Team for Southern Kings

[downsouthdukin]

Congratulation to DOC,the third Irishman to captain the Lions this tour , and in fairness he has played well ,his lineout work has been really good,think he will have a blinder.

Similar to last tour I wouldn't bet against DOC making test appearances before the tour is out. Thought he was very good at weekend. Certainly as good as anything I've seen from other contenders so far.

Not an anti Munster thing but have felt DOC has looked really mediocre all tour. What's Ian Gough doing this weather? Is he injured. At least he would have added a bit of beef.

ah come on issac, first half today hes been the best forward by a country mile. rest of them not at the races. backrow is getting eatin alive. poor blair is paying the price although hes made some silly unforced errors. darcy coming into to it more. earls having a good game in space. fitz unlucky not to have 2 trys. poor pass by first earls then worsley

[AidanSloan]

As my mother used warn me, "this could end in tears".

[sarah_lennon]

Fitz has had a lot of forward passes to him today!

[Corkdub]

Fitz has had a lot of forward passes to him today!

Plus one or two thrown behind him by Blair. He was looking for a lot of work, as usual, and did well but not enough to dislodge Monye I feel (even though I think he is the better all round pick). Earls looked a lot better in space today, but of the Irish I thought DOC was the standout. Of course Sky are crapping on about Shaw and what work he did, but DOC was everywhere and seemed to be best for the Lions at the breakdown. O'Gara did well with the quality of ball he was getting and I would not be surprised if he gets in ahead of Jones. D'arcy was D'arcy, played well but not enough to make the 22 I feel.

[downsouthdukin]

Fitz has had a lot of forward passes to him today!

it just didnt happen for fitz. midfield again failed to get the ball wide and in space.
doc, shaw and earls good, darcy got into the game and then disappeared, rog mixed bag. tackled well but too many wayward kicks again. backrow a fupin disgrace. they need to get some backrowers out there fast. strodkosh, leamy but id like to see jennings. feck all cover for 7 and he might actually be able to compete on the ground

[mush500]

yeah the breakdown was a real mess again today, its a real worry for the tests, has there been any talk of other cover coming over or is it too late now?

[downsouthdukin]

yeah the breakdown was a real mess again today, its a real worry for the tests, has there been any talk of other cover coming over or is it too late now?

well after the ryan jones episode they said nobody else will be coming out. personally they've made a mess of the backrow selection. worsley is a fine pro. but i think hes a few years past it at this level. croft is going to be blown away. powell is a one trick pony who doesnt get a game for cardiff. its been said by everyone but ferris is a huge loss.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

yeah the breakdown was a real mess again today, its a real worry for the tests, has there been any talk of other cover coming over or is it too late now?

well after the ryan jones episode they said nobody else will be coming out. personally they've made a mess of the backrow selection. worsley is a fine pro. but i think hes a few years past it at this level. croft is going to be blown away. powell is a one trick pony who doesnt get a game for cardiff. its been said by everyone but ferris is a huge loss.

I wouldn't blame the coaches for their original selection of back rows but I do think they need to do something about it now and for the life of me I can't understand why they aren't.

[lummix]

Backrow of
6 Wallace
7 Williams
8 Heaslip
will do just fine, todays backrow was a joke, Worsely tried hard however powell has no work rate whatsoever, and hines was way too slow to play in backrow, look at their try.

I think theres probably little or no point in calling someone up now as theres only 1 midweek game left i think.

[shezba]

Backrow of
6 Wallace
7 Williams
8 Heaslip
will do just fine, todays backrow was a joke, Worsely tried hard however powell has no work rate whatsoever, and hines was way too slow to play in backrow, look at their try.

I think theres probably little or no point in calling someone up now as theres only 1 midweek game left i think.

While watching the game in a pub, I had to listen to two English blokes talking about how they'd have Powell at 8 and Worsley at 6 in the test team. And this was while they were getting bullied off every ruck. Angries up the blood a little.

I know I'm biased but I still think that Luke is better than Monye. Every attack seemed to come down Luke's wing and he put in some really good tackles, at one point making two tackles and then a break that Monye screwed up.

Still I'm sure that Shane Williams cemented his starting place with his wondrous cameo at the end.

[Isaac4leinster]

So much for the rumour Keith Earls could kick. At least thats been put to bed once and for all.

Very mixed bag again.

[sarah_lennon]

Who'll S. Jones give MOM to? That back row were all equally "good"

[bootlace]

That although being the biggest pack ,the lions put out,was certaintly not the quickest,it is hard to win break down ball if your forwards are getting there after the opposition,the SK had quite a large backline as well, and did'nt show any real attacking flair,instead they produced a performance that you normally expect from midweek opposition,ie lets mug the Lions,late tackles and high tackles combined with ploughing into the breakground was something I was expecting earlier in the tour.Surprisingly I thought Shaw and it does gall me to say it Sheridan tackled furiously,superseded by DOC who looked and played like a captain and spoke like one in the post match interview,[well done DOC] .Powell is really not up to this standard and does not understand the concept of ball retention,maybe he should take a few pointers from Earls,Fitzgerald and O'Gara [some of the smallest players] when it comes to keeping the ball when you are tackled.

Everybody is apparently talking about the Wasps and Wales style of playing, which is the style of rugby the lions are supposed to adopt,I am bemused by this as their style of play was so successful they won bog all last year.But maybe I am wrong as according to Mike Phillips the Lions are Holding 25% back for the tests.

[downsouthdukin]

So much for the rumour Keith Earls could kick. At least thats been put to bed once and for all.

Very mixed bag again.

i guess this is you not being anti-munster again isaac

[ceemec]

So much for the rumour Keith Earls could kick. At least thats been put to bed once and for all.

Very mixed bag again.

i guess this is you not being anti-munster again isaac

Earls mixed the sublime with the poor today. The way he burned up the pitch in the first half evoked memories of Cullen doing the same. However, his effort at a pass at the end of it highlighted that, whilst he has the raw essentials, he's a long way off being the finished article. The pass must have gone about 3 yards forward. With the ball in hand he looked ridiculously dangerous which is why I wondered when presented with some space in the second half he kicked aimlessly straight to opposition players with no chance of a successful chase. The good thing is that these things can be coached and worked on. He needs to work a hell of a lot on his passing and defence but his pace and eye for a gap are innate talents that will see him earn a lot of caps for his nation. If/when he polishes up the other aspects of his game he could be the most impressive back in the country.

Also, I think today highlighted that he shouldn't be a centre if there are other options. His distribution at the moment simply isn't up to it. The ball rarely goes past 13 when he plays there and if it does the quality of the pass may not be great. The wide open space of 15 suits him down to the ground I think. You'd hate to defend against him.

[ceemec]

Also, at the risk of being unpopular, I don't think Worsley was that bad today. He got through a mountain of work. For someone that isn't a 7 he did his best and can't be expected to do the breakdown work of an openside when he isn't one. He carried decently and made a load of tackles. Competed well in the lineout too. The fact that he played the 80 though suggests his chances at making the 22 are gone.

[downsouthdukin]

So much for the rumour Keith Earls could kick. At least thats been put to bed once and for all.

Very mixed bag again.

i guess this is you not being anti-munster again isaac

Earls mixed the sublime with the poor today. The way he burned up the pitch in the first half evoked memories of Cullen doing the same. However, his effort at a pass at the end of it highlighted that, whilst he has the raw essentials, he's a long way off being the finished article. The pass must have gone about 3 yards forward. With the ball in hand he looked ridiculously dangerous which is why I wondered when presented with some space in the second half he kicked aimlessly straight to opposition players with no chance of a successful chase. The good thing is that these things can be coached and worked on. He needs to work a hell of a lot on his passing and defence but his pace and eye for a gap are innate talents that will see him earn a lot of caps for his nation. If/when he polishes up the other aspects of his game he could be the most impressive back in the country.

Also, I think today highlighted that he shouldn't be a centre if there are other options. His distribution at the moment simply isn't up to it. The ball rarely goes past 13 when he plays there and if it does the quality of the pass may not be great. The wide open space of 15 suits him down to the ground I think. You'd hate to defend against him.

oh hes definately a fullback at the moment. agreed re his distribution. must say his defence has been really good on this tour. first game although littered with handling errors he smashed anyone who came near him. let one guy through him today infairness. he can kick(no matter what isaac reckons as witnessed by his 80 yard touchfinder against yourselves in the rds this year. admittedly he kicked porly today but that doesnt mean he cant kick.

[RoboProp]

Missed the game like many others due to the team, how did D'Arcy do?

[bootlace]

Also, at the risk of being unpopular, I don't think Worsley was that bad today. He got through a mountain of work. For someone that isn't a 7 he did his best and can't be expected to do the breakdown work of an openside when he isn't one. He carried decently and made a load of tackles. Competed well in the lineout too. The fact that he played the 80 though suggests his chances at making the 22 are gone.

Yup he has had his best game so far,but does'nt really have the speed or craft for a seven,having just watched the game again Shaw and Sheridan both, have played their best games so far,maybe they can "squeeze" onto the bench,Hines definitely not a back row,Mike Blair certainly is'nt up to form yet and probably messed up some of the continuity play putting pressure on those around him.,ROG in hindsight played enough to give the management something to think about, bearing in mind Jones did'nt do him self any favours in his last game.DOC certainly seemed to be the pick of the forwards.Flutey is probably gonna missout,and did'nt do too much to suggest otherwise,Moyne showed that he can tackle, but reckon his distribution is lacking.D'arcy may be the centre cover on the bench,Fitzgerald is probably in with a shout of being on the wing or the bench.Earls probably won't get any where near the squad at the moment [seems to be struggling with the physical aspect at the moment which is weird as I know he can tackle, but when he went to ground the ball was recycled,couple of great breaks as well mind you],but will probably start again next tuesday against the Emerging Springboks.

[bootlace]

Missed the game like many others due to the team, how did D'Arcy do?

Got a bit of a late hit early on which was a feature of the Southern Kings play drifted in and out of the game,and got poor ball from his inside players did'nt do anything to complain about,made a few good tackles and as usual got over the gain line,but this was a game that the Lions were on the back foot and very few attacking options,pretty poor from mike Blair really.