jaygummer2101
Ferris 6
Heaslip 8
and Wallace 7
All­ should have worked themselves in the 1st 15 by the time­ 1st test comes around.
So whose to be captain,­ BOD?
O' Connell not to make the 22, (a hard pill­ for him to swallow)
Sheridan does not deserve a place­ on the bench.
No place for Powell in 22 either?
Clearly­ few of Saturday's team impressed you.
Lee­ Byrne's confidence may have taken a bit of a knock­ with his miscatch (lets hope not).
Although Rob Kearney­ would be a decent replacement
Lee Byrne as well as­ O' Connell are 2 that need to live up to pre tour­ billing. They are both confidence players and are not­ getting any change against their opposition. thus far.­ Both are less likely to make test team than previously­ expected. It's too early to make judgemnt on 2nd­ rows and full back yet.
Bowe could also play at 15, as­ wingers are in good supply.
Luke (if he is fully fit)­ has yet to show what he can do on the wing though this­ series may have come too early for him similar to­ Halfpenny. Another year could make a difference for­ both of them.

15. Byrne
14. Bowe
13. BOD
12. Roberts
11. Monye
10­.­ Jones
9. Phillips
8. Heaslip
7. Ferris
6­. Croft
5.­ Wyn- jones
4. Hines
3. Sheridan
2. Mears
1.­ Jenkins

agree with you both david_mitchelluk and otisyumyum.­ The ref did ruin the game with his inability to manage­ the rucks, but i can see what you mean otisyumyum­ about the fact we didnt change the game plan(doesnt­ help when you have andy powell taking contact at EVERY­ oppertunity). I admire how the Southern hemisphere­ teams ruck illegaly on the occasion, but i think if we­ want to challenge the likes of new zealand,­ Australia(though they arent as bad as the other two)­ and SA we need referee's that have the guts and the­ know how to spot these cheats, its very hard to get­ good ball when there si hands on it and bodies­ everywhere(the cheetahs refused to get out of the way,­ and ellis had to keep stepping over people to get his­ pass away). I think you are right about POC, he was the­ chosen captain and should remain that way, i do think­ jones and hines play well together(hopefully that will­ continue with POC). They havent played Paul with their­ strongest team yet, and they NEED todo that before the­ test if they want the best out of him, very hard to­ captain when u have brain dead idiots like worsley and­ powel on the team. I cant wait to see bowe and monye­ tair apart the boks( bowe especially he has been the­ stand out player so far, young wingers need to look at­ the way he gets involved all the time)

Simon W, uve picked my team man for man. After the­ first 3 games, this is certainly the test team that has­ shown th best form.
Paul O'Connell HAS to step it­ up a gear and show some better qualities.
This rubbish­ about himneeding the likes of BOD to back up his­ captaincy is bull. He needs to captain the side from­ the front, not stand at first receiver constantly and­ take needlees contact.

lmao-12 i meant roberts... robinson???????

I can't believe that no ones mentioned the centres?­ Both are good players but 1 was out of position and as­ a pair they offered no physicsl presence. Given the­ wings(who are also small)no space to run. If darcy had­ been in from the start he'd have straightend the­ line run hard sucked in defenders and the back 3 would­ have have more space in which to work. Am i the only­ one to think this?
Lions best­ 15?
15-Byrne
14-Bowe
13-O'driscoll
12-Robinson
11-M­ oyne
10-Hook
9-Phillips
8-Heaslip
7-Williams
6-Ferris
5­ -AW Jones
4-Hines
3-Vickery
2-Mears
1-G Jenkins

its called abbreviation daft.. i think your name says­ it all about you

Regardless of the legality of the actions at the ruck,­ I think it highlights a problem which is very common in­ the northern hemisphere (especially for England over­ recent years), and that's the inability to change­ the game plan mid game: to be able to adapt to a­ refereeing style rather then simply complain to the­ referee about it. If we're to do well against the­ Boks then we need to be able to adapt to their game­ plan as it unfolds, as well as to the way the referee­ is interpreting the rules at the breakdown. The­ players need to stop complaining to the referee and get­ their heads together to deal with the situation. For­ me, that is where POC is lacking at the moment.

As for­ selection, I simply can't see them dropping POC. ­ Other then that I think the team below is about spot­ on, I agree that the selectors will give Williams every­ chance to make the test team because he has a game that­ we need. One other player that hasn't been­ mentioned much here, that I think the coaches also will­ want to give every chance to make the grade, is Ricky­ Flutey. It would seem harsh on Roberts, but I think­ (in the eyes of the coaches at least), they like what­ Flutey has to offer.

Whatever happens, I freakhog love­ it man! Bring it ON!!

bmuirboy - spot on the ref did nothing about offences­ at the ruck, which spolied the game. But fair play to­ Cheetah's if you can get away with it do it.
Your­ test side looks pretty good, but you can't leave­ POC out as a player his work rate is massive and he is­ just too good to put on the bench.

You cant say Heinrich Brüssow was onside all the­ time,yes i do think SA are good at the break down, but­ at least 45% of the time he was offside, he would have­ been penalised on a different day by a better referee.­ The rucks in that game were quite frankly a mess, hands­ going in everywhere from the cheetahs, barnes let them­ do what they fancied at the rucks, not once did he give­ a penalty for offside or hands in the ruck, this is my­ opinion on how the rucks were refereed and played, this­ is a discussion site... you (Don & Kel C) could­ have been a bit more constructive with your comment­ mate, as quite a few people obviously agreed with me­ aswell, consider what you are going to say before you­ start caling people half wits mate. South Africans seem­ to be blind when it comes to people critise their­ team(s), you are not innocent all the time.
As for the­ lions test team it currently looks like:
15 Byrne
14­ Tommy Bowe
13 BOD(c)
12 Roberts
11 Monye(fitzgerald has­ only played at 12 and it was a poor performance, but­ hopefully gets a run at wing before the test)
10­ Jones
9 Philips
8 Heaslip
7 Wallace or Williams (i cant­ deside)
6 Ferris (may well be croft, but i think ferris­ has the pace plus a bit more physical in the­ contact)
4Hines
5 A.W.Jones
3 Murray
2 mears
1­ Jenkins
16 ford(yes he isnt the best at throwing but­ carries the ball very well, and his throwing wasnt that­ poor yesterday)
17 Vickery
18 POC( at the moment i­ think BOD has out captained him, and hines and jones­ are playing better AS A UNIT, hope to see the best of­ him before the test
19 Wallace/williams
20 Ellis
21­ Hook(n point having both o'gara and jones in the­ squad as o'gara offers nothing different to­ jones)
22 Kearney (could well start aswell)
no way­ worsley can be in the squad he has been very poor

I think we have seen 3 different teams play on tour so­ far. The coaches wanted to give everyone a chance to­ start, effectively running 3 trial games. Now they can­ sift through the performances and start to come up with­ a 1st and 2nd team. This seems to be a healthier, more­ inclusive approach than in 2005 when there was a Test­ and Mid-week team from the start.

Andrew Sheridan???????????? What a waste of space. In­ the scrum he gets turned over almost everytime! Hes not­ strong enough. I think he should try out for WWE! He­ does not have any core strength. Much the same as those­ chicken breasts. Plump but full of water. Make­ O'Driscol captain now and take the burden off­ O'Connell. I would put Shaw in the second row for­ some power as you have Croft who can jump. Hines in as­ well and move O'Connell to 8.

I was never convinced by O'Connells selection as­ skipper but was amazed at O'Driscoll not being­ chosen. I rate O'Connell don't get me wrong but­ doubted he was the man for the job. I don't think­ he is playing his best and captaincy at this level­ doesn't sit well with everyone and I think that­ this combination of poor leadership and slightly off­ form on field play from the guy is a loss to the team.­ Is there a precedent for changing skippers mid tour???­ If not this should be the first.

that was a poor effort from the lion cubs, very poor,­ their are no excuses, everyone that played is a test­ starter for their country and by no means should be­ just winning agains the lowest ranked super 14 team,­ they should be thrashing teams like the lions but just­ cant do it, if thats how they play against the sharks­ then they will be made to pay and they will lose,­ people are complainig about the blindside flanker being­ in illegal play, well if those people went and read the­ rule book and watched the game in slow motion then they­ will find that he was on side and on his feet wich­ makes him legal to play at the ball, thats a good­ flanker thats his job, the lions were just taken to­ school at the break down and lost the ball 4 times the­ sharks are a different unit, a well structured unit­ although missing half the team to the spring boks i­ think they can beat the lions and if they do then the­ lions got no chance against the spring boks 3-0 to­ south africa after that dismal display

Anyone who disagrees with you is an idiot? Learn to­ construct sentences without using 'ur' or­ 'd', then maybe just maybe you get to comment­ on others. As it is, you sound like a xenophobic half­ wit, which we can do without on the rugby pages.­ Football seems more your game.

#5 .... the outcome of the match against the Golden­ Lions was not a surprise to anybody who follows a bit­ of South Africa rugby. The team has been in turmoil­ with the coach being fired recently and the players in­ revolt, the only surprise being the players showing up­ at all for the game (if you can call that)!

Having­ seen the British/Irish Lions struggled aganist the­ Cheetahs who are probably the worst team in SA and­ Super14, I don't think the Springboks will be­ losing any sleep.

I like that team Jay, think you're pretty much spot­ on

15 bryne
14 bowe
13 odrisscal
12 roberts
11 monye
10­ jones
9 phillips
8 ferris
7 williams / if fit
6­ worsley
5 wyn jones
4 croft
3 murry
2 mears
1­ jenkins

16 ford
17 sheridon
18 hynes
19 hook
20­ kearney
21 williams
22 halpeeney for kicking as well

test 15 up to now ithink will be
15 bryne
14 bowe