British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand 2017

New Zealand were brilliant and the Lions will rue missed opportunities. What can the Lions do to slow down NZ's off load tactic? Any changes to starting XV for the second test?

I don't think drastic changes are needed, however I feel that we need to keep the ball in hand more therefore more ball carriers are needed in the pack. We didn't have near enough possession yesterday and probably kicked too much away. I would start Lawes and Itoje in the 2nd row and have Stander in the back row at the expense of O'Mahony. The fact that Lawes and Stander are starting on Tuesday doesn't bode well though. We would lose some line out prowess with those dropping out, but the replacements aren't bad line out operators either and would offer far more in the loose.

In terms of slowing down NZ's off load, we should try the choke tackle more often - it hasn't really been used so far on tour but it's very effective. Iain Henderson is a beast at it - I would have him as an impact sub. Like for like replacement for Lawes/Itoje.

I would keep the backs as is. They went really well yesterday, particularly Davies. NZ were just that bit too good.
 
Lot of errors that can be cut out, thought we really missed a breakdown specialist in the back row so could mean Warburton comes in. Itoje and Stander are 2 others that could come in to the side. Rhys Webb is a possibility, North if he goes well on Tuesday, also despite his fantastic run that led to the first try, Williams could be replaced by the safer option in Halfpenny.

End of the day you just have to hold your hands up and say they were better than us. Only Jon Davies can say he was better than his opposite number, they are an outstanding side and not a single one of them had a bad game
 
Result: Hurricanes 31-31 Lions.

Henderson has quite possibly earned himself a spot in the XV on the back of his performance.
 
Team for second test:

L Williams, A Watson, J Davies, O Farrell, E Daly, J Sexton, C Murray; M Vunipola, J George, T Furlong, M Itoje, AW Jones, S Warburton (c), S O'Brien, T Faletau.

Replacements: K Owens, J McGrath, K Sinckler, C Lawes, CJ Stander, R Webb, B Te'o, J Nowell.

Disagree with AW Jones and Sexton-Farrell at 10-12.
 
A few very debatable calls really. Warburton is probably worth the risk as he's got enough minutes under his belt but if the basis for including him is ruck work then surely Tipuric is a better option? Tipuric at 7, O'Brien at 6?

As I mentioned before, I'd have had Itoje and Lawes in the 2nd row with Henderson as impact sub.

Very harsh on Te'o to be dropped. Sexton will offer something a bit different in an attacking sense at 10 but perhaps his inclusion should have been a straight swap for Farrell if that was the basis for his inclusion - with Te'o remaining at 12. Anyway we won't be able to launch attacks if we don't have the ball like last week.
 
Gatland has been a bit Moyes on this tour. For me AWJ was better than Kruis in first test but there was a case for both to be dropped with Itoje and Lawes coming in, Warburton was a banker to start after poor breakdown showing in first test, for me i'd have maybe gone with an all Welsh back row which has worked very well, Tipuric just doesn't fit for Gatland, never has, never will and that is a huge shame for Welsh rugby fans. Tipuric should be on bench at least but i'm a big fan of Stander too, Gatland has said he thought of going for a 6-2 bench split. On the one change in backs, I saw nothing in final 30 minutes on Saturday to suggest Sexton-Farrell will work, weren't singing from the same hymn sheet. Hopefully a lot of work done this week on improving that combination. Very harsh on Te'o who was excellent last week.
 
Was my birthday yesterday, 2 years running now there's been sporting history to celebrate on my birthday after Wales beat Belgium on the same day 12 months ago. I was out for 12 hours and sang so much I started to lose my voice.

Enjoyed the day and the win but the time for celebrating is over now and I have to say that we made hard work of it, discipline was a huge problem and very nearly cost us the game. There's a lot we improved on from the first test though, we managed to slow their ball down at the breakdown but we need to improve again next week to win the series. Think there were subs that should have been made and others that should have come earlier, Gatland didn't react to them going down to 14 or the weather conditions.
 
No real surprise, not sure it's the right call mind. Think winning one test is an achievement, obviously want to win the series now but think it's a huge ask, we need luck on our side again with, playing against 14 men for 60 mins doesn't come around too often though.
 

Login or Register

Forgot your password?
or Log in using
Don't have an account? Register now
Back
Top