bowe for definate

Byrne
Bowe
O'Driscoll
Roberts
Monye
Jones
Phillips
­ Jenkins
Mears
Vickery
O'Connell
Jones
Wallace
Croft­
Heaslip
:)

mmmm too many penalties got to get that sorted­ out

my startXV for 1st­ test:-

Byrne
Bowe
BOD
Roberts
Fitzgerald
Jones
Phillip­ s
Jenkins
Mears
Murray
Hines
O­ Connell
Croft
Wallace
Heaslip

Bench
Vickery
Rees
A W­ Jones
Williams M
Ellis
Hook
Williams S

ignore last 2 lines about the pack, thought i'd­ cleared it.

As far as I can see the Lions will have easily as much­ firepower in the backs as SA. Bowe, BOD, Roberts and­ whichever fullback and left wing (barring williams)­ they pick are all showing super form.
I think ROG is­ better at setting the backs loose but he's not as­ strong as Jones in defense. Interesting trade off to­ make there. I think Phillips bulks up the 9,10 channel­ and roberts at 12 might be enough to take the pressure­ off ROG, we'll see, perhaps ROG for his tactical­ kicking (que plenty of thumbs down). Either way plenty­ of danger from phillips' runs to take the pressure­ off the weak running of both fly halves so I don't­ see an advantage to SA at halfback either.
As for the­ pack... this is where it will be won or lost. If the­ pack front up like they can -I'm sure POC will show­ up when he's needed, he always does- it'll be a­ hell of a series. Hines or AWJ are awesome, Heaslip is­ much better than a lot give him credit for (he­ outplayed every 8 in the 6n), he'll be looking­ forward to Spies. Croft is showing his class and Burger­ will have his hands full. Wallace and Williams are­ dangerous and good on the ground, whichever plays will­ cause plenty of problems. With Jenkins and Murray so­ powerful and Mears throwing like Phil Taylor and all­ excellent in the loose. Barring home advantage and­ rusty springboks for the 1st test, there is no clear­ advantage to either side, and it'll come down to­ who wants it more... I predict this Lions team writes­ themselves into the history books as one of the­ greatest!

And the pack is certainly beginning to take­ shape with many a lot of players showing great form and­ POC also showing good form, he'll show up come test­ time.

The lions performance against western province was­ disappointing, yet it is always a positive sign when a­ team does not play particularly well but still comes­ away with a victory. And in my opinion at least, this­ was very much a second tier lions team and the­ likelihood is that the test team will be quite­ different. I think the confidence in the lions camp­ along with the lack of game time for south africa means­ they have a really good chance of winning the series. I­ certainly wouldnt write them off yet.

Wilsonian, a Lion tour comes every four years and there­ many a excellent player that has never had the chance­ to tour for one reason or another. a Lions tour is­ sacred for those that make it and not a place to­ 'develop' or knock some arrogance of a young­ guy that doesn't appreciate his talent and his­ luck. Right now he should be happy to be with the­ saxons and relish any chances he get to show his­ talents..... See how some of the other young Lions­ behalf.... the only suitable role for Crapiani would­ have been off the pitch as social events­ co-ordinator!!! Maybe in 4 years time if he gets his­ act together. . . .

Wilsonian, "Jones and phillips not good­ enough", it will be, "O Gara and­ Ellis"!?!?!?. Oh dear, methinks you are not making­ these sweeping statements objectively, and as such are­ unable to understand the tosh you are spouting. O Gara­ will be targeted all day long by the springboks as a­ defensive weak link, and to go into the test without­ the Phillips would constitute rugby suicide, he will­ meet fire with fire every time and has more than proven­ he is by far the in form no 9. I'm all for­ constructive debate and banter abot selection, but,­ give me a break.....

Cipriani was brought back into the England fold far too­ early after his injury. He's on the Saxons bench­ because he hasn't shown that he's good enough­ to be in the starting XV, let alone in the England or­ Lions squads. That is man management. You can't­ just keep selecting him after a host of poor­ performances on the premis of 'he's got­ potential' or 'he could be brilliant',­ especially when other players are performing better.­ It's not fair. Cipriani is in the Saxons squad now­ and it is therefore up to him to show everyone that he­ is really far better than a Saxon. So far, he­ hasn't done, which is why he's on the bench­ now. I would only blame the England management insofar­ as they picked him for the autumn internationals when­ he'd barely come back from injury and club form­ indicated a lack of form. I think it's a bit of a­ lesson in patience.

As for the notion that he'd­ terrify the Springboks, that's ridiculous.­ They'd be laughing at the idea of getting everyone­ to run at him. He'd be coming home in a full body­ cast.

Anyway, he's a young guy. There's no­ sense in rushing him. Next season, with his metalwork­ removed, he might be a completely different player,­ worthy of an England selection.

getagrip, surely thats what I am saying, when he had a­ good game everyone assumed it would always be the case,­ but young players need managing like Fergie does for­ United and when he had a bad game everyone got on his­ back, when he should have been looked after and­ encouraged, I more than admit he had bad games, but if­ they had looked after him properly he would have­ developed and I bet he would have been an inspiring­ player on the Lions tour and the older experienced­ players would have knocked some of the arrogance out of­ him, but he would have learned from people like BOD,­ Byrne and O'Gara.

wilsonian re cipriani, how quick you forget his games­ in an english shirt,he was awful.

What do we expect when we send out Phil Vickery as­ captain - penalties penalties and more penalties! The­ man is a joke, he's been labelled as a pure­ scrumager but he gives too many penalties away at scrum­ time for binding on the arm, if the Lions wanted a pure­ scrumager we should have taken julien white who can­ actually hold his own at the scrum!! Only positive­ coming out of that game is Martyn Williams showing he­ is still the best in Britain!
My Test­ team
Byrne
Bowe
BOD
Roberts
Fitzgerald
Jones
Phillips
J­ enkins
Mears
Murray
Wyn-Jones
O'Connell (even­ though he doesn't deserve it, my pick would be­ Hines)
Croft
Williams
Heaslip

MUCH as I want the Lions to win the series ( I will be­ there for the last 2 tests), when they come up against­ a full strength Boks side, unless we take our chances,­ we'll get swamped, we should have been out of sight­ today, but couldn't finish them off...all the­ territory and all the possession, but just squeeked­ through. One