The 606v2 Lions Selection Openside Flanker

Alright guys!

I figured we could get this going to give us a bit of a heads up on the general consensus of opinions for Lions Test shirts. We'll have a starting XV in no time BUT I am going to leave vote cancelling on so people can change their minds over the next 8 days or so.

Keep the debate honest and punch above the belt.  

ps: remember this is not a prediction, it is a "who would YOU select" poll.


Tipuric
Has looked outstanding for most of the year. He is a bit of a poacher and pretty effective on the floor in that regard. On top of that he is lightening quick at getting to the breakdown and in the loose. He has excellent vision and can execute his intentions with great basic skills. He has shown himself to be an excellent ball carrier also both on tour and in the domestic league. 

O'Brien
He plays this position the same way he plays blindside. He does not adopt the sterotypical role of a 7, he carries hard and gets through a lot of work at the ruck. In this position he outshone McCaw in the second test against the All Blacks last summer but if a real fetcher is what is needed then he is perhaps not the guy for the job, if you need some dynamism and power well then.....!

Waurburton
This is his primary position since moving from 8 years ago, he has developed a great understanding of what the position requires. He is good on the floor without being exceptional, he mainly relies on his speed to get him to the breakdown quickest. As mentioned in the blindside thread, he has not shown good form and needs a big game against the Tahs this weekend.

Ok guys get the debate started and get the votes coming in. 
Much love.
Buachaill

If I could use one example of why it should be Tipuric. Had it been him playing he would have scored that break away try in the 1st half against the Reds.

I've gone Warburton as captain.  Look I know he hasn't been in his best form, but I would back him to come good in the big game.

Tipuric is a world-class flanker, great with the ball, and superb at the breakdown. Warburton isn't even fully fit. Tipuric it is.

Duty281 wrote:Tipuric is a world-class flanker, great with the ball, and superb at the breakdown. Warburton isn't even fully fit. Tipuric it is.

How do you define 'world class' Duty?  For me Tipuric is not at the same level as McCaw or Pocock, therefore I am not sure how he can be defined as world class.

Ozzy3213 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Tipuric is a world-class flanker, great with the ball, and superb at the breakdown. Warburton isn't even fully fit. Tipuric it is.

How do you define 'world class' Duty?  For me Tipuric is not at the same level as McCaw or Pocock, therefore I am not sure how he can be defined as world class.

Maybe world-class is a bit strong. He's at the level below McCaw and Pocock, but Tipuric certainly has the potential to reach those heights if he stays clear of injury.

Ozzy-

I think it is kinda down to how he gets on this Saturday really. He needs to be nothing short of amazing if I am honest, he hasn't shown up well at all and the other options have really excelled in his absence

Duty, you'll get no disagreement from me that he has great potential and is already a very good player.

Pete, I disagree that he needs to nothing short of amazing on Saturday.  In my mind he just needs to not have a howler.  Form is temporary, class is permanent as they say, and I would back Warburtons class to come through on the big stage.

Ok that's fair but would you not say Tipuric is class as well? Tipuric has looked better than Warbs for a lot of the year in my opinion and I think could be key in allowing us to slow down Wallaby ball which for me is what could win us the series.

Seeing as I and others moaned at Maesteg (I think it was), I'm going to moan here too. Couldn't these have been done a bit differently? Like backrow etc all together. It's a lot of threads to sift through to find what you might want to talk about unless you're on here all the time. Considering you're bound to bump them up as well before next Saturday, it does leave a bit of clutter.

True story Risca, didn't think of doing it as units as then there would be MASSIVE threads for backrow and back 3 etc.

I think there is plenty of conversation linking a number of them however.

Tipuric is a very good player Pete, but I just have a feeling that Warburton will come good in the big game.  I'm not knocking Tipuric at all, and if left out he could rightly feel aggrieved, as on an individual level he's done enough to get the starting jersey. 

But rugby is not an individual game, and when making my picks I've looked at who fits in best to how I want to play and works well with the other players.  I've gone Croft at 6, and I'm not convinced that Tipuric at 7 would work that well with him.

Fair enough Oz, would you consider a Warbs-Faleteau-Tipuric combo?

I did, but I fancy the skillset of Tom Croft to really trouble the Aussies.

I would consider Heaslip to have that same skillset as Croft to be honest, I just think he does it better and allows SOB to come in to the team who has the same skillset as Faleteau but I believe does it better too

Ozzy3213 wrote:Tipuric is a very good player Pete, but I just have a feeling that Warburton will come good in the big game.  I'm not knocking Tipuric at all, and if left out he could rightly feel aggrieved, as on an individual level he's done enough to get the starting jersey. 

But rugby is not an individual game, and when making my picks I've looked at who fits in best to how I want to play and works well with the other players.  I've gone Croft at 6, and I'm not convinced that Tipuric at 7 would work that well with him.

Considering that the Ozzies are renowned for ground work at the breakdown, I would say that two foragers like tips and Warbs would be a better option than lyds or croft. Lyds is an awesome offensive tackler, to coin an NFL phrase, croft likes to lurk outside the rucks, good defender and plenty of pace but doesn't win a lot of turnovers in defence. SOB is our perfect impact sub. Covers all three backrow positions really well and is great ball in hand.

Bloody tough call as they are all talented in different ways and all have massive cases for and little against.

Tips Warbs and Heaslip for me.

Wow. A huge vote in favour of Tipuric over the captain. In terms of his performances he probably deserves it.

It is a tough call maes, whoever is left out can probably feel hard done by.

Warbs-Heaslip-Tips also has a really good balance to it IMO and then with SOB coming off the bench. 

And yes, I expected Tips to win this one but lord not by this much.
The close ones so far are SOB vs Croft and Hibbard vs Youngs

Tipuric

Why have you had two Warbs? surely we know who is captain. This just dilutes Warbs selection. If he plays he will be captain FULL STOP

flyhalffactory wrote:Why have you had two Warbs? surely we know who is captain. This just dilutes Warbs selection. If he plays he will be captain FULL STOP

Two options for Warburton as a blindside too...!

Looks like the poll has Tipuric & Heaslip firm favourites with either SOB  or Croft at BS.

I would be happy with that but SOB covers the back row so Croft starting would make sense.

flyhalffactory wrote:Why have you had two Warbs? surely we know who is captain. This just dilutes Warbs selection. If he plays he will be captain FULL STOP

Ehm...add them together so...that wasn't difficult

The other options for captain have a with or without option too