Jonathan Davies victim of Twitter abuse and threats after displacing Brian O'Driscoll in Lions side for deciding Test

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Jonathan Davies victim of Twitter abuse and threats after displacing Brian O'Driscoll in Lions side for deciding Test

The Scarlets and Wales centre was one of the standout performers during the 2-1 series success over the Wallabies and was given the vote to play alongside countryman Jamie Roberts in Sydney.

Coach Warren Gatland’s selection, which included nine Welshmen in the starting XV, gave rise to some serious criticism from the likes of Lions’ great Willie John McBride and former Ireland and Lions hooker Keith Wood.

The opposition to Gatland’s decision – particularly in relation to O’Driscoll – became further inflamed on Twitter, where a handful of supporters posted threatening messages towards Davies.

Davies said: “There was a lot of stuff on Twitter but I tried not to take too much notice of it. I had some good advice from players like Mike Phillips who just told me to ignore it.

“I was just grateful to have been given the opportunity to win the series. I did get a bit of verbal abuse and people wanting to break my legs and stuff. But I didn’t really care.


“I did feel like public enemy number one and there was a lot of pressure. But I felt like I had performed well under pressure.

“It was a great experience and I enjoyed every minute. Brian congratulated me afterwards and said well done. We were tight as a squad and Brian will be glad to have it on his CV.”

Davies will now turn his attention to helping the Scarlets re-establish themselves as a force in European club rugby.

“I have had six weeks offf and I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve been away on holiday and can’t wait to get back playing.”




Pretty disgusting stuff, rugby becoming more popular is attracting football like behaviour

gcBlues wrote:What's with all the bullsh#t irish sentiment? BOD is over the hill and his performances in the first 2 tests confirmed it. He gave away stupid penalties and even an interception in to the mix so he got dropped. Simple really. But BOD likes to play the victim, is he still talking about Tana Umaga and 2005? He likes a good whinge and it seems some of his supporters like Sin & keith wood do too.

Cuthbert had a mixed game in the first test but scored a try only to then drop to the bench for the 2nd test and then out of the squad altogether for the 3rd. I didn't see him coming out to the press whinging like a certain dropped centre

BOD hasn't said a word ... unlike Davies .....

Cutbert was too busy partying with the non-test squad to be bothered (he was lucky to be picked in the first place), not to mention the fact that 11 Welsh might have been pushing what credibility Gatland had left about who was actually touring.

rodders wrote:

munkian wrote:
3. Yeah, how dare he mention he was subject to abuse by Irish 'fans', any sympathy should of course go to the down trodden Fenian Brotherhood of wronged Irish centres, lucky you're not the kind to have a chip on your shoulder about it

Ah hear now, I'm from the reformed fruit washing faith and I wasn't happy about it either  .

Ah gowan now, Davies gave it a good go  

Sin é wrote:

gcBlues wrote:What's with all the bullsh#t irish sentiment? BOD is over the hill and his performances in the first 2 tests confirmed it. He gave away stupid penalties and even an interception in to the mix so he got dropped. Simple really. But BOD likes to play the victim, is he still talking about Tana Umaga and 2005? He likes a good whinge and it seems some of his supporters like Sin & keith wood do too.

Cuthbert had a mixed game in the first test but scored a try only to then drop to the bench for the 2nd test and then out of the squad altogether for the 3rd. I didn't see him coming out to the press whinging like a certain dropped centre

BOD hasn't said a word ... unlike Davies .....

Cutbert was too busy partying with the non-test squad to be bothered (he was lucky to be picked in the first place), not to mention the fact that 11 Welsh might have been pushing what credibility Gatland had left about who was actually touring.

The winger who helped put England to the sword for the 6 nations champions ship and scored a try in the first Test was lucky to be picked compared to the questionably fit 30 something centre who was yellow carded for stamping on someone ?

munkian wrote:

Sin é wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Keith Wood really was a busy bee during the Lions tour!

Seriously though, that is appaulling. I'd like to think those involved would be ashamed of themselves, particularly after Gatland's decision to ditch BOD was comprehensively vindicated, but I suspect people who can post such bile are incapable of sense, in much the same way that Keith Wood has severely damaged his already shaky credibility as a pundit by failing to admit his poor judgment.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but two things are important: (a) the manner in which you express them, and (b) the ability to admit when ones opinions have been proven wrong.

1) The Welsh set the precendent with their threatening behaviour to Alain Roland. He got death threats.

2) Gatland's decision has not been vindicated. It was totally disrespectful to a player and as we now know, beating Australia wasn't really much of an achievement anyway. Going the route Gatland choose leads to a lowering of the standards of respect for professional rugby players.

And is Davies an ediot - does he really think that it means much to Brian O'Driscoll that he can put a Lions Series win on his cv?  

 
1) So its fine to do it because someone else did ? Rubbish
 
2) Dropping a rugby player is disrespectful ? Rubbish again. He won a Lions series, thats surely the important thing. A scratch team went on tour and beat a SH team in the top 3 rankings. That is an achievement. BOD finally got a Lions series win on his CV -a long with what, a few Heino cups and one Six Nations Grandslam ? People seem to forget it was Gatland that gave O'Driscol his international debut
 
3) Yeah, JD2 is an idiot, what a complete loser

You shouldn't somebody serious when they post like that Munk. He's probably one of the Irish who used to get on their high horse about booing crowds, before it started happening at the Aviva as well.

Comfort wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Comfort wrote:

Sin é wrote: 1. No its not fine. But the Welsh in particular have gone down the route of disrespecting players and officials, so quit moaning about it now that you have got a dose of it yourselves.

2. In the manner it was done, yes it was disrespectful. It would be fairly meaningless to achievers like BOD & Paul O'Connell to bandwagon onto that win. Paul O'Connell doesn't seem too chuffed about it - said he nearly missed the bus to go to the final test because he was out for lunch with friends and nearly forgot about it.

Em, yea. Gatland gave BOD his international debut. That was really kind of him to do that - most other coaches wouldn't have him near the team ?  

3. The intellegent thing for Davies to do is keep his mouth shut about it and stop looking for sympathy. It makes him look like he knows that there is something not quite right about why he started ahead of O'Driscoll.

I cant quite decide if these are genuine posts or an attempt at veiled humour....

..maybe its the same problem Keith Woods' had, he's actually just a very good wum.

Whats humourous about any of those points - the suggestion that BOD should be grateful to Gatland for giving him his first start is quite funny though!

Ok, lets go:

1. Even taking the xenophobic shot aside, there's a difference between berating an official who made a call against your team, and a player who is playing for the team you're supposed to be supporting. If you cant differentiate those circumstances, well, picard says it best.  

2. It was not disrespectful, BOD was dropped because Jamie Roberts became fit again and there had been no attacking intention from the centres up until this point. BOD was playing ok, better was needed, and provided when the 2 welsh centres played together. Dropping a player for someone who comes in to form a better combination is not disrespectful, BOD is just a rugby player like any other, he doesnt deserve anything more than any other when it comes to selection and gametime. If thats true, POC should be massively ashamed of himself, however, I would doubt the integrity of the story from its core.

3. JD2 was asked about it by the journalist and responded with glowing references to BOD himself and the players in the lions squad and said he tried to ignore it. How you can take anythign else from that I dont know, it probably says more about your mental state (and the finger pointing in the direction of paranoia) than anything else.

Now that you mention combinations .... the big difference in the attacking intent in the 3rd test was down to taking Phillips off and bringing Murray on to reunite with Sexton.

How come Gatland didn't give the Murray-Sexton partnership a proper go from the start - particularly when Murray was showing such good form as well?

Ah, so basically you are still bitter it wasn't the Leinster squad picked ? Makes sense. Kind of.

Risca Rev wrote: You shouldn't somebody serious when they post like that Munk. He's probably one of the Irish who used to get on their high horse about booing crowds, before it started happening at the Aviva as well.

More like during it was happening at the Aviva... Why don't you ever meet an Irish person like Sin? All of the ones I've met have been top craic!

munkian wrote:Ah, so basically you are still bitter it wasn't the Leinster squad picked ? Makes sense. Kind of.

Come on now, they are capable of beating the All Blacks.

This thread needs binning.

With all the fine contributions you have made to it Cyril ?

I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

munkian wrote:

Sin é wrote:

gcBlues wrote:What's with all the bullsh#t irish sentiment? BOD is over the hill and his performances in the first 2 tests confirmed it. He gave away stupid penalties and even an interception in to the mix so he got dropped. Simple really. But BOD likes to play the victim, is he still talking about Tana Umaga and 2005? He likes a good whinge and it seems some of his supporters like Sin & keith wood do too.

Cuthbert had a mixed game in the first test but scored a try only to then drop to the bench for the 2nd test and then out of the squad altogether for the 3rd. I didn't see him coming out to the press whinging like a certain dropped centre

BOD hasn't said a word ... unlike Davies .....

Cutbert was too busy partying with the non-test squad to be bothered (he was lucky to be picked in the first place), not to mention the fact that 11 Welsh might have been pushing what credibility Gatland had left about who was actually touring.

The winger who helped put England to the sword for the 6 nations champions ship and scored a try in the first Test was lucky to be picked compared to the questionably fit 30 something centre who was yellow carded for stamping on someone  ?

Wow .... putting England to the sword in the Millenium is how great he is .... yea right. Remind me how he did against Ireland?"

munkian wrote:With all the fine contributions you have made to it Cyril ?

There has been some good-natured posting on the forum recently.

It seems you got exactly the type of bile-laden replies you wanted for this article.

Mission accomplished. Well done, munkian  

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

Please explain to me how an out-of-form (injured?) Phillips was selected to partner Sexton if Gatland rated existing partnerships as much as he claims to?

Sin é wrote:

munkian wrote:

Sin é wrote:

gcBlues wrote:What's with all the bullsh#t irish sentiment? BOD is over the hill and his performances in the first 2 tests confirmed it. He gave away stupid penalties and even an interception in to the mix so he got dropped. Simple really. But BOD likes to play the victim, is he still talking about Tana Umaga and 2005? He likes a good whinge and it seems some of his supporters like Sin & keith wood do too.

Cuthbert had a mixed game in the first test but scored a try only to then drop to the bench for the 2nd test and then out of the squad altogether for the 3rd. I didn't see him coming out to the press whinging like a certain dropped centre

BOD hasn't said a word ... unlike Davies .....

Cutbert was too busy partying with the non-test squad to be bothered (he was lucky to be picked in the first place), not to mention the fact that 11 Welsh might have been pushing what credibility Gatland had left about who was actually touring.

The winger who helped put England to the sword for the 6 nations champions ship and scored a try in the first Test was lucky to be picked compared to the questionably fit 30 something centre who was yellow carded for stamping on someone  ?

Wow ....  putting England to the sword in the Millenium is how great he is .... yea right.  Remind me how he did against Ireland?"

Scored. Next.

Sin é wrote:
Please explain to me how an out-of-form (injured?) Phillips was selected to partner Sexton if Gatland rated existing partnerships as much as he claims to?

He wasn't out of form though. He just didn't play as well as he had previously in one of the tests, sign of age now perhaps. Murray and Sexton aren't exactly class Sin, one win in the 6 Nations ring any bells? The halfback combo isn't the topic of discussion.

Sin é wrote:

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

Please explain to me how an out-of-form (injured?) Phillips was selected to partner Sexton if Gatland rated existing partnerships as much as he claims to?

Because Phillips is a central figure to Gatlands gameplan (well documented) which plays off the 9 in general. Im making the assumption Murray wouldnt have had the time to get up to speed with the patterns and whats expected.

You keep moving the goalposts, but I'll keep scoring.  

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

3 backs tries when Murray came on in the 3rd Test. Gatland might not have had to rely such much on Halfpenny's boot if he had used the same logic of country partnerships of Davies-Roberts / Sexton-Murray. Going along the country partneship lines he should have at least tried out a Sexton-Murray-Heaslip one.

But no, he had to squeeze as many welshmen into the team as possible.

The Saint wrote:

Sin é wrote:
Please explain to me how an out-of-form (injured?) Phillips was selected to partner Sexton if Gatland rated existing partnerships as much as he claims to?

He wasn't out of form though. He just didn't play as well as he had previously in one of the tests, sign of age now perhaps. Murray and Sexton aren't exactly class Sin, one win in the 6 Nations ring any bells? The halfback combo isn't the topic of discussion.

eh, Sexton missed most of the 6Ns. Got injured against England about 25 mins into the game. Funnily enough, the only time Sexton & Murray played together in the 6Ns, they beat Wales in front of their own crowd. 

Comfort wrote:
Because Phillips is a central figure to Gatlands gameplan (well documented) which plays off the 9 in general. Im making the assumption Murray wouldnt have had the time to get up to speed with the patterns and whats expected.

You keep moving the goalposts, but I'll keep scoring.  

We know Phillips is a central figure to Wales' gameplan. Wales were not meant to be playing though.

From his performances on tour, it was pretty obvious that Murray was well up to speed with the Gatland gameplan - in fact he improved it when he got the chance to play.

Sin é wrote:

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

3 backs tries when Murray came on in the 3rd Test. Gatland might not have had to rely such much on Halfpenny's boot if he had used the same logic of country partnerships of Davies-Roberts / Sexton-Murray. Going along the country partneship lines he should have at least tried out a Sexton-Murray-Heaslip one.

But no, he had to squeeze as many welshmen into the team as possible.

Im assuming you've actually watched the 3rd test here, is that a mistake by me?

Faletau replaced Heaslip for the 3rd test, and had an excellent game, I'm not sure you're arguing the right points there, more that SOB should have been involved in every test at the expense of either Lydiate or Warburton?

2 of those 3 backs tries were created by Halfpenny counter-attacks, 1 from a lvoely timed flat pass from Murray to Roberts on a delightful angle. I'm sure I can find you a link to watch the game online somewhere if you want?

Im going to concede here, this feels like a battle I shall not win in good humour and health.

Good day sirs

It was Faletau that got a cracking turnover, Davies who got the ball to halfpence who got the ball to Sexton who then scored as far as I remember, Murray wasn't involved ?

munkian wrote:Ah, so basically you are still bitter it wasn't the Leinster squad picked ? Makes sense. Kind of.

I'm slightly bemused by the hypocrisy of the mainly Welsh fans here who are banging on about Davies getting a bit of a going over on twitter about his selection, yet are happy to dish out similar type abuse to me on this thread, not to mention Alain Rolland getting death threats from Welsh fans about his correct decision to red card Warburton which has resulted in him missing a 6Ns and is now not half the ref he was.

this is embarrassing for all concerned

Yeah, I'm out.

Second that

Perhaps you all need to calm down just a tad.

Gatland was the coach, he selected in main the players he knows best and believed in the most.

you can argue and debate a number of selections, you can even go with an anti Irish, English or Scottish slant on it if you want.

But you cannot change anything, Gatland ultimately won the British and Irish Lions series, why not try and celebrate that?

The Fact that someone is a victim of Nasty Tweets is unfortunate, it is however not really something that should surprise anyone, there are some sad people out there, now try not to behave like some of them

Comfort wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

3 backs tries when Murray came on in the 3rd Test. Gatland might not have had to rely such much on Halfpenny's boot if he had used the same logic of country partnerships of Davies-Roberts / Sexton-Murray. Going along the country partneship lines he should have at least tried out a Sexton-Murray-Heaslip one.

But no, he had to squeeze as many welshmen into the team as possible.

Im assuming you've actually watched the 3rd test here, is that a mistake by me?

Faletau replaced Heaslip for the 3rd test, and had an excellent game, I'm not sure you're arguing the right points there, more that SOB should have been involved in every test at the expense of either Lydiate or Warburton?

2 of those 3 backs tries were created by Halfpenny counter-attacks, 1 from a lvoely timed flat pass from Murray to Roberts on a delightful angle. I'm sure I can find you a link to watch the game online somewhere if you want?

My point is that Gatland claimed his reasons for selecting Davies-Roberts was because of their existing country partnership. If he was so into country partnerships, he would have tried out a Sexton-Murray-Heislip (a key one) at some stage during the tour.

I've no issue with Faletau starting instead of Heislip (though I do think that SOB was unlucky that Warburton was captain).

Very foolish of people to abuse Jonathan Davies on twitter. If you are going to blame anyone it's Gatland!  

It's silly how this whole BOD issue has become such a big deal. It was a tough call but it worked out for Gatland and the Lions.

The Lions did not win the 3rd test because Jonathan Davies played but he did perform well enough in the 3rd test to warrant selection.

The Lions simply played a lot better in the 3rd test for a variety of reasons.

Would the Lions have won with BOD instead of Jonathan Davies? - in all likelihood yes.

Gatland made some odd calls but it worked out for him. He did the job he set out to do.

Yeah, come on fullas, you guys have a lot of kissing and making up to do before the next series. And we don't want no cry babies touring in NZ. Kissy-huggy emoticon.

Sin é wrote:

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

3 backs tries when Murray came on in the 3rd Test. Gatland might not have had to rely such much on Halfpenny's boot if he had used the same logic of country partnerships of Davies-Roberts / Sexton-Murray. Going along the country partneship lines he should have at least tried out a Sexton-Murray-Heaslip one.

But no, he had to squeeze as many welshmen into the team as possible.

Murray set up one try, Sin...... Halfpenny set up two and Phillips set up the other. So what you're saying has to be the mootest of all moot points .

I wouldn't have minded seeing that 8, 9, 10 combination. Injuries and form dictated otherwise though. Not saying Heaslip was bad, but wasn't good enough to keep Faletau out for all 3 tests, he deserved at least one test start.

perhaps sin right perhaps gatland should have went for a more fifth place and only one win Irish originated squad then the six nations champions

Sin é wrote:

munkian wrote:Ah, so basically you are still bitter it wasn't the Leinster squad picked ? Makes sense. Kind of.

I'm slightly bemused by the hypocrisy of the mainly Welsh fans here who are banging on about Davies getting a bit of a going over on twitter about his selection, yet are happy to dish out similar type abuse to me on this thread, not to mention Alain Rolland getting death threats from Welsh fans about his correct decision to red card Warburton which has resulted in him missing a 6Ns and is now not half the ref he was.

Still talking utter nonsense. It's about as relevant as Wayne Barnes getting death threats, Bryce Lawrence getting death threats, Keith Wood and Willie John McBride publically making complete and utter fools of themselves. I wonder if BOD will hang up his boots at the end of next season and join this illustrious team of pundits BTW? He would be right at home.

The Saint wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

3 backs tries when Murray came on in the 3rd Test. Gatland might not have had to rely such much on Halfpenny's boot if he had used the same logic of country partnerships of Davies-Roberts / Sexton-Murray. Going along the country partneship lines he should have at least tried out a Sexton-Murray-Heaslip one.

But no, he had to squeeze as many welshmen into the team as possible.

Murray set up one try, Sin...... Halfpenny set up two and Phillips set up the other. So what you're saying has to be the mootest of all moot points .

I wouldn't have minded seeing that 8, 9, 10 combination. Injuries and form dictated otherwise though. Not saying Heaslip was bad, but wasn't good enough to keep Faletau out for all 3 tests, he deserved at least one test start.

So you rate your scrumhalf by the number of tries they set up. Interesting! Halfpenny wouldn't have got the opportunity to set up a try if Phillips was scrumhalf.

The Saint wrote:

Sin é wrote:

munkian wrote:Ah, so basically you are still bitter it wasn't the Leinster squad picked ? Makes sense. Kind of.

I'm slightly bemused by the hypocrisy of the mainly Welsh fans here who are banging on about Davies getting a bit of a going over on twitter about his selection, yet are happy to dish out similar type abuse to me on this thread, not to mention Alain Rolland getting death threats from Welsh fans about his correct decision to red card Warburton which has resulted in him missing a 6Ns and is now not half the ref he was.

Still talking utter nonsense. It's about as relevant as Wayne Barnes getting death threats, Bryce Lawrence getting death threats, Keith Wood and Willie John McBride publically making complete and utter fools of themselves. I wonder if BOD will hang up his boots at the end of next season and join this illustrious team of pundits BTW? He would be right at home.

All these guys have won a Lions series ... thats all that matters   Like Gatland, they are immune from criticism.

Are you saying its sort of harmless fun making death threats at officials, but don't dare give a player a hard time on twitter.  

Even in hindsight I would have picked BOD for the final test as I personally thought he performed considerably better than Davies in the first 2 tests.

Having said that if you can leave the sentiment out of it (which was hard admittedly, naturally all Irish people would have wished for him to at least be on the bench) it was hardly a scandalous decision. From an Irish point of view I was more aggrieved at SOB not getting his chance until test 3 as I thought he was outstanding.

But let's be honest, many people will have fonder memories of the loss in 09 than Gats' victory, I can't really attack a successful tour but I do empathise with some of K Wood's thoughts.

Clearly for some posters the summer's events should be left alone but 6 weeks on it's easier to make a proper judgement.

P.S. I have defended Conor Murray in the past but he did not have an amazing tour, was pretty inconsistent until two half-decent cameos in the last two tests. Phillips and Youngs just made him look a lot better.

Sin é wrote:

The Saint wrote:

Sin é wrote:

munkian wrote:Ah, so basically you are still bitter it wasn't the Leinster squad picked ? Makes sense. Kind of.

I'm slightly bemused by the hypocrisy of the mainly Welsh fans here who are banging on about Davies getting a bit of a going over on twitter about his selection, yet are happy to dish out similar type abuse to me on this thread, not to mention Alain Rolland getting death threats from Welsh fans about his correct decision to red card Warburton which has resulted in him missing a 6Ns and is now not half the ref he was.

Still talking utter nonsense. It's about as relevant as Wayne Barnes getting death threats, Bryce Lawrence getting death threats, Keith Wood and Willie John McBride publically making complete and utter fools of themselves. I wonder if BOD will hang up his boots at the end of next season and join this illustrious team of pundits BTW? He would be right at home.

All these guys have won a Lions series ... thats all that matters   Like Gatland, they are immune from criticism.

Are you saying its sort of harmless fun making death threats at officials, but don't dare give a player a hard time on twitter.  

There hasn't been a point in Gatland's career where he's been immune from criticism. Particularly from the bitter Irish. I just don't think it's right to receive death threats and accept the fact people post pictures of someone hanging, all because they didn't agree with the decision he made (even though it was the right one).

Not sure why you've bothered to post the 2nd BS statement.

Sin é wrote:

The Saint wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Comfort wrote:I will say one thing about this whole selection issue, its helped seperate a lot of wheat from a lot of chaff
 
And if you honestly believe that Sin, fair play, Murray played very, very well when he entered the fray but he did so when the game was starting to open up (imo it was already being won by Halfpenny and the forwards by this point).
 
There's a reason Halfpenny was player of the series, and why we talk about the forward domination in that last test.
 
Personally, I would have loved to see the difference Conor Murray could have made had he been playing from the start of the 1st test in that sort of form. Genuinely, Phillips was rather poor.
 
But that isnt the crux of whats being discussed or the issue has ever been....

3 backs tries when Murray came on in the 3rd Test. Gatland might not have had to rely such much on Halfpenny's boot if he had used the same logic of country partnerships of Davies-Roberts / Sexton-Murray. Going along the country partneship lines he should have at least tried out a Sexton-Murray-Heaslip one.

But no, he had to squeeze as many welshmen into the team as possible.

Murray set up one try, Sin...... Halfpenny set up two and Phillips set up the other. So what you're saying has to be the mootest of all moot points .

I wouldn't have minded seeing that 8, 9, 10 combination. Injuries and form dictated otherwise though. Not saying Heaslip was bad, but wasn't good enough to keep Faletau out for all 3 tests, he deserved at least one test start.

So you rate your scrumhalf by the number of tries they set up. Interesting! Halfpenny wouldn't have got the opportunity to set up a try if Phillips was scrumhalf.

I don't, but you do. I was just exposing your moot point .

The Saint wrote:
There hasn't been a point in Gatland's career where he's been immune from criticism. Particularly from the bitter Irish. I just don't think it's right to receive death threats and accept the fact people post pictures of someone hanging, all because they didn't agree with the decision he made (even though it was the right one).

Not sure why you've bothered to post the 2nd BS statement.

Gatland brings it on himself. He is the one that keeps banging on about the Welsh dislike for the Irish etc. Brian Ashton got a year with Ireland before he was let go (to be replaced by Gatland), yet he has never felt the need to bang on about Ireland and the Irish and how mean they are. Gatland should be grateful he got a chance in the first place to coach an international team - yet he keeps dragging it up all this time later.

Davies said he got a few tweets about people wanting to break his legs - that isn't the same as getting an actual death threat.

theslosty wrote:Even in hindsight I would have picked BOD for the final test as I personally thought he performed considerably better than Davies in the first 2 tests.

Having said that if you can leave the sentiment out of it (which was hard admittedly, naturally all Irish people would have wished for him to at least be on the bench) it was hardly a scandalous decision. From an Irish point of view I was more aggrieved at SOB not getting his chance until test 3 as I thought he was outstanding.

But let's be honest, many people will have fonder memories of the loss in 09 than Gats' victory, I can't really attack a successful tour but I do empathise with some of K Wood's thoughts.

Clearly for some posters the summer's events should be left alone but 6 weeks on it's easier to make a proper judgement.

P.S. I have defended Conor Murray in the past but he did not have an amazing tour, was pretty inconsistent until two half-decent cameos in the last two tests. Phillips and Youngs just made him look a lot better.

Correct on all accounts sir.

[quote="The Saint"
I don't, but you do. I was just exposing your moot point . [/quote]And my point was that Gatland never really looked at the Sexton-Murray partnership despite Phillips & Youngs not working out with Sexton. Surely his first priority would have been to make sure that the halfback partnership was working well.

theslosty wrote:
P.S. I have defended Conor Murray in the past but he did not have an amazing tour, was pretty inconsistent until two half-decent cameos in the last two tests. Phillips and Youngs just made him look a lot better.

Conor Murray even made Hogg look like a half decent 10. Phillips and Youngs making him look good was a good enough reason to actually try him out with Sexton. Who knows how he would have performed if he was given the chance to start a test like both Phillips (2 tests) and Youngs (1)?

What exactly has Gatland been "dragging up" re: Ireland?

When in making a point you are making distinctions between death threats and threats of getting your legs broken you know you are losing an argument!

Gatland chose Davies over BOD for the 3rd Test. It would have been a close call, but ultimately he went for form over reputation. I'd agree that he didn't apply the same logic to other selections, but given the Lions won every game except two (and even then by one point and two points respectively), suggesting that Gatland isn't an extremely good coach is nonsense. His record for Wasps, Wales and now the Lions is outstanding.

I think posters struggle for credibility when it becomes purely about their own players, and they can't appreciate the arguments for players from other nations. I think it's entirely fair, for example, to suggest that SOB was unlucky not to get more Test action. He was excellent in the 3rd Test. Then again he was poor against the Brumbies. On the other hand I think most would agree that Bowe was pretty lucky to play in the Tests - excellent player, but had fitness very much against him, having not had a chance to really prove himself on tour. It's all swings and roundabouts, and very much a subjective matter for the coaching team. They got a few things wrong, no doubt. The selection for the 2nd Test, and the squad composition at the outset were two I think with hindsight they'd have done differently. All this nonsense about BOD though is just that, nonsense. He had no divine right to play, and the case for JD2 was just as strong. Gatland made a call, and the Lions crushed Australia in the 3rd Test.

I don't think he was being pro-Welsh or anti-Irish in making the call. He just wanted to win, and he did. Credit where credit is due please.

Sin é wrote:

The Saint wrote:
There hasn't been a point in Gatland's career where he's been immune from criticism. Particularly from the bitter Irish. I just don't think it's right to receive death threats and accept the fact people post pictures of someone hanging, all because they didn't agree with the decision he made (even though it was the right one).

Not sure why you've bothered to post the 2nd BS statement.

Gatland brings it on himself. He is the one that keeps banging on about the Welsh dislike for the Irish etc. Brian Ashton got a year with Ireland before he was let go (to be replaced by Gatland), yet he has never felt the need to bang on about Ireland and the Irish and how mean they are. Gatland should be grateful he got a chance in the first place to coach an international team - yet he keeps dragging it up all this time later.

Davies said he got a few tweets about people wanting to break his legs - that isn't the same as getting an actual death threat.

Sin do you live in Ireland or Wonderland? Going by your postings I'm fairly sure it's the latter, where the mad hatter tells you stories each night of how Gatland declared war on Ireland. I mean it's not like he's been up to much else throughout his coaching career right?

I thought Murray had a stormer in the final test....

Can I just say to those making the comments about "bitter irish" etc, there is only one irish person on this thread actually involved. Do not paint everyone with the same brush.

So can this thread be laid to rest now?

funnyExiledScot wrote: I think it's entirely fair, for example, to suggest that SOB was unlucky not to get more Test action. He was excellent in the 3rd Test. Then again he was poor against the Brumbies.

Yes I agree.
You could apply the same to Faletau,(and Lydiate and Warburton) though. Who each had to play their way into the team. God forbid the Irish would ever actually admit that Lydaiate and Warburton played well though!
 

Sin é wrote:

aucklandlaurie wrote: Jeez Sin e the reality of the matter is that Brian O'Driscoll is over the hill and has been for sometime.

 Gatland was trying to win a test series.

And if Paul O'Connell nearly missed the bus to the game then it shows what kind of a team player he is.

For someone over the hill, he was good enough to start 2 Tests. Gatland could have avoided a load of criticism (not just from the Irish) by keeping him in the matchday squad.

Yes, he could have done - and he'd have been well aware of that at the time. But he stuck to his guns and picked what he thought was the best team and squad to win the deciding Test. I would have no respect whatsoever for a coach who selects his teams based on what pundits and the public might say.

Anyone who abuses a player for getting selected must be some kind of simpleton. Why bother writing an article on it?