggar, SInckler & Nowell probably the pick of the bunch, thought Payne had a nightmare & out of contention for a test place now. Just goes to show the fine margins though, Daly penalty a yard under the bar, the missed Farrell penalty & the knock on from the Farrell pass at the death when Joseph would have been under the posts !. Will have a better gauge on Saturday when Gatland will put out his test team ( or near enough ).
On your fine margins, don’t forget the blatant obstruction in the lead up to Naholo’s try!
Starting15 for1st test on current form
Mako
Owens
Furlong
Itoje
Kruis
O,Mahoney
O,Brian
Faletaue
Murray
Farrell
Watson
Teo
Joseph/Davies
North/Williams
Daly
I would move Daly to his preferred position of outside center alongside T’eo and have Watson at 15 with Williams and North on the wings. I would also start George instead of Owens but the rest of the team I would be happy with.
Sadly though I think we will see AWJ, Warburton and Halfpenny in the test team. And possibly even Biggar?
Test team I think Gatland will pick vs the one I would:
1. Mako / Mako
2. Owens / George
3. Furlong/ Furlong (although he needs to improve from the Crusaders game)
4. AWJ / Lawes if fit (if not Itoje)
5. Kruis / Kruis
6. Warburton / POM
7. SOB / SOB
8. Faletau / Faletau
9. Murray / Murray
10. Farrell / Sexton
11. North / North
12. Teo / Farrell
13. Davies / I’m unsure here- Davies needs a full match
14. Williams / Watson
15. Halfpenny / Williams
Best scrum half performance so far and never seen Murray come out on top v Webb , not sure if Gatland will pick Webb for the tests , a mistake if he doesn’t imo
Webb’s tactical kicking wasn’t even close to Murray’s and that will be an important part of the game. So Murray starts for me
I agree Murray is slightly better at kicking but i DON’t think{pretty sure} kicking the ball to the Blacks will be part of the game plan come test time ,if it is we loose sure ! it’s all mind games as far as tactics go until then imo and as i have said a few times already I can not remember Murray outplaying Webb in 7/8 times that I can remember, i kno they are not playing each other/horses for courses but ,Webb is a prolific try scorer at top level and if he does play a test my money will be on him for a try , my back line ; Webb, Farrell,Joseph,Daly,;North,Watson,Williams,.. centers is so difficult tho , nailed on are Webb/Farrell/North/Williams/Daly for me
A little closer with my (Highlanders by 2) prediction this week.
Re: 1st test squad.
Going up-
JJ, Sinkler, Webb
Going down- Warbs (Struggled except for a 10minute spell)
AWJ (lost contact battles Inc turned over
and 2 offside pens in 2 minutes)
Henshaw
Best
Most others, stayed where they are.
Pablito – agree with much of what you say however looking at the Lions tries (a kick pass interception and the wild pass initial the in goal which led to the winger stepping on the dead ball line I can concur that the lions threw it away, unless you are referring to the fact they were leading with 5 or so left
I’d said they threw it away as they were leading 22-13 with 20 mins to go and looking good before the replacements, a soft try from the maul and a number of stupid penalties combined to put the Highlanders back in front.
Even then they had Farrell and Daly’s penalties either of which would have won the game and the lineout at the end which gave them a final chance (a chance that wasn’t missed due to any great play by the Highlanders, but by a dropped pass).
Obviously the Highlanders still had to win the game and some of their play was great, but that game was there for the taking
I thought their tactics on the final line out were bizarre.
You’d think they would play to strengths and go for a driving maul, at least to eat up some yards before pick and going to a drop goal position. instead then went for get it to the backs for a training ground looking move.
That either means they’re trying to practice scoring trys in tense momentsand were less concerned about the result, or AWJ is a tactically inept captain.
Agreed – once in that position (regardless of how they got there) thy should’ve closed the game out
North seems to get closer to the test team every time he doesn’t play! Warburton completely anonymous apart from the try, Haskell still nowhere near back to where he was before injury. Sinkler has surely played himself at least onto the bench. O’Mahoney a test starter for me, with Faletau and O’ Brien. Joseph looked sharp but there was nobody putting him into space. Payne not very good, a shame Watson did not get another run out at full back. Injury to Lawes makes AWJ selection almost inevitable which will be a mistake. Webb sharp, but has a dodgy boot and doesn’t direct his pack as well as Murray does. There is still a dire lack of creativity and spontaneity in the whole squad, and I think we are odds on to lose the test series 3-0.
Andy – we are best price for an NZ whitewash is 4/6
Andy – agreed there was a lack of spontaneity. A lot of 1 up runners, which later in the game were isolated a few times (Lions were lucky not to have any more turnovers against the head). It means its also easy to read and so it didn’t really test the Highlanders defence.
Would’ve also liked to have seen some organised pick and gos used earlier on in the game, as opposed to panicked one man breaks (which resulted in the warburton try) but then later on were over used when space had been created out wide.
Again, with more game time, little things like that Sinkler pass which was a fraction too behind to Payne should hopefully be ironed out.
Test Squad after that game
Mako
Owens
Furlong
Kruis
Lawes (if unfit Itoje)
POM
SOB
Faletau
Murray
Farrell
North
Teo
Joseph/Davies
Watson
Daly
Reps:
Sinkler
McGrath
George
Itoje
CJ Stander
Webb
Sexton
L Williams
Great point re: North Andy – to take it one step further in the analysis it seems clear that the NZ wingers are head and shoulders above the Lions wingers in attack therefore if we concede that our wingers (as they carry little attacking threat) absolute priority is defence (notwithstanding finishing run ins) then North deserves his place on that alone.
GREAT,…BUT no Tips !
Its a FACT, even tho Tipuric is always a 7+ in any game people still doubt him , i can only think its his size , his work rate, being in right place at the right time, turn overs , support , vision ,tackle rate/completion, lines out completion bla bla bla,..yet he is seldom in a fantasy selection , i can only assume its his size , similar to the GREAT Martyn Williams ,…LEGEND !
Tipuric is great in fast open games but can disappear against bigger packs. Bit like Hooper for the Aussies.
I think he would be out-muscled at the ruck by the ABs forwards
I think the All Blacks would be ecstatic if the Lions selected Rhys Webb for the Test 9 slot.
I don’t see JJ making test side for a coach used to packing his midfield with 32 stones of defensive bulwark. Henshaw scrambled and defended well yesterday -He’s in the mix. Henderson woke up to the tour yesterday but his first match has done for his chances. Sinckler may have moved ahead of Cole. I get feeling Halpenny is moving closer to 15 shirt (I ‘d like Watson) We’ve missed a couple of important kicks so you feel Gats might go for his banker off the tee.
Hard to see Sam making first test but likely ready for following test. AWJ Captain for first test then?…
Agreed with all your points but I think Henderson’s ‘decent’ performance looked better due to his shocker first game.
I think Teo is in pole position for a centre position (good form and a Warrenballer) and he straightens the line to make space outside.
AWJs performance (or lack thereof? – mainly the 2 offsides in 2 mins, 20 and 30 meters out) mean surely he can’t start.
‘The game was there for the taking’. How many times have I seen this statement before? The Lions had their chances & esp being an International outfit, didn’t they just didn’t ‘take’ them. Scored more tries, however, they’re still lacking in midfield creativity. If only the w class Farrell had kicked THAT goal or if JJ, with the final chance, not butchered it. And Otago were without 9 normal starters. Lions looked as good all round as prev for me, incl the Canter game, where they couldn’t score a try, but the opportunities were there. They need to create & nail them though.. & not overly rely on kicking it without a specific reason for doing so.