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

Comment 74 - 93 of 113

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  1. Mike (100) you really are a dumb @#$% you must be a­ football hooligan to spell "puffs " lie you­ did. I guess it is a sign of your education or rather­ lack of it. Stick to what you know you half wit no­ sorry that is an insult to the half wits around the­ world.

    From Graham M, on Fri 26 Jun 4:50AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    all rugby players are ex public school boys who play­ with one another.. basically puffs

    From mike, on Fri 26 Jun 2:18AM
  3. paul o connell is only there because he is captain he­ hasnt had a good tour.i would have put shaw and o­ callaghan in both had good tour i think the rest of the­ team is the right.

    From peter251086, on Thu 25 Jun 10:21PM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Still a stupid throwy catchy game with too many rules­ that contradict one another

    From Colin, on Thu 25 Jun 10:21PM
  5. Rob Kearney plays for leinster, not Leicester!!!

    From njhynes11, on Thu 25 Jun 10:20PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Bren comment 90 - fair play mate and you make some­ valid points. Have to agree with you about the­ appalling behaviour of football players on and off the­ pitch and the myopic views of many footie fans.­ Something about Rugby just sucks though. Yeah you can­ shake a guys hand and clap him of the pitch at full­ time but 5 minutes earlier you were squeezing his henry­ halls and trying to bite his ear off?!? Just having a­ bit of fun winding up you rugger bugŁers and glad and­ can go to bed happy in the knowledge that so many took­ the bait.

    From Colin, on Thu 25 Jun 10:17PM
  7. Hey Liam ouch! But since when did you need to be bright­ to be an accountant? Don't you just need to be­ incredibly dull and half decent at arithmatic?

    From Colin, on Thu 25 Jun 10:10PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Really ?lol.........Just heard that he is ho-oking up­ with a nice gi-rl on the inter-esting cl-ub called:­ ____BIGTALLS Co M____, really ? Sounds it is a famoaus­ on-line service.

    From clarkzhang33, on Thu 25 Jun 10:00PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    does anyone on this site know anything about rugby? i­ dont think so.

    From peter251086, on Thu 25 Jun 9:23PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    do one rugby gayboys

    From mike, on Thu 25 Jun 9:01PM
  11. ye sorry now im a sports fan in general,but rugby is my­ preferd sport,i like football and all but in response­ to comment no.68 my respect is for the sport of rugby,i­ feel you require alot more brain cells in rugby than­ footie,while i feel ruby and its supporters is much­ more honest and they are proper sports fan,when their­ team loses they are good losers as are their­ players!,98% of them!,while in football for example­ chelsea getting beatin by barca in champs league the­ fans and team players such as drogba made a huge fuss­ of things,remember drogba!,"its an F**king­ disgrace",nice,while the ref had to be placed­ under security
    as the chelski fans threantened his­ life.disgrace.also i think youd get away with one brain­ cell in footie all ye ave to do is stick the ball in­ the net!,sure if ya had a boot on ya like jonesy yed­ score from a goal kick!lol

    From bren, on Thu 25 Jun 8:55PM
  12. I dont think Sheridan would have been able to catch­ Habana like Gethin did! The problem with O'Gara is­ his defensive side of things, he needs to take some­ roids, I just hope Jones plays like he can. Come on­ Lions its time to do the business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Graham H, on Thu 25 Jun 8:46PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    PS I think Sheridan should be starting too.

    From John B, on Thu 25 Jun 8:13PM
  14. Some good and some bad calls here. Personally I thought­ Monye had quite a good game. His covering tackles are­ second to no-one and he has the size to compete with­ the larger boks. He deserves to at least be on the ­ bench. We all knew that Vickery wouldn't get­ another shout but even that shouldn't have been­ clear cut. The beast took him apart but did it­ illegally. The ref failed miserably on that one so­ although wise not to play him again in case the same­ thing happens, he wasn't to blame. An all Welsh­ front row could deliver but I hope they don't run­ out of steam. Right to stick with Jones despite his­ poor game last week (lets hope he has a better day with­ the boot) as although O'gara has a better kicking­ game, he can't handle such a physical side.

    Still,­ good to see we have choices and it is a tough call to­ say which formation is right. Lions will win this one­ by 15 (as they rightly should of last week). Not sure­ where the ref is from this week but lets hope he­ understands the game better than the Kiwi dude.

    From John B, on Thu 25 Jun 8:12PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I Think Sheridan should be starrting!!!!

    From armish12, on Thu 25 Jun 8:08PM
  16. This site is best suited for the benefit of British and­ Irish Lion supporters.
    Not racists.

    From PETER J, on Thu 25 Jun 7:46PM
  17. Very suprised Hooky has not even made the bench. He is­ worth his place just for his all round play and­ versitility as cover for the back division.

    From Garry, on Thu 25 Jun 7:39PM
  18. to the prettys
    rugby- a game that requires a lot more­ skill in many more different areas of play than almost­ every other sport, a game for players of almost every­ shape and size, unlike most sports, which requires a­ few more than 10 brain cells

    From rugbymad666, on Thu 25 Jun 7:27PM
  19. theprettys im 16 stone 2 and play rugby and I am an­ accountant need a tad more than 10 brain cells for that­ What was the point of your post seems like your the one­ who lacks brains if your only comment is to put a sport­ and its players down if you dont like rugby fine but­ leave the rugby forum for people who do and go back to­ being Mr muscles stunt double

    From liam, on Thu 25 Jun 7:19PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    The Beast is going to break the Welsh front row!!

    From steylair, on Thu 25 Jun 7:18PM
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