Lions very very VERY lucky.

Commiserations to Oz. Amazing considering injuries and players playing out of position. 

Possibly the better team but kicks cost them.

I see the lions winning comfortably next week due to Oz injuries. 

Genia & North take a bow.

Will there be anyone left for next week?
Quade to get a call up.

Well with injuries that ended up putting forwards in the backs, 14 missed points including a fall over...how lucky can the Lions be next time. For me Folau was the MOM by far, 2 tries and climbed all over the Lions back 3 to take kicks, as well as stopping George Noths try...all on debut!.

Posters here seriously underestimating the guys talent for weeks.

Referee DESTROYED the game, no consistency at all, no yellow for Australia??? Unfathomable. The SH can keep their pajama rugby breakdown, what a joker.

Your forgetting the lions have injuries to some of out best players. No way near as bad as Australias, but still.

What scares me is Oz have...

Cooper
Giteau
Mitchell

If they need to call upon them!

Lions need to tighten up.

Higher_Ground wrote:Referee DESTROYED the game, no consistency at all, no yellow for Australia??? Unfathomable. The SH can keep their pajama rugby breakdown, what a joker.

Seriously get a grip. That was a brilliant game of rugby. Go troll elsewhere

Higher_Ground wrote:Referee DESTROYED the game, no consistency at all, no yellow for Australia??? Unfathomable. The SH can keep their pajama rugby breakdown, what a joker.

oh...the ref tape...and where on the board did oz benefit from the ref? The Lions have probaby won their only test in any case.

I thought the ref did a good job. Lions didnt do enough analysis on him to know how he sees the breakdown.

Mind you why should he decide to referee the breakdown differently to every other referee in the world.

He wasn't a factor in the result.

Lions awfully immature defending was a huge factor.  We have no blindside flanker in defence, our replacement props and lock weakened our scrimmage massively. 

We won on Kurtley Beale treading on the wrong bit of grass.

Great to win but loads of work to do now...!

The oz injuries were unbelievable...have never seen 3 players stretchered off in the same match...let alone the same backline...and AAC to boot. and the kicker off in the first minute...how costly was all of that...Lions will need to improve because they can't poosibly get more luck than that again.

North is up there now with Billywhiz and BOD.

I think will go on and win the 2nd.

I guess Cooper will be playing now?

t1000advancedprototype wrote:North is up there now with Billywhiz and BOD.

He's a quality player that saved our skin.

Someone needs to take him aside and tell him that the cheap gesticulating at opposition players in the the act of scoring stops though.

Hey you beat whats in front of you...the aussies usually get a fair chunk of luck against the individual home nations...we happened to get a bit this game...we won.

Lets work in training on where we werent so hot...

North and Cuthbert justified their selections. Agree with S Barnes...for once...when he said Oz need to find a 10 that will make better use of Folau's skills on the wing. Twice he took the ball above Halfpenny and North from arial kicks in one of the most stunning debuts. JOC's not a 10 so perhaps Cooper will have to come in.

They deserved the win. They were lucky the kicks were missed but overall the Lions were the better team. Not by a lot mind.

Ok, if I'm a troll, never been called that before by the way, then BOD agrees with me. Good game of rugby, but I feel if a man comes in the side and splits a maul that is trundling towards the try line, it's a yellow. Sorry for having an opinion. We may as well play O'Brien, Tipuric and Heaslip next week if the breakdown isn't allowed to be contested.

maestegmafia wrote:I thought the ref did a good job. Lions didnt do enough analysis on him to know how he sees the breakdown.

Mind you why should he decide to referee the breakdown differently to every other referee in the world.

He wasn't a factor in the result.

Lions awfully immature defending was a huge factor.  We have no blindside flanker in defence, our replacement props and lock weakened our scrimmage massively. 

We won on Kurtley Beale treading on the wrong bit of grass.

Great to win but loads of work to do now...!

Big round of applause to maestagmafia.
After a great game of rugby turns on the English coach and players for criticism.

Can't you just admit all players need to work on things not just the English ones?

Taylorman wrote:The oz injuries were unbelievable...have never seen 3 players stretchered off in the same match...let alone the same backline...and AAC to boot. and the kicker off in the first minute...how costly was all of that...Lions will need to improve because they can't poosibly get more luck than that again.

They were unlucky but injuries are part and parcel of sport and, these days especially, recovery from injury is a science operated by the medics, trainers, etc.  Leigh Halfpenny's kicking was crucial to the Lions' victory.  It was tables turned for Leigh, who was stretchered off the Arms Park last December at the end of the game won 14-12 by Australia versus Wales with a last-minute try by Kurtley Beale, the guy who failed to kick the winning penalty today.

Higher_Ground wrote:Ok, if I'm a troll, never been called that before by the way, then BOD agrees with me. Good game of rugby, but I feel if a man comes in the side and splits a maul that is trundling towards the try line, it's a yellow. Sorry for having an opinion. We may as well play O'Brien, Tipuric and Heaslip next week if the breakdown isn't allowed to be contested.

Equally the lions could have been yellowed for a ruck infringement inside their 5m in the 2nd half. He's consistent. 

Can't be bothered with soccer style whinging about refs

We were told the Lions were keeping something in reserve for the tests, but unless they meant North I have to say I didn't notice it. Australia were the better team, matched/surpassed the forwards for physicality and the backs looked far more dangerous as a unit, even with a flanker in there. If Australia sort their kicking issues out the Lions will have to seriously step up.

I'd say the Lions will kick on now,they won't meet a ref that interprets the breakdown like that again so will win turnovers and put more pressure on.
I'd like to see Gatland change the bench a little bit with Bowe/Cuthbert (whoever doesn't start) and SoB/Tipuric we'd have a lot more impact from our subs.Will Roberts be fit next week?

Taylorman wrote:The oz injuries were unbelievable...have never seen 3 players stretchered off in the same match...let alone the same backline...and AAC to boot. and the kicker off in the first minute...how costly was all of that...Lions will need to improve because they can't poosibly get more luck than that again.

Luck and some interpretation issues that went against them really getting a rhythm too. (I thought Gatland had a long chat with the ref during the week to work out his interpretations.  It seems the Lions players didn't get Gatland's report!  )

Australia are Australia...  they were always going to fight back and through a game, even with injuries.  I think their weakness is that they did everything good in gulps of effort then a die off.  Had they sustained a really heady extended patch of in-your-face attacking rugby they would have benefited more.

The Lions weren't firing.  Phillips wasn't his usual firebrand self.  Everything seemed to be tied up and tense in nerves shown by each side regarding how important that first test win was.

Lions will now play the next game with a buffer of sorts and that should calm the nerves a bit.  Australia, on the other hand, now know they have to give everyhing to the next two and go at the Lions with more of a regular rhythm than the stop-start one on today.

Pete C, two wrongs don't make a right. Don't see why a test match has to be held hostage to the whims of a particular referee. They are there to apply the laws, not interpret them. So what, we won, playing averagely. More confident than ever now.

Not sure how to do this without sounding like I'm whingeing, but I'll give it a go: The Lions need to work on the interpretation at the breakdown in the Southern Hemisphere. Both of BODs and a few other attempts at the steal over the ball had us all off our seats cheering for the imminent penalty and turnover as that is usually given as a penalty in the NH. The 6N was littered with examples of those sort of steals. So we were very surprised that all 5 or so occasions were pinged. The Lions need to learn fast what is acceptable or they'll be pinged again next week. Not sure if bringing Tipuric in will be a good thing as surely there will be even more penalties against us as he's good at winning those sort of penalties in the NH (hope that makes sense?!).

timhen wrote:

t1000advancedprototype wrote:North is up there now with Billywhiz and BOD.

He's a quality player that saved our skin.

Someone needs to take him aside and tell him that the cheap gesticulating at opposition players in the the act of scoring stops though.

Mindgames are key though!

Knackeredknees wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:I thought the ref did a good job. Lions didnt do enough analysis on him to know how he sees the breakdown.

Mind you why should he decide to referee the breakdown differently to every other referee in the world.

He wasn't a factor in the result.

Lions awfully immature defending was a huge factor.  We have no blindside flanker in defence, our replacement props and lock weakened our scrimmage massively. 

We won on Kurtley Beale treading on the wrong bit of grass.

Great to win but loads of work to do now...!

Big round of applause to maestagmafia.
After a great game of rugby turns on the English coach and players for criticism.

Can't you just admit all players need to work on things not just the English ones?

Doesn't matter which country those guys are from that is where problems lie.

We have nothing at the breakdown if the ref won't let us contest the ball, we missed too many tackles through disorganisation. We need a hard defence around the breakdown that forces the Aussies wide and we need a better defencively tactic implemented out wide to contain them.

Aussie tries all came from blindside attacks lead by Genia because we have no flanker defending the blind side.


This week the Ozzies were amazed SOB wasn't playing and to be honest they were right. He would have been a massive benefit today. Another ball carrier/tackler.

t1000advancedprototype wrote:

timhen wrote:

t1000advancedprototype wrote:North is up there now with Billywhiz and BOD.

He's a quality player that saved our skin.

Someone needs to take him aside and tell him that the cheap gesticulating at opposition players in the the act of scoring stops though.

Mindgames are key though!

To a degree.  Stuff like that, similar to what Armitage did in the HC final really lacks class.  I don't think North is that type of player, so hopefully we won't see it from him again and it can be chalked up as a youthful aberration.

I'm afraid I agree that the ref made life difficult for us. Described during commentary as a super rugby referee who likes a fast game. I assume the word "super" was being attached to "rugby" rather than "referee". Different ref next week.

maestegmafia wrote:
Aussie tries all came from blindside attacks lead by Genia because we have no flanker defending the blind side.

No that is simply not true. Neither try came from blindside attacks. The first was first-phase from a tap penalty with no "blindside" to defend, and Croft was there in position anyway until Genia stepped passed Phillips. The second was just a linebreak on the openside where their 14 beat three defenders.

In any case the "blindside defence" thing is made up anyway. Type Dan Lydiate into Youtube and you'll see endless clips of him bursting out of the line on the OPENside. They only stick to the blind/open distinction on first phase from set piece.

Croft was pretty quiet, I'll admit, but this attempt to blame him for both tries conceded, and from posters claiming that Warburton's equally quiet performance is somehow Croft's fault, is remarkable.

The first try was a bit ridiculous imo.First there was no way any other ref would have called advantage over,then Philips turned his back and let Genia fly by him.

Lions came through a massive test with a ref who was clearly from another planet and totally disrupted any plan for the breakdown. Australia seem to have injuries. Assume Cooper will be drafted in, I imagine, but I think Lions will grow, can't possibly have such a douche ref again, and will win the 2nd test.

Give maesteg a break will you - he had all his criticisms of Farrell ready to go and then didn't get a chance to use any of them as he didn't get on the pitch, although no doubt he did something wrong in the way he celebrated a try or handed water to someone.

Higher_Ground wrote:Referee DESTROYED the game, no consistency at all, no yellow for Australia??? Unfathomable. The SH can keep their pajama rugby breakdown, what a joker.

They are still a lot better than us up north, with better players.  Oh and the games are about 10 times better to watch too.

Looking at the Stats there was very little in the game.

Lions were very lucky. But given that Aussies have been deriding the northern hemisphere for using kicking 10/15s for years, I would bet that they wish that they had a kicker today. Yes they had a chance at the end to win the game but they had already missed a lot of kickable points

jelly wrote:Give maesteg a break will you - he had all his criticisms of Farrell ready to go and then didn't get a chance to use any of them as he didn't get on the pitch, although no doubt he did something wrong in the way he celebrated a try or handed water to someone.

He hasn't mentioned the replacement hookers effect on the scrum either!

I'm shocked maes hasn't brought up norths show boating for his try, what with all the stuff mentioned about delon armitage...

Actually, watching it back, North made Genia fall on the floor, just by pointing at him. He is supernatural, watch the try again....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xP9g6ixhnbo

Knackeredknees wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:I thought the ref did a good job. Lions didnt do enough analysis on him to know how he sees the breakdown.

Mind you why should he decide to referee the breakdown differently to every other referee in the world.

He wasn't a factor in the result.

Lions awfully immature defending was a huge factor.  We have no blindside flanker in defence, our replacement props and lock weakened our scrimmage massively. 

We won on Kurtley Beale treading on the wrong bit of grass.

Great to win but loads of work to do now...!

Big round of applause to maestagmafia.
After a great game of rugby turns on the English coach and players for criticism.

Can't you just admit all players need to work on things not just the English ones?

You're wasting your breath on Maes. Unlike the ref he has been consistant in his criticism of none welsh selections the whole tour. The fact that the first Oz try started from a breakdown where 2 aussies came in from the side and went off their feet flopping over the ball to gain the turnover... while the ref was supposedly playing advantage to the Lions... then went straight through an out of position North and a woeful Sexton tackle will have escaped him completely.

Metal Tiger wrote:

Knackeredknees wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:I thought the ref did a good job. Lions didnt do enough analysis on him to know how he sees the breakdown.

Mind you why should he decide to referee the breakdown differently to every other referee in the world.

He wasn't a factor in the result.

Lions awfully immature defending was a huge factor.  We have no blindside flanker in defence, our replacement props and lock weakened our scrimmage massively. 

We won on Kurtley Beale treading on the wrong bit of grass.

Great to win but loads of work to do now...!

Big round of applause to maestagmafia.
After a great game of rugby turns on the English coach and players for criticism.

Can't you just admit all players need to work on things not just the English ones?

You're wasting your breath on Maes. Unlike the ref he has been consistant in his criticism of none welsh selections the whole tour. The fact that the first Oz try started from a breakdown where 2 aussies came in from the side and went off their feet flopping over the ball to gain the turnover... while the ref was supposedly playing advantage to the Lions... then went straight through an out of position North and a woeful Sexton tackle will have escaped him completely.

I think you're mixing up the 2 tries,Sexton missed the tackle for the 2nd try it was Phillips who let Genia through for the 1st try.

Higher_Ground wrote:Referee DESTROYED the game, no consistency at all, no yellow for Australia??? Unfathomable. The SH can keep their pajama rugby breakdown, what a joker.

Careful. We did exactly the same thing as Aus in the 2nd half and escaped without a yellow. Don't think Pollock can take any blame for how the match was. Not many seem to share this view though!

MarcusHalberstram wrote:Lions came through a massive test with a ref who was clearly from another planet and totally disrupted any plan for the breakdown. Australia seem to have injuries. Assume Cooper will be drafted in, I imagine, but I think Lions will grow, can't possibly have such a douche ref again, and will win the 2nd test.

Our next ref is Joubert, think again

Aus will grow more, this is their first test together and though new players will take a while to gel I'd suggest it will take less time than a 7 playing centre!

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Metal Tiger wrote:

Knackeredknees wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:I thought the ref did a good job. Lions didnt do enough analysis on him to know how he sees the breakdown.

Mind you why should he decide to referee the breakdown differently to every other referee in the world.

He wasn't a factor in the result.

Lions awfully immature defending was a huge factor.  We have no blindside flanker in defence, our replacement props and lock weakened our scrimmage massively. 

We won on Kurtley Beale treading on the wrong bit of grass.

Great to win but loads of work to do now...!

Big round of applause to maestagmafia.
After a great game of rugby turns on the English coach and players for criticism.

Can't you just admit all players need to work on things not just the English ones?

You're wasting your breath on Maes. Unlike the ref he has been consistant in his criticism of none welsh selections the whole tour. The fact that the first Oz try started from a breakdown where 2 aussies came in from the side and went off their feet flopping over the ball to gain the turnover... while the ref was supposedly playing advantage to the Lions... then went straight through an out of position North and a woeful Sexton tackle will have escaped him completely.

I think you're mixing up the 2 tries,Sexton missed the tackle for the 2nd try it was Phillips who let Genia through for the 1st try.

Maybe. Just got back from the pub so a little worse for wear.