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Post by WayneBiggins on Jun 1, 2005 10:17:41 GMT -5
British & Irish Lions:
15 Josh Lewsey (Wasps and England) - test starter
14 Mark Cueto (Sale and England) - gotta be joking. Woodward didn't even pick him for England....
13 Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster and Ireland, captain) - test starter
12 Gavin Henson (Ospreys and Wales) - hmmm, not sure. Crabs too much - Shanklin or D'Arcy to partner BOD
11 Tom Shanklin (Cardiff and Wales) - not a winger
10 Ronan O'Gara (Munster and Ireland) - last chance - it's between Briefcase and Jones
9 Dwayne Peel (Llanelli and Wales) - test starter
8 Lawrence Dallaglio (Wasps and England) - test starter (suspect he's the pack leader)
7 Martyn Williams (Cardiff and Wales) - test started unless Back has a few good games
6 Richard Hill (Saracens and England) - test starter if he can get up to speed
5 Ben Kay (Leicester and England) - test starter
4 Paul O'Connell (Munster and Ireland) - test starter
3 Matt Stevens (Bath and England) - not too sure....
2 Gordon Bulloch (Glasgow and Scotland) - Thompson will be the Test hooker
1 Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff and Wales) - test starter
Replacements:
16 Steve Thompson (Northampton and England) - see above
17 Andy Sheridan (Sale and England) - dirt tracker at best
18 Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster and Ireland) - Grewcock or O'Callaghan to grab the bench spot
19 Martin Corry (Leicester and England) - gotta be kidding
20 Matt Dawson (Wasps and England) - experience so will be on the bench
21 Charlie Hodgson (Sale and England) - eh rrrrright..... see above
22 Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster and Ireland) - again, see above
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Post by NutterBhoy on Jun 1, 2005 10:32:11 GMT -5
Hell of a lot of English in there in important positions , O gara is to appease the paddys up to it or not i don't know , : yeah i thought corry was shit the last couple of matches i saw him. but i think you got it about right ,do you see them winning a match? ;D  |
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Post by WayneBiggins on Jun 1, 2005 10:43:33 GMT -5
Nothing wrong with the English players per se - just the fact that Robinson is a shite coach. It'll be a forwards slog - seeing that it's expected to be pissing rain for the next two months but they really need a fast number 7 to go up against McCaw. Back has the savvy but not the speed. O'Gara was in prime position for the 10 spot until his brain farts in the 6N - particularly against Wales. Backline should (IMO) probably be: 9. Peel 10. Wilkinson 11. Robinson 12. Horgan 13. O'Driscoll 14. D'Arcy 15. Lewsey Thomas is a big strong ox but not very quick. I don't rate Murphy although he always plays well for the Tigers. I think Horgan could be the big surprise and his ability to swop with D'Arcy could prove advantageous. Have you seen Rico Gear play this season for the Crusaders? Holeeeee shit!!!!!!  |
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Post by NutterBhoy on Jun 1, 2005 10:57:59 GMT -5
Murphy was my protege as i went out with his sister his first love was soccer, but i think he has got enough time to develope more too light but he has the heart and has the skill the All- Blacks will really be up for this.
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Post by NutterBhoy on Jun 1, 2005 10:58:40 GMT -5
Cueto i don't understand that decision.
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Post by WayneBiggins on Jun 1, 2005 11:00:56 GMT -5
I can understand why Cueto was picked - Woodward is hoping he'll be shite. He can then have a good reason for not playing him for the rest of the tour and say "See!!! That's why I never picked him when I coached England".
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Post by Lynchbhoy on Jun 1, 2005 16:48:53 GMT -5
whats the full squad so I might pick a XV out of it
I wouldnt pick Murphy on last seasons perf
D'arcy is not good enough imo
same as Horgan
Is Greenwood still inj ?
I would love to see a bruising battle up front
thats what I like in ruby (I know everyone wants to see a wide open running game- not me - prob why I liked SA and everyone else bar RB hates them)
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Post by begbie on Jun 1, 2005 19:11:02 GMT -5
I would wait to see how the first three warm up games are going on before I can make my own Lions XV but I am sure that the Munster first XV would trash the All Blacks!!
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Post by WayneBiggins on Jun 2, 2005 7:42:30 GMT -5
Lynchy - Greenwood is well, well past it and was shite when he played in the ZP this season (injuries permitting). He's there on reputation alone and certainly not on any sort of form over the last 2 seasons. Tindall would have been better if he hadn't been injured. There is a case for Henson at 12 because he's a massive bastard and if the Lions are stuck in their 22 - give the ball to him and he'll hoof it back into the opposition's 22. He has a rocket of a right boot. Begbie .........  Munster could barely beat shithouse Harlequins in the HEC..... Anyway Lynchy - here's the full Lions squad.... PROPS John Hayes - Ireland Gethin Jenkins- Wales Graham Rowntree - England Andy Sheridan - England Matt Stevens- England Julian White- England HOOKERS Gordon Bulloch- Scotland Shane Byrne - Ireland Steve Thompson - England Andy Titterrell - England 2nd ROWS Ben Kay- England Danny Grewcock - England Donncha O'Callaghan - Ireland Paul O'Connell - Ireland Simon Shaw - England BACK ROWS Neil Back - England Martin Corry - England Lawrence Dallaglio - England Richard Hill - England Lewis Moody - England Michael Owen - Wales Simon Taylor - Scotland Martyn Williams - Wales SCRUM HALVES Chris Cusiter - Scotland Gareth Cooper - Wales Matt Dawson - England Dwayne Peel - Wales FLY HALVES Charlie Hodgson - England Steven Jones - Wales Ronan O'Gara - Ireland Jonny Wilkinson - England CENTRES Gordon D'Arcy - Ireland Will Greenwood - England Gavin Henson - Wales Shane Horgan - Ireland Brian O'Driscoll - Ireland Tom Shanklin - Wales Ollie Smith - England BACK 3 Mark Cueto - England Denis Hickie - Ireland Josh Lewsey - England Geordan Murphy - Ireland Jason Robinson - England Gareth Thomas - Wales Shane Williams - Wales As of today - replace O'Kelly with Simon Shaw - O'Kelly has had a reoccurrence of his abdominal injury and has jetted home.  |
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Post by Lynchbhoy on Jun 2, 2005 9:46:45 GMT -5
I take it you mean Henson has a massive kick - as he is not a big lad...?
I still think a fit Greenwood is the best there is...he may not ever be fit or injury free again though
without knowing who is a tighthead or looshead I would pick
PROPS
Gethin Jenkins- Wales
Julian White- England
with
John Hayes - Ireland
on the bench
HOOKERS
Gordon Bulloch- Scotland
not the biggest but tenacious and a true hooker - can throw too better than Thompson,
can also carry the ball and beats byrne in everything except throwing
2nd ROWS
Donncha O'Callaghan - Ireland
Paul O'Connell - Ireland
Kay is not the same without Johnson, OCallaghan is a far better all round player than the
other two english fellas
BACK ROWS
Lawrence Dallaglio - England
Richard Hill - England
with one of these getting the spoiler job - I would prefer a bigger tougher man than Williams (Corry_ but think
for pace it would have to be Williams)
Martyn Williams - Wales
subs
Michael Owen - Wales
Martin Corry - England
SCRUM HALVES
Dwayne Peel - Wales
Gareth Cooper - Wales
My old favourite Dawson is a couple of years too old and slow
FLY HALVES
Steven Jones - Wales
steady and the tough kind of no nonsense player the lions need against NZ.
Am I the only person still to be convinced about wilkinson ?
Sub
Ronan O'Gara - Ireland
or if I am wrong and he is actually good
Jonny Wilkinson - England
CENTRES
Brian O'Driscoll - Ireland - showed better in the 6N this year
Tom Shanklin - Wales - if he retains his 6N form ...he is good enough. if not he will be destroyed
subs
Will Greenwood - England - not convinced he is recov from a season full of inj but brilliant if fit
Gavin Henson - Wales - apart from kicking , did not show in the 6N
BACK 3
Josh Lewsey - England Finisher and strong
Jason Robinson - England natural finisher can score out of nothing...size could be a problem against NZ
15 Gareth Thomas - Wales
the rest are too small or just plain useless
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Post by WayneBiggins on Jun 2, 2005 10:13:20 GMT -5
I like that team - especially the Shanklin/O'Driscoll pairing.
Thomas is a bit slow but is an ox so could force his way in - his major problem is that he's still in France playing with Toulouse at the moment. He needs game time with the Lions very very quickly.
O'Callaghan is aggressive but quite a "lightweight" lock compared to the likes of Shaw, Gewcock and Kay - I think Woodward will pick as big a tight 5 as possible so they can bulldoze the All Black scrum and particularly in the mauls.
One thing to remember is that Thompson had the best throwing stats in the 6N this year (hard to believe) and the NZ lineout isn't great apart from Chris Jack. Also, he's excellent in the loose.
Hayes won't be on the bench - Jenkins and White would be my props though. Or maybe Stevens. Hayes is going to get a lot of splinters in his arse I think.....
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Post by Carribbear on Jun 3, 2005 11:19:39 GMT -5
HOOKERS Gordon Bulloch- Scotland Shane Byrne - Ireland Steve Thompson - England Andy Titterrell - England Those ugly barstards won't get much business. I think i'll send Beryl 'down under' I'll clean up |
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Post by WayneBiggins on Jun 7, 2005 10:33:06 GMT -5
I take it you mean Henson has a massive kick - as he is not a big lad...? Henson is bigger and heavier built than O'Driscoll - "small" he sure ain't!!!! |
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