They better find a couple of decent finishers real quick. Their inside backs are either really quick or off side, I'm thinking off side.
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They better find a couple of decent finishers real quick. Their inside backs are either really quick or off side, I'm thinking off side.
Well the ref is always outstanding when kiwi side win and horrendous when they lose
I actually really enjoyed that game and the Lions are definitely improving with their attacks, but always hard to tell as the team is not made up of the same individuals.
By the way the opening statement was said tongue in cheek :hahaha:
Absolute ditto on that, a Lions tour seems to get everyone going. The question is selections, Gatland and Hanson both have a real job to do. I don't think it's a "given", but if the selectors get it right the ABs will do it. Some xcllent rainy Saturdays indoor coming up hopefully.
:D The B&I Lions have hired a security firm to sweep their hotel for bugs (of the listening variety!) ahead of Sat's game. Can't trust those Kiwis on the field; can't trust them off it :D
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...20-gwv7jv.html
I think they need to be more worried about a dodgy waitress smuggling Clostridium Botulinum bacteria into the dining room.
Last updated 09:06, June 24 2017
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/i...l-black-greats
New Zealanders are worried and the All Blacks are on edge ahead of the Lions series, according to some All Black greats.
The highly-anticipated first test begins at Eden Park on Saturday as the Lions bid to stun the All Blacks on their turf.
The tourists started poorly but have improved game by game and they rolled the Chiefs (34-6) and New Zealand Maori (32-10) in their last two outings.
Former All Blacks first five-eighth Andrew Mehrtens said there will be nerves and some "worried" Kiwis ahead of the series because the Lions have "developed" their game throughout the tour.
"There have long been comments here saying 'The Lions are coming, the All Blacks will destroy them, blah blah' and the Lions' first couple of games here maybe reinforced that thought in many Kiwis' minds," Mehrtens wrote in The Times.
"Yet, have we not learned anything from the experiences of France in the 1999 World Cup or Australia in 2003 or France in 2007?
"I know this is a very good All Blacks team, probably the best and most consistently successful All Blacks team we've had. They are innovative and lead the world. But nothing lasts for ever."
Mehrtens said Kiwi criticism of the Lions' style was "a bit rich" because they want to win and added that playing each match as they have in New Zealand has allowed them to adapt to similar patterns they'll encounter on tour.
"It looks to me as though the Lions have been smart, too.
"They have their base - their Saturday team, their intensity, their physicality and their defence in particular - but it seems that they have been using that midweek team to try and look at methods and shapes and structures that will unlock what they see as a pretty generic defence across all teams.
"That is why I am worried, and why I think many others at the [annual All Blacks renunion] dinner tonight [on Friday] will be too."
Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick said the All Blacks were v"That is why I am worried, and why I think many others at the [annual All Blacks renunion] dinner tonight [on Friday] will be too."
Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick said the All Blacks were very conscious of the threat posed by Warren Gatland's Lions.
"I was at a meeting in their hotel on Thursday morning and the team came in and had breakfast with everyone - which I think is pretty cool - but they are a bit on edge," he told Sky Sports.
"They see something in this Lions team that they haven't seen before.
"No one in New Zealand really knew about players like Tadhg Furlong. He's got that little twitch in his eye - he wants to take the All Blacks on and beat them."
ery conscious of the threat posed by Warren Gatland's Lions.
"I was at a meeting in their hotel on Thursday morning and the team came in and had breakfast with everyone - which I think is pretty cool - but they are a bit on edge," he told Sky Sports.
"They see something in this Lions team that they haven't seen before.
"No one in New Zealand really knew about players like Tadhg Furlong. He's got that little twitch in his eye - he wants to take the All Blacks on and beat them."
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Mind games.. Lazy $20 maybe? Sportsbet this am ABs $1.23 Lions $4.20
Today's the day to jump on it, that price is based upon hype and speculation. Once they play, there'll be facts.
$4.20 isn't long enough to get me interested.
Cheating off the ball in New Zealand rugby has reached epidemic level
Mark Reason
The late arrival of the Lions bus at Waikato stadium barely 60 minutes before kick off was clearly because New Zealand motorists had been changing lanes in front of it and running illegal blocking manoeuvres.
Warren Gatland said he would be raising the matter with Transport Minister Simon Bridges in the hope that the Lions route to Eden Park on Saturday would be kept clear.
The All Blacks have struck first in their series with the British and Irish Lions, winning the opening game 30 to 15.
Well, all right, so that's just a bit facetious but Gatland was quite right to call out all the cheating that goes on off the ball in New Zealand. It has now reached the level of an epidemic.
The first time that the Lions put up a high kick against the Chiefs Johnny Fa'auli looked over his shoulder and ran straight across Elliot Daly. Fa'auli had absolutely no intention of trying to play the ball.
But just to make sure, Stephen Donald also ran across to block.
They might just as well have strung a wire across the road like Burton and Eastwood did in planning their escape from the Schloss Adler in Where Eagles Dare. Certainly Daly had as much chance of reaching his target as those munted German motorcyclists.
Jerome Garces, the referee, called Fa'auli across and said, "After the kick don't change your line."
Mysteriously Garces did not give a penalty on that occasion, but at the start of the second half he had had enough and penalised Fa'auli for blocking.
With the amount of sheep living in New Zealand perhaps there is no surprise that Kiwi teams are so fond of shepherding, but it is a blight on the game.
The Chiefs were just as guilty of blocking the Lions runners whenever they tried to chip over the line. The officials for yesterday's game will all be in place for the first test, with the exception of the TMO, and the Lions had decided it was time to make their case.
At one point captain Rory Best went up to Garces and said, "When we put those little dinks in behind them they're body checking."
The Lions are fed up with this sort of nonsense, as the whole of rugby should be, and have decided to make a concerted protest. Gatland said in the week, "The frustrating thing for us is the amount of blocking that's going on.
"The off-the-ball stuff, it makes it difficult to complete attacking opportunities and situations because there is so much happening off the ball in terms of holding players or subtly holding players. We've raised it with the ref already. It's part of the game in New Zealand, all New Zealand teams at the moment are doing it."
They are and, of course, the real name for it is cheating. This is the sort of thing that has New Zealand calling up the great Sir Colin Meads to defend the honour of the nation. Before the 2011 World Cup it was suggested that Sir Richie, the Crusaders and the All Blacks were repeatedly and deliberately holding players off the ball.
It was coached cheating and it was subsequently confirmed that the head of World Rugby's referees had warned the ABs about the practice. Of course half of New Zealand still threw up their hands in horror at the suggestion, aghast that such things should be said. Pass the port to the left, said the lords of rugby, and don't be so uncouth.
Well, sorry to say, but New Zealand has been called out again. I do have some sympathy for the Chiefs, because they have taken the view, if you can't beat em, join em. Back in 2012 they got so fed up with Crusaders blockers that they warned Craig Joubert before their Super semi that they would be taking them out.
When the Chiefs started blasting through them, the likes of Sam Whitelock threw themselves to the ground as if they were re-enacting the death scene from Camille. Joubert took no notice. If you want to cheat, you can take the punishment, he seemed to imply. That's how it was in Meads' day and there is something to be said for it.
Happily on Tuesday night Garces and his fellow officials gave the best refereeing display of the tour and finally came down on cheating. Strangely enough the Lions then looked like they could play a bit. Rugby is an easier game when their isn't a nail strip stretched out in front of your wheels.
Stuff.co.nz
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...20-gwv6ue.html
I think a New Zealander must have bullied Mark Reason as a child. While he has some valid points at times, every article I have seen from him is pretty disparaging of NZ Rugby and pretty snide.