Australia vs British and Irish Lions - 22nd June : TEST 1 BUILDUP

by wales606 Sat 15 Jun 2013 - 19:00

First topic message reminder :

So, it's only a week to go before the first Lions test for 4 years.

Gatland has a host of injuries and a game against the Brumbies to manoeuvre while deciding the 23 players who will take to the pitch next Saturday.

Christian Wade and Brad Barritt have both been called up to cover for injury concerns over Jamie Roberts, Manu Tuilagi, Tommy Bowe and George North

My team for Saturday

1. Maku Vunipola
2. Tom Youngs
3. Adam Jones
4. Alun Wyn Jones
5. Paul O'Connell
6. Tom Croft
7. Sam Warburton
8. Toby Faletau
9. Mike Phillips
10. Jonathan Sexton
11. George North (Simon Zebo)
12. Jonathan Davies
13. Brian O'Driscoll
14. Alex Cuthbert
15. Leigh Halfpenny

16. Richard Hibbard
17. Alex Corbisiero
18. Dan Cole
19. Richie Gray
20. Justin Tipuric
21. Ben Youngs
22. Owen Farrell
23. Manu Tuilagi/Stuart Hogg

Thoughts?

by wales606 Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:55

Adam Jones has to play 80 next week!!!

by ultra Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:56

Oh dear....what happened.....radio commentators not explaining?

by BamBam Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:56

Oh my god

by Shifty Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:56

wales606 wrote:Adam Jones has to play 80 next week!!!

Your kidding, he can barely do 60 these days Sad

by Fernando Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:56

He slipped over

by wales606 Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:57

Thank Frak!

Lions have been very lucky, chances needed next week

by t1000advancedprototype Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:57

Hahahahahahhahahahahahahahah

About time we stole it at the death. Sick of Australia doing it.

by formerly known as Sam Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:57

How was that an Aussie penalty? They loosehead run round the side and Moore stood straight up. They bottled out and twisted it round. Should have gone the other way.

Unlucky for Beale.

by Pete C (Kiwireddevil) Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:57

ultra wrote:Oh dear....what happened.....radio commentators not explaining?

Beale slipped on the kick.

The Aussies should have won this, massive massive choke.

by ultra Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:58

phew........count that one down to the luck of our Irish contingent!

by ultra Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:59

phew........count that one down to the luck of our Irish contingent!

by AFewTooManyKnocks Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:59

Great game. Aussies will be better next week. That's their first outing.

Hope the injuries aren't too serious.

by wales606 Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:59

Youngs, SOB and Faletau to start next week, Tipuric onto the bench

Corbs and Adam need to play longer than 50 minutes

Perhaps bring Roberts back in?

Bowe to 14

by asoreleftshoulder Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 12:59

Blessed to win that,goal kicking was the difference.The Lions need to stop competing at rucks next week the SH ref don't allow it,was there a ruck turnover all game?

by Pete C (Kiwireddevil) Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:00

wales606 wrote:Youngs, SOB and Faletau to start next week, Tipuric onto the bench

Corbs and Adam need to play longer than 50 minutes

Perhaps bring Roberts back in?

Bowe to 14

Agree.

by wales606 Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:00

The Aussies used all their 80 minute scores against Wales!

by GloriousEmpire Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:00

Ausralia win the scrum battle, but lions backs were the difference? Am I in the twilight zone?

by The Saint Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:00

I do feel for Aus, so many injuries and missed kicks. Not very smart from the Lions today. Kudos to the Wallabies captain Horwill for going straight over to Beale there to try and pick him back up.

by LeinsterFan4life Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:00

ultra wrote:phew........count that one down to the luck of our Irish contingent!

You think the irish are lucky? Have you ever looked at a history book?

by valtrepkos Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:00

Last scrum penalty had to go the other way - justice done that he missed. Hopefully the northern hemisphere refs to come will let us compete at the breakdown a little!

by blackcanelion Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:00

Really good game. Interesting to see how much the test line ups change next week.

by Frankston Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:01

Cole was under a lot of pressure and ended up on his knees. Out of character for Cole as he is normally very good but just didn't seem to cope with the aussie props today. Vunipola also seemed to have problems but I'm sure both will come back better for the next test.

by wales606 Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:01

Poite in the 3rd test will be a huge advantage

by kiakahaaotearoa Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:03

Lions will take that. Great result for them! Disruptive injuries to Oz backs. Goal kicking proved crucial. Will be interesting to see what changes will be made next week.

From a neutral perspective hope Australia make it 1 1 so the last game means something. Well done to Lions but they must prepare now for an Australian backlash. Oz will be disappointed they didn't close this our through kicking.

by Feckless Rogue Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:04

Great game. Could have gone either way for sure. But the Lions win makes for a more interesting series. Because expect the Aussie's to come back better.

by Pete C (Kiwireddevil) Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:04

North and Folau both lived up to the hype, hope they don't collide too often next week or the planet might stop rotating.

by **Pal Joey** Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:05

Well done Lions. Monumental effort there. clap

Couldn't believe all the injuries we had and all those missed kicks. Poor Kurtley! Crying or Very sad

Don't worry... they'll be back. Already looking forward to next week.

by Scrumpy Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:05

Very lucky, we should have walked all over them, I think its fair to say if Aus were at full strenght we would have struggled.

Lets hope we pull it together for the next Test

by trebellbobaggins Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:06

Man that was close but they pulled it off. Aussie showed just how dangerous they are. Team in tatters with injuries but still could and probably should have won it at the death.

This will be a close series.

by Duty281 Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:06

What a try by North.
What a Terry-esque slip by Beale.
What a win for the Lions! Yahoo

Commiserations Australia.

Some luck needed though, particularly after the Lions appeared to get on the wrong side of the referee. Work to do for Melbourne, but for now:

Australia 0-1 Lions.

by Full Credit Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:06

Brilliant game of rugby, very proud of the Wallabies tonight.

by Hookisms and Hyperbole Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:07

Why on earth would you bring Falateau in? Heaslip was the only backrow forward to put in a performance today.

by markb Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:08

Really lucky win by the Lions, outside of North's break and Halfpenny's boot we didn't offer enough (they easily contained any physical edge) and were saved by some terrible kicking and an ingame injury compromised Australia.

We need some personnel and a gameplan change if we don't want to lose the next two tests.

by nathan Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:09

Which guys stood out for the lions?

by **George Carlin** Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:09

Australian injuries may mean that the Wallabies actually aren't stronger next week. I am assuming that they may need Cooper on the bench at least as 10 cover.

We were tactically very naïve in the last 10 minutes, especially at the scrum. When it became obvious the Wallabies weren't going back we should have got it out of there rather than risked a front row collapse which is always a penalty lottery. Heaslip can count himself very, very lucky.

We have to get this in perspective. The Wallabies played most of that match with a loose forward and a scrum half in their midfield and lost their first two choices of goakicker, then were two missed penalties away from taking it.

Well done to us but we were unbelie-vably lucky.

by **LondonTiger** Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:10

Hookisms and Hyperbole wrote:Why on earth would you bring Falateau in? Heaslip was the only backrow forward to put in a performance today.

Well, i thought all 3 back rowers did pretty well.

by Knowsit17 Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:14

VictorU3 wrote:Very lucky, we should have walked all over them, I think its fair to say if Aus were at full strenght we would have struggled.

Lets hope we pull it together for the next Test

But then this wasn't a full-strength Lions side either so the debacle would continue either way imo.

No problem with winning it like that. The Aussies themselves have snatched countless games at the death and Lions all but let them do it again. Thought Pollock certainly did all in his power to make sure of that. So a win's a win, roll on Melbourne Cat

by **LondonTiger** Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:15

As Geech is saying, Joubert and Poite will have very different interpretations of the breakdown - which really is where we were struggling with the ref.

by AFewTooManyKnocks Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:17

LondonTiger wrote:As Geech is saying, Joubert and Poite will have very different interpretations of the breakdown - which really is where we were struggling with the ref.

Joubert will have the same interpretation ad that's how it's reffed in the SH. Lions just need to adapt. Simple. The ref isn't the issue.

by LeinsterFan4life Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:18

Joubert is reffing the next game!!!

Why not Kaplan? He's a great ref.

by The Saint Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:18

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:North and Folau both lived up to the hype, hope they don't collide too often next week or the planet might stop rotating.

T1000 is that you?

by majesticimperialman Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:18

A great win for the Lions today. But lets face it they will have to work harder at the break down, stop going off their feet and giving away penalties. If Qade Cooper had started instead of O'Conner the result may have been different.

A lot of injuries for Australia though. I do hope that they are not serious injuries.

Very well done to the Lions for hanging on to the very end.

by **Pal Joey** Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:19

George,
I just think we need to get Cummins and possibly Mogg into the mix for next week but no doubt RD will persist with McCabe and Barnes if they are fit.

by HammerofThunor Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:20

majesticimperialman wrote:A great win for the Lions today. But lets face it they will have to work harder at the break down, stop going off their feet and giving away penalties. If Qade Cooper had started instead of O'Conner the result may have been different.

A lot of injuries for Australia though. I do hope that they are serious injuries.

Very well done to the Lions for hanging on to the very end.

I hope that's a typo

by The Saint Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:20

Hookisms and Hyperbole wrote:Why on earth would you bring Falateau in? Heaslip was the only backrow forward to put in a performance today.

Because on form Faletau deserves a chance (as does SOB and Tips); though not at the expense of the consistent Heaslip.
Lineout was good today, that's why Gatland rates Croft.

by LeinsterFan4life Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:21

The dept Aus have in the backs is amazing. Can't believe they can still bring in players like Cooper, Cummins and Mogg into the team.

by majesticimperialman Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:22

HammerofThunor wrote:
majesticimperialman wrote:A great win for the Lions today. But lets face it they will have to work harder at the break down, stop going off their feet and giving away penalties. If Qade Cooper had started instead of O'Conner the result may have been different.

A lot of injuries for Australia though. I do hope that they are serious injuries.

Very well done to the Lions for hanging on to the very end.
I hope that's a typo

It was. just corrected it. thumbsup

by HammerofThunor Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:23

majesticimperialman wrote:
HammerofThunor wrote:
majesticimperialman wrote:A great win for the Lions today. But lets face it they will have to work harder at the break down, stop going off their feet and giving away penalties. If Qade Cooper had started instead of O'Conner the result may have been different.

A lot of injuries for Australia though. I do hope that they are serious injuries.

Very well done to the Lions for hanging on to the very end.
I hope that's a typo

It was. just corrected it.

by boomeranga Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:23

Congratulations Lions fans. A terrific game really and disappointing to lose, but that's the way it goes.

I think we will be in trouble from here as those back line injuries didn't look too good. Centers will be an issue.

by Taylorman Sat 22 Jun 2013 - 13:24

LeinsterFan4life wrote:The dept Aus have in the backs is amazing. Can't believe they can still bring in players like Cooper, Cummins and Mogg into the team.

true but thats about where it dries up completely after that..

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