Good kick by Farrell, Lions 3 Crusaders 0
Rugby 2017 Discussion
- Thread starter unchanged_lineup
- Start date
Knee on the ground by Joe Moody - scrum penalty for the Lions - Farrell kicks his 2nd penalty goal. Lions lead 6-0 16 minutes in.
Gwan the Irish players! 
Stuart Hogg is in the blood bin after running into Connor Murray's elbow while chasing his own kick. Anthony Watson the blood bin replacement.
That was an amazing scrum from the Crusaders.
Lions penalised for going off their feet, Richie Mo'unga puts the Crusaders on the board. 6-3 to the Lions 25 minutes in.
Tense test match atmosphere. Crusaders getting pinged offside a lot.
Crusaders penalties for being offside, from adjacent to the posts, Farrell puts over his and the Lions third penalty. Lions 9 crusaders 3.
This is basically an unofficial fourth test.
Good rucking and Conor Murray making a big difference in possession today.
No try, Lions lucky not to have a player in the bin IMO.
Reckon so. Wow, non-test match attitude there not taking 3 points in front of the posts!
I wasn't surprised to see the Crusaders back themselves there. They would have expected to score, execution let them down.
Half time in Christchurch. Lions leading 9-3.
Lions playing far too flat. Only bloke running on to the ball is Te'o. North and Williams need to come looking for work as they won't be seeing much of the ball in space. Strong performances from the pack and Farrell. Murray needs to sort his passing out but he's been decent overall. Massive half coming up.
Was half-expecting a go at a drop goal there once half-time came, I think it wouldn't have been a bad option for emphasising that the Lions could grind this one out.
Crusaders penalised for not rolling away, Farrell lining up another shot at goal 35m or so from goal right in front. Farrell misses, Justin Marshall put a curse of Farrell by mentioning how perfect Farrell had been from the tee.
He's done that too often in high-profile matches this year. That one from the Italian match in Six Nations just makes me always wary of him
Surely the Lions won't get this many scrum penalties in the tests. Big advantage for them today, but won't be there in the real thing.
O'Brien off, Stander on.
Well, there are two French referees for the tests. We'll see how they interpret the scrum in comparison to Matheiu Reynal.
Oh right. Well that is interesting!
Ugh, butchered by Watson
Interesting stuff indeed!
12-3 to the Lions with just under 10 minutes to play.
Great sequence by the Lions there. Super tactical kicking game going on here by both.
Faletau is consistently excellent. Great player.
a win here will be great for the tour
A performance built on defence. It's been superb.
He really is. Don't think I've ever seen him have a poor game.
Thought the front row were excellent and the pack in general really. The difference having our test halfbacks playing together is huge. Murray and Farrell were outstanding.
I really enjoyed the way we imposed our game on them and didn't try to match them where they are stronger. That's the blueprint for the tests and when these lads have played a bit more together on this tour, I reckon the accuracy and that final ball will come.
Want to see the Lions attack improve. You won't beat the All Blacks without scoring tries. The next match is against Highlanders on Tuesday at the excellent, intimate Forsyth Barr Stadium on Tuesday. They're a solid team and the Lions will need to play well to beat them.
South Africa play France at Loftus later. If South Africa haven't changed their approach to the game from last year, France will win IMO. If they have changed their approach to the game, it'll be closer. Argentina will surely fancy themselves vs England.
On that showing, they're not too far away. A better Murray pass to Williams and a cooler head from Watson and they would have had 2. To be fair, it's a similar tale for the Blues.
Thought it was Te'o who shipped that shocker to Williams?
I think accuracy and the attack will improve the more those lads play together but the Lions shouldn't be listening to Nz'ers trying to goad them into playing loose, attacking rugby.
Look to dominate the set piece, the breakdown and the collisions. Kick smartly and make better decisions in their 22 and we can get at this All Black side. We won't match them in ball handling and free flowing, running rugby but it's important to remember they are not the 2005 side or anything like it and our defence and pack are a good match for them.
Keep it tight, physical and defend like we did today and the tests will be competitive. Pick a 23 like this and our bench will be a great asset:
Vunipola Owens Furlong
Kruis Itoje
O'Mahony Faletau Warburton
Murray Farrell
North Te'o Joseph Watson
Williams
McGrath, George, Sinckler, Lawes, Stander, Webb, Sexton, Hogg
@diarm could have been, I was trying to work at the same time as watching it
South Africa 37-14 France.
Decent result for Coetzee
Decent result for Coetzee
Quite the debut for Solomona and a mental game of Rugby.
Good start to the Ireland USA game. Both sides have started brightly and looking to play some good rugby.
As I type, Earl's runs in the the easiest of opening tries. Good break from OHalloran to put him away but very soft tackling by the Americans.
Your man singing Ireland's call was great entertainment before hand!
As I type, Earl's runs in the the easiest of opening tries. Good break from OHalloran to put him away but very soft tackling by the Americans.
Your man singing Ireland's call was great entertainment before hand!
This post didn't end well
Mental game between Argentina and England.This post didn't end well
Cracking game between Argentina and England. Best match of the weekend, I expected Argentina to win when they had that 31-23 lead but England were good enough to come back and win. Fair play to them.