Rugby 2017 Discussion

A bit of a collectors item here - the Hurricanes take a shot at goal which Jordie Barrett misses to the left. 23-14 Lions 46 minutes in.
 
Romain Poite needs to do something about the off the ball stuff and things that happen after he's blown his whistle. After they've been penalised, the Lions have tended to throw the ball away stopping the Canes from playing on quickly. He's told the Lions off for it so hopefully it's nipped in the bud now.
 
Fifita has just scored for the Hurricanes scores will be level after the conversion. 31-31 with just under ten to play.
 
It goes against what the Canes are about but maybe they ought to have looked to put over a drop goal to hit the front. Instead they knocked the ball on metres from the line after 22 phases.
 
Laumape penalised for a neck roll and it may have cost his team a win over the Lions.
 
unchanged_lineup said:
Do Super Rugby teams drop at goal?
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3 and a half weeks ago, the Crusaders kicked a drop goal after full time to beat the Highlanders 25-22. Most Super Rugby sides would have seriously considered a drop goal but the Hurricanes prefer to win games scoring tries. Admirable but it possibly cost them victory.
 
Great game, it should be said two of our scores were quite lucky (interception albeit with great support play) and the lucky bounce to from the knockdown that ended up with North's try.

Barnes was commentating on the ability to make ground in the contact, which all the NZ teams do (despite not being as beefy as some of the lions guys) and we really struggled to do in the first test. I think it comes down to controlled aggression and from our pack today the only ones who consistently made gains, even if only a couple of meters, were CJ, Lawes and Henderson. Against the ABs every one of the their players makes an extra meter or two in contact.
 
New Zealand team for the second test:

15-Israel Dagg, 14-Waisake Naholo, 13-Anton Lienert-Brown, 12-Sonny Bill Williams, 11-Rieko Ioane, 10-Beauden Barrett, 9-Aaron Smith, 8-Kieran Read (captain), 7-Sam Cane, 6-Jerome Kaino, 5-Sam Whitelock, 4-Brodie Retallick, 3-Owen Franks, 2-Codie Taylor, 1-Joe Moody.

Replacements: 16-Nathan Harris, 17-Wyatt Crockett, 18-Charlie Faumuina, 19-Scott Barrett, 20-Ardie Savea, 21-TJ Perenara, 22-Aaron Cruden, 23-Ngani Laumape.
 
Hopefully Itoje in XV, and Lawes in on the bench instead of Wyn Jones

Not sure he'll change much else to be honest
 
British & Irish Lions (v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Saturday, July 1, 7.35pm NZST, 8.35am BST)
15. Liam Williams – Scarlets, Wales, #833
14. Anthony Watson – Bath Rugby, England, #816
13. Jonathan Davies – Scarlets, Wales, #778
12. Owen Farrell – Saracens, England, #780
11. Elliot Daly – Wasps, England, #822
10. Johnny Sexton – Leinster, Ireland, #791
9. Conor Murray – Munster, Ireland, #790

1. Mako Vunipola – Saracens, England, #787
2. Jamie George – Saracens, England, #819
3. Tadhg Furlong – Leinster, Ireland, #818
4. Maro Itoje – Saracens, England, #825
5. Alun Wyn Jones – Ospreys, Wales, #761
6. Sam Warburton (capt) – Cardiff Blues, Wales, #800
7. Sean O’Brien – Leinster, Ireland, #796
8. Taulupe Faletau – Bath Rugby, Wales, #779

Replacements:
16. Ken Owens – Scarlets, Wales, #829
17. Jack McGrath – Leinster, Ireland, #827
18. Kyle Sinckler – Harlequins, England, #814
19. Courtney Lawes – Northampton Saints, England, #826
20. CJ Stander – Munster, Ireland, #831
21. Rhys Webb – Ospreys, Wales, #820
22. Ben Te’o – Worcester Warriors, England, #815
23. Jack Nowell – Exeter Chiefs, England, #828
 
The series will be such a let down if it's all over after two tests. I'll pick the All Blacks by 15 or so. Their record at Eden Park is imposing. Their record at Westpac Stadium in Wellington quite something too. Their first test at the "cake tin" was in 2000 and they've only twice at the ground. In 2000, the Wallabies beat them 24-23 when Jonathan Kaplan did the greatest thing he's ever done when he gave Australia a penalty after full time which John Eales converted to retain the Bledisloe Cup for Australia. England beat them 15-13 in 2003. They've had some close calls though - a 14-14 draw in 2009 vs France and a 14-10 win vs South Africa in 2014. Big task ahead for the Lions, not insurmountable but very difficult.
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
The series will be such a let down if it's all over after two tests. I'll pick the All Blacks by 15 or so. Their record at Eden Park is imposing. Their record at Westpac Stadium in Wellington quite something too. Their first test at the "cake tin" was in 2000 and they've only twice at the ground. In 2000, the Wallabies beat them 24-23 when Jonathan Kaplan did the greatest thing he's ever done when he gave Australia a penalty after full time which John Eales converted to retain the Bledisloe Cup for Australia. England beat them 15-13 in 2003. They've had some close calls though - a 14-14 draw in 2009 vs France and a 14-10 win vs South Africa in 2014. Big task ahead for the Lions, not insurmountable but very difficult.
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I think it will end 3-0 and still expect one game to be a hammering.
 
How the hell is Wyn-Jones still in the team while Henderson doesn't even get a place on the bench? Also I'm sure SBW is looking forward to the prospect of smashing into Sexton and Farrell all game.

NZ will win this comfortably.
 
unchanged_lineup said:
Yep. And POM dropping right out of the squad is cruel.
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I really understand why O'Mahony is being made a scapegoat for the first test honestly. He had a good game, and the Lions were still in touch when he went off. Warburton hasn't shown any more on this tour yet Tipuric has and he isn't even on bench. With AWJ, well I was annoyed he was selected for 1st game, not only was he terrible in that and has now been picked for game 2. Itoje, Hendo and Lawes have all been excellent too. Kruis was poor too but he gets the hook while AWJ doesn't.

I know I'm in minority but I like Sexton/Farrell but Te'o is very unlucky after a game like that last week.
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
Why doesn't Munster let him go straight away?
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The IRFU put a 6-month release clause in their contracts. According to Pat Lam, it's meant to protect them if they need to get rid of a coach who's not performing (he saw it as a lack of trust), but now we've had Connacht's season massively disrupted when he had to announce he was leaving mid-season and Munster's will surely be disrupted in a similar way. Seems like a contractual mess.
 
K2K said:
Kings are doing better than expected in Super Rugby

Decision to can them will not go down well.
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You've rightly been critical of the Bulls this season but they had a good win against the Sharks in Durban overnight and played pretty well in the process. Hopefully for the Bulls, this season ends up being a much wake up call about how far they've fallen since they last made the finals four years ago. They've brought John Mitchell in and hopefully that works out well.
 
Game 9: Second Test! Lions vs All Blacks
For the sake of the series, we need to see the Lions win the 2nd test. This series will be over in two tests sadly. Raining too in Wellington, we'll see who that favours. War of attrition on its way.
 
I'd love to see a Lions win today to keep it interesting. I can't see it though.
 
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