Dammit... I forgot Hook... another definite for the­ bench. A no brainer... another player who's in­ decent form who can play fly half, centre and full­ back.

O Gara relegated to boot boy. Sorry ROG, but­ you just don't have the wallop we're gonna need­ on saturday.

Is steven Jones injured? I wasn't aware that he­ was. If he isn't (I might be ill informed) then O­ Gara, (the bone china fly half) starts on the bench. No­ debate. Jones had a blinding game. O Gara has been­ playing like a child in comparison.

And hylmike... yes­ Shane can play at centre. I definitely wouldn't­ have him start there... maybe not even a start on the­ wing but he's an absolute must for the bench.­ He's as good a utility player as we've got in­ the squad... decent enough under a high ball to play­ full back if required. At inside centre or running from­ deep at full back he would really cause the Boks­ problems.

mike you are a hick

My team is
1.Sheridan
2 Rees
3­ Hayes
4 Paulie
5 Hines
6 Croft
7 M Williams
8 Wallace
9­ Philips
10 O'Gara
11 Fitzgerald
12 Flutey
13­ ­Earls
14 Bowe
15 Kearney

16 Payne
17 ­Ford
18­ O'Callaghan
19 Heaslip
20 ­Blair
21 S Jones
22­ D'Arcy

surejames me old mate mummys calling time for­ bitty............

Why Mike, you cruising for a piece of a$$???

"The world has seen that the Springboks results­ come­ from coached and practiced foul play. While SA­ may­ consider the means justifies the ends, the­ civilised­ world does not. Rules establish a level­ playing field.­ Whether SA can win playing within them­ we may never­ know."

I am really beginning to get­ fed up with these comments. If the Lions had won, all­ the physicality would have been forgotten. The above­ statement about coached to foul - have you seen any of­ the guinness premiership and 6 nations when players are­ deliberately lying on the ball and the many other­ things that go on. Neil Back in one of his blogs had­ said that he was surprised that the front row in the­ first test hadnt resorted to fisticuffs in order to­ even things up. Rules are there and so is the ref. The­ players play to the ref as the rules are unfortunately­ open to a lot of interpretation. The best team is the­ one who adapts to the ref and plays appropriately. Have­ you ever played any sport against anyone who is highly­ competitive - every player will always try and get an­ edge and get away with what they can. With regards to­ Burger - totally unnaceptable behaviour, the linesman­ recommended a minimum of a yellow - it is not the Boks­ fault that Burger was allowed back on. He has been­ cited and suspended - quite rightly. As for DeVilliers­ he should be sacked. These two events have marred 2­ fantastic tests and taken away from what is an intense­ contest where players have played out of their skins­ leaning nothing left on the pitch.

Gordon..... well said..
Jamison.... Bowe @ 13, I­ doubt it. No centre pairing worked in any game so far­ except Roberts and BOD. The candidates are Roberts,­ Flutey, Earls and D'Arcy as far as I know.
Roberts­ and anyone of the 3 I would say unless can Shane­ Williams play @ Centre?. Please enlighten me.
It's­ a big loss not to have the Welsh props fit. Hayes may­ be worth a punt, but Sheridan has been ineffective so­ far, to say the least.

The world has seen that the Springboks results come­ from coached and practiced foul play. While SA may­ consider the means justifies the ends, the civilised­ world does not. Rules establish a level playing field.­ Whether SA can win playing within them we may never­ know.

Cheats are as cheats do. Management, coach,­ "players".

my starting XV

1 Sheridan
2 Rees
3 Hayes
4 ­ Hines (give Shaw a breather)
5 A W Jones ­ (lineout and mobility)
6 Croft
7 Wallace
8 ­ Heaslip
9 Philips
10 O'Gara (dont let him­ tackle)
11 Fitzgerald
12 D'Arcy or Flutey
13 ­ Bowe
14 S Williams
15 Kearney

16 Payne
17 ­ Ford
18 O'Callaghan
19 M Williams
20 ­ Blair
21 Hook
22 Earls

Hines and Shaw to start for sure. I don't think our­ illustrious leader will have to surrender his place­ though...
Injuries contributed to our downfall because­ we didn't have great strength coming from the­ bench. It was a great shame we had to witness­ uncontested scrums as the Boks didn't know what hit­ them in the pack! That is what gave us our go­ forward.
I'm not trying to use him as a scape goat­ but it's a fact that O'Gara came on, missed a­ tackle which let in the Boks for a so called­ 'Try' and then we all know what happened when­ there was just 2minutes left on the clock! Kick it to­ touch for Christs Sake!!!! Play the game in their half­ and defend with your lives! We turned ball over all­ day, no doubt we could have done it again and drawn if­ not got a penalty, kicked it and won the game.
It's­ done now though. The Boks won by the skin of there­ teeth but not one of them will admit that!
All the best­ BOD and Adam Jones. Cheers guys for a great Test Match­ and Tour, you gave it your all and i'm feeling your­ pain...

Anyone got any ideas on saturdays starting xv

While I may be a little cynical is it not a little­ strange that the guys who were causing the most damage­ to the Boks were the guys who got taken out illegally­ in most cases? It looks like being a bit of a makeshift­ side for the final test but hopefully we play all our­ big guys (eg Shaw and Hines) and show that the Lions­ not only play the better rugby but can be just as­ physical but legally!

quoling

sugruejames is a racist mate - don't waste­ your breath.

well done brian and adam,some great performances by 2­ true proffesionals.i really enjoyed watching the tour­ and although we didnt win the series it was highly­ competitive.i would like to congratulate the south­ african players,with the exception of Burger who was­ very disappointing while De Villiers isnt the full­ shilling.but thanks to BO'D for winning us a grand­ slam.country comes first!

Re Tucker_kennedy: If you are going to insult me could­ you please at the very least come up with a decent­ counter argument. "has lost his face a good­ defender do"..... that doesn't even make­ sense. While he did have some part to play in­ Habana's try, himself and Roberts set up all the­ rest of the Lions tries in both tests. You will see how­ much he is missed next week.

tucker_kennedy may or may not be an English prat.­ However, he is certainly a prat - whose English is­ extremely poor. Let's just refer to him as an­ illiterate prat because that's what he is.

sugruejames55 - although I agree with the prat part -­ please don't become like all the other idiots and­ don't assume he is English...he could easily be­ Welsh, Scottish or even Irish believe it or not!