British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand (2017)

[KevinO]

Warburton would not even make my match day 23 let alone captain the side. To Loyal to the Walsh.

Happy O'Mahony got selected. Best 6 in World Rugby when fit, defensive line outs should see his selection alone. Would not have Payne anywhere near the side, would have had Ryan or Toner as they both played well against NZ in November.

 

[KevinO]

taking on all 5 super teams and the maori, very brave, going to be some sore lions at the end, makes a grandslam tour look easy

So they should take them all on, this is the last remaining old style tour in Rugby. It's the only thing traditional left since the game went professional.

 

[Twoilms]

I had thought Halfpenny was crocked for the better part of two years and a bit rubbish once he came back. Davies doesn't deserve to be in the squad. Would have thought England had better centres than Te'o. Nice to see the northern hemisphere isn't immune to the tendency to randomly shoe in a leaguey.

North is questionable, given they have limited squad spaces, probably the hardest tour possible, and his recent concussion record. Seems a gamble to me.

Only area of parity they have with the All Blacks is the tight five.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

So, quite a few Welsh players.....

Twelve to be exact, along with 16 from Ringinland, 11 from Ireland & just the two Scotsmen, 41 in all which is four more than Gatland said he'd pick & IMO is a few too many. Plenty of potential for divisions within the team, whether along purely national lines or good old-fashioned Poms v Celts, not to mention those who won't get much game time v those who do.

Also feel Warburton could easily become another Ciaran Fitzgerald figure: I'm not convinced that he'd win a "pick the skipper" poll of the touring party. Not saying the players should pick the captain, fuck that for an idea, just that if things start going badly early on he could become a focal point for the inevitable dissatisfaction within the group & something of a scapegoat for the Brit media who are likely to decide in hindsight that an Englishman should've been captain.

 

[Braveheart81]

Warburton joins Martin Johnson as the only two time Lions tour captain (from my limited research).

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^ true, but he doesn't command a place in the Test-day XV the way MJ did

 

[Braveheart81]

^^^^ true, but he doesn't command a place in the Test-day 23 the way MJ did

Agreed. Given history, it will also be surprising if he stays healthy for the whole tour.

 

[KevinO]

Agreed. Given history, it will also be surprising if he stays healthy for the whole tour.

If the bookies had a market on him to make it to the first test I would be betting on him being injured given his recent record.

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[Inside Shoulder]

Don't think the piggies are athletic enough to worry the ABs and i don't the backs are good enough full stop.
Has the world finally woken up to the fraud Jamie Roberts is or his omission an age thing? all the pommy papers led with his inclusion.

 

[Highlander35]

Don't think the piggies are athletic enough to worry the ABs and i don't the backs are good enough full stop.
Has the world finally woken up to the fraud Jamie Roberts is or his omission an age thing? all the pommy papers led with his inclusion.

Gatland said (more or less straight after Scotland beat Wales to add to the drama) not only would be be considering performances over significant periods ahead of time over recent form (excluding one off, big performances) but that he was strongly considering taking a small number of players because of their experience in both Pro Rugby overall and previous BILs tours, paving the way for the likes of Genthin Jenkins (not my first choice, but would have been ahead of Marler) and Jamie Roberts to enter selection speculation.

But even Howley, bad of a coach as he is, had made that realisation during the 6 Nations, so sanity eventually won out, for that decision at least.

 

[KevinO]

My starting line up from squad selected:

1: Vunipola
2: Best
3: Furlong
4: Itoje
5: AWJ
6: O'Mahony
7: O'Brien
8: CJ Stander

9: Murray
10: Farrell/Sexton
11: Watson
12: Joseph
13: Henshaw
14: Williams
15: Hogg

 

[KevinO]

Don't think the piggies are athletic enough to worry the ABs and i don't the backs are good enough full stop.
Has the world finally woken up to the fraud Jamie Roberts is or his omission an age thing? all the pommy papers led with his inclusion.

Have to disagree about the Piggies, if selection is done right you could have a very strong and mobile pack. The Irish piggies defeated NZ in Chicago last year, out of those players only the locks are missing, Itoje is like for like replacement of Ryan and AWJ for Toner. Weakness would be Warburton at 7.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Just saw Gatland saying Warburton is "as good as McCaw" & just about sprayed my pre-dinner beer all over the lounge room..........

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Have to disagree about the Piggies, if selection is done right you could have a very strong and mobile pack. The Irish piggies defeated NZ in Chicago last year, out of those players only the locks are missing, Itoje is like for like replacement of Ryan and AWJ for Toner. Weakness would be Warburton at 7.

and on the score of athleticism Vunipola

 

[zer0]

Have to disagree about the Piggies, if selection is done right you could have a very strong and mobile pack. The Irish piggies defeated NZ in Chicago last year, out of those players only the locks are missing, Itoje is like for like replacement of Ryan and AWJ for Toner. Weakness would be Warburton at 7.

This time, of course, they will witness the firepower of the fully armed and operational forward pack.....

 

[cyclopath]

Just saw Gatland saying Warburton is "as good as McCaw" & just about sprayed my pre-dinner beer all over the lounge room....

Given McCaw is currently no longer playing, maybe he meant Warburton is equally effective as someone doing nothing?

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^^^ well, yes, it could be argued that their recent form is pretty similar

 

[KevinO]

Just relised Mike Brown was not selected. Would have him ahead of Payne and Halfpenny

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[The_Brown_Hornet]

Cement Head is taking the piss with Warbs and McCaw sure? Very few opensides in the history of the game are anywhere near Richie.

 

[Shelts89]

Cement Head is taking the piss with Warbs and McCaw sure? Very few opensides in the history of the game are anywhere near Richie.

Very true... Thierry Dusautoir (who is retiring at the end of the season) might be one of the few recently who could go toe-to-toe. Certainly not Warburton, but not being as good s McCaw hardly makes you a bad player.

The team I would pick (Other than Warburton as Captain) is:

1.Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Maro Itoje
5. AWJ
6. C J Stander
7. Sam Warburton
8. B Vunipola

9. Murray
10. Sexton
11. North
12. Henshaw
13.Jonathan Joseph
14. Watson
15. Hogg

16. M Vunipola (Impact sub)
17. Jamie George (Better than Best, IMO, but also a great impact player)
18. Kyle Sinckler ( again provides big impact and energy, unlike Cole)
19. George Kruis
20. T Faletau
21. Rhys Webb
22. Owen Farrell (Covers 10 and 12)
23. Elliot Daly (Just so versatile!)