Lions 2009 - Lions beef up pack

Eurosport - Fri, 26 Jun 11:44:00 2009

British and Irish Lions coach Ian McGeechan made five changes and named an all-Welsh front row on Thursday for Saturday's second Test against South Africa in Pretoria.

Simon Shaw - Lions 2009 - 0

Giant England lock Simon Shaw (pictured) was called up to bolster the pack and Irishmen Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald replaced full-back Lee Byrne and winger Ugo Monye.

The Lions scrum was given a torrid time in last week's 26-21 first Test defeat in Durban and it was no surprise that tighthead Phil Vickery and hooker Lee Mears were replaced by Adam Jones and Matthew Rees.

"We didn't want to make too many changes if we could, because we've had a group of players who have been working very well together," McGeechan said.

"There were a number of close calls. It's all about trying to hold on to as many pluses as you can, while also being able to adapt tactically."

Jones will have to perform markedly better than Vickery against Springbok loosehead Tendai Mtawarira, The Beast, who delivered a man of the match performance.

Vickery and Mears dropped out of the 22 altogether as Ross Ford covers hooker off the bench and big prop Andrew Sheridan has recovered from a back injury to join the replacements.

McGeechan also drafted in the experienced Shaw, the only member of the squad to tour South Africa with the 1997 Lions but now winning his first Lions Test cap, in place of Welshman Alun-Wyn Jones, who dropped to the bench.

"I think it's his 18th time in a Lions jersey and I'm delighted for him," McGeechan said. "He's a very experienced player, and well respected around the world. He's obviously a player who we feel can do a very good job for us on Saturday."

Byrne, who went off with a foot injury in Durban, was replaced by Kearney and Fitzgerald came in Monye, who pays the price for spilling the ball twice when the tryline beckoned in the first Test.

Last season's world player of the year Shane Williams did enough in Tuesday's draw with the emerging Springboks to secure a place on the bench and Monye dropped out of the 22.

British and Irish Lions team to face South Africa:

15-Rob Kearney, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Brian O'Driscoll, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-Luke Fitzgerald, 10-Stephen Jones, 9-Mike Phillips; 8-Jamie Heaslip, 7-David Wallace, 6-Tom Croft, 5-Paul O'Connell, 4-Simon Shaw, 3-Adam Jones, 2-Matthew Rees, 1-Gethin Jenkins.

Replacements: 16-Ross Ford, 17-Andrew Sheridan, 18-Alun-Wyn Jones, 19-Martyn Williams, 20-Harry Ellis, 21-Ronan O'Gara, 22-Shane Williams.

Reuters

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  1. hey bigrich you seem to know a lot about being a­ paedo... a real education you fffing perve..

    if i­ ever saw you i would probably not be able to stop­ lauging.. I bet youre the build of paul daniels you sad­ pooof

    now thats magic!

    From mike, on Sat 27 Jun 1:01AM
  2. yeah big rich come on you fat tossser

    From mike, on Sat 27 Jun 12:52AM
  3. Come on the lions!

    From John, on Sat 27 Jun 12:06AM
  4. why dont you all meet up for a ruck. Oh sorry thought l­ was on a football blog then with supporters getting all­ violent. Grow up lads.

    From trufftastic, on Fri 26 Jun 9:40PM
  5. so bigrich that explains why the timing was off you­ prannock. I live in Phoenix arizona.
    see youre not­ answering now you @#$% pot

    From mike, on Fri 26 Jun 6:46PM
  6. besides big rich nobody puts their size down in writing­ when they are really hard. its just a fffing joke you­ have to try and threaten me by your size you fat nob.­ Scared? NO WAY I will kick the living sh it out of­ you bring it on

    From mike, on Fri 26 Jun 6:44PM
  7. bigrich you can gladly have my address. I would love to­ see you try. I live in the USA now but am back to the­ UK often you NOB CHEESE

    From mike, on Fri 26 Jun 6:42PM
  8. very strong team and squad however,i don't think im­ alone when i say paul o'connell has not brought the­ form of munster or the 6 nations with his and should­ have been the one to make way for shaw,not wyn-jones.i­ think geeks doesnt have the guts to drop his­ captain,obviously a bad cjoice as shown in first game­ when he didn't even offer a pat on the back to­ keith earls after a massively poor game. BOD for­ captain and i think if hadn't been banned for a­ game Hines would have been picked ahead of Shaw. Come­ on the lions

    From Craig, on Fri 26 Jun 5:10PM
  9. Big bad shaw at last and a Welsh front row, good moves.­ Throwing Monye out - bad. Hope we don't regret not­ having his pace and bulk, Shane can not tackle­ Pieterson and would struggle with Habana. Kearny is­ nervous as hell!
    Bet the Irish full back and Irish­ wing get targeted with kicks. Them Boks know what­ they're doing.

    From blues fan, on Fri 26 Jun 12:38PM
  10. Cant belief the @#$% on here lately, was in a mood­ yesterday so ad a crack at a few of the main culprits,­ that aside .
    Lets hope for a good contested game­ full of running and entertaining rugby, think these­ forwards can give the platform our superior backs need.­ Start as we ended last week and we will win­ convincingly.

    From trufftastic, on Fri 26 Jun 12:28PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Boks to win by at least 15 points

    From Salamander, on Fri 26 Jun 9:24AM
  12. get out of the wrong side of the bed bigrich?

    From ptothej, on Fri 26 Jun 9:16AM
  13. Bigrich ur the biggest @#$% on this site by a mile..u­ gimp

    From sugruejames55, on Fri 26 Jun 9:15AM
  14. There is a comment further down with some Welsh guy­ spouting stock standard Welsh phrases and refusing to­ support Englishmen (Saesneg). I thought us Welsh had­ outgrown that ridiculous jingoism and realised that we­ are no longer so inferior to any nation that we have to­ resort to such pathetic behaviour. This team is the­ British & Irish Lions we support them all or none­ of them. Leave your inferiority complex out and­ remember England haven't beaten Wales for 3 years,­ so why do you need to feel inferior.

    From BigRich, on Fri 26 Jun 9:02AM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hey, I'm an open minded girl from UK, I'm­­ interested in exotic things, photography, dating and­­ sports...I have my photos on --- SeekTall Co m ---, I­­ love tall guys!
    Do you love traveling and have some­­ experience? Just find me out.

    From robomile01, on Fri 26 Jun 8:55AM
  16. This Saturday's match is hopefully going to be one­ of the classic Lions matches. Sod the jingoism,­ whether you are English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish,­ Channel-Islander or some other title by which you­ prefer to be addressed! It's about the B&I­ Lions now. We all think different people should be in,­ out or otherwise. Nothing we can do about that, but­ put the beers in the fridge, and get ready for a­ monster of a game. I agree that we need a VERY strong­ ref on Saturday, but what will be will be. Come on the­ Lions!!!!!!!!!!

    From Edgar, on Fri 26 Jun 8:43AM
  17. mike

    Admit it. You are drawn to rugby and it's­ players and supporters by some kind of sexual urge. ­ Why else would you keep on re-visiting these pages when­ you profess to hate them so much? Sick.

    From Donald D, on Fri 26 Jun 8:34AM
  18. peter251086 #89

    Why Peter? Do you have a question?

    From Donald D, on Fri 26 Jun 8:31AM
  19. Graham M

    I am the one who says 'half-wit'­ around here. In Mike's case though, I will allow­ it. You are a half-wit Mike.

    From Donald D, on Fri 26 Jun 8:29AM
  20. Geech nearly gets it right but bottles it again, at­ least he got rid of o'Callaghan, the real decision­ though would have been to get rid of o' Connell who­ does nothing but seagull around at this level.

    From david, on Fri 26 Jun 6:21AM
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