UKC

So the Lions lost to the Auckland Blues.

Surely each home nation would have performed better against a domestic side (the BLues being the worst NZ franchise this season atm)

Makes me question the idea behind getting the best players from each nation if they don't have enough time to gel together. Lots of hype and anticipation is all its been good for so far.

In reply to Derry:

2 games and a narrow win against a bunch of fringe players and a loss to a weaker franchise. They need to click or they could go downhill rapidly.

They have time...

In reply to Derry:


Have they had less time than usual?

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Not really sure tbh. Very probably the same amount of time. But to be competitive in NZ, surely it takes more than a month or so of training to click.

Anyway, as mentioned above; they have time. And of course the starting test line-up will have more quality players on the field, rather than giving everyone a run at this stage.

In reply to Derry:


I agree, these games are preparation. Obviously losing isn't what they'd want, but it's not the end of the tour. If they win the tests, nobody will care they lost this game.

Far too early to question the point of the tour IMO.

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

I agree, the improving performance is more important than the result at this stage. I'd rather they had the performance today and lost than had another performance equal to the Barbarians game but won again.

The nature of the tour is that you need to get enough games in within the timescale to get the team together and up to form, but you can't play your first team every game, or show your full hand too early, so the warm up games are always going to suffer.

I think the all-star nature of the lions is great. In some ways I wish it was practical to include the French and Italian players too (wouldn't complain at having Picamoles or Parisse at no. 8 just now!), but this would be both too complicated, and also lose the history of the lions.

Equally, it'd be quite exciting to have a southern hemisphere all-star tour... oh wait, that's just the All-blacks.

In reply to Derry:


FTFY

In reply to Derry:

Thanks for posting this, I've no need to watch my recording now.

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Isn't this meant to be the shortest Lions tour ever?

In reply to Gone for good:


You're asking me?

In reply to arch:

Oops. Forgot the spoiler alert. Sorry

In reply to Derry:

Penalty count too high. Too many, stronger players missing from the tour!

In reply to BnB:


Good point; and remember that they're now playing against one of the other 2 real rugby playing nations.

In reply to Shani:

Too many, stronger players missing from the tour!

Who do you think is missing?

In reply to Gone for good:

Isn't this meant to be the shortest Lions tour ever?

Don't know, but in the last tour in 2005 the warm up games were against lower ranked teams and the Lions did quite well in those. They then got annihilated in the tests.
Maybe (hoping), playing stiffer opposition early on will mean that the Lions team going into the tests will be better prepared in both tactics and team selection.

In reply to FactorXXX:


The Lions lost the test series in 05 after the first 5 minutes of the first test when the All Blacks shamefully spear tackled B OD out of the series.
After that it was game over.

In reply to FactorXXX:


I remember those early games being quite competitive, and the scorelines being a bit more sympathetic to the lions due some late scores (although that may be my fading memory). Apart from the thrashing of Manawatu that Wikipedia tells me.

In reply to Gone for good:

I remember watching that first test and thinking, in the soaking wet conditions - this is perfect for the Northern Hemisphere to grind out a win. Yet they still went down 21-3 (I think). No team rests on one person's influence.

If Clive Woodward and Alistair Campbell focused more on the following test matches and less on what happened to BOD, the other games might have been competitive.

In reply to Derry:

So far no so good, obviously players will get time to click and work together. However its the coaching plans that worry me more. The back plays are no more than either pass it across the pitch, crash up the middle or kick it away. Its devoid of anything that will trouble the Crusaders or Highlanders let alone the test side.

In reply to FactorXXX:


Launchbury and Hartley would be two in particular.

In reply to Shani:

Hartley..... lol

Launchers was very unlucky (and AWJ was very lucky).

In reply to La benya:


AWJ wasnt lucky, he was Welsh