The Lions are apparently weak

And we're not nearly there yet...

It’s a typical rugby exercise selecting the combined team of the tournament….give us your’s.

Nope Draad we easily won the A game…and we were way stronger in the second half on Saturday, one week can’t account for that change. Erasmus is on the hook for the first test.

So this is what one  Erasmus groupie was saying about the Lions squad when announced:

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Looking at the team - it seems to me that the Tight 5 forwards will have an extremely high mountain to climb when meeting the Boks.    There is not a single of the props that would be adequate against Springboks in tests,    That applies to the hookers as well,  

As to locks - the only good  lock is Wyn-Jones - the  rest are barely average  on international level -especially with players like Etzebeth, Snyman and  Schickerling around.    I leave out the injured De Jager - viur thre aere plenty real locks available to SA better than the locks in the Lions team.   

As to the loosies - those selected  are poor compared to the fantastic   Du Toit and Vermeulen and the very good Kolisi,    We have back\ups aplenty as well.

As to the scrummies Murray is a decent enough scrummie  - bit De Klerk beats him every time.    The rest are not really top class.

At flyhalf  Farrell  was neutralized in the WC Final when he moved to flyhalf 50 minutes into the game.    Like Ford he produced near to nothing  in the WC final and  is not comparable to compete with Pollard at flyhalf,   Biggar is even worse - he is a  Morne Steyn type when to comes to defense,     

Bundee Aki  at inside center  -   in 31 appearances  for Ireland he scored 5 tries  - in  the WC he was beaten by the Japanese constantly and was really not that good.    Should they play  Farrell or him at  inside center will mean  nothing since De Allende will make mincemeat of them.

The have good outside backs - but that can easily be isolated by what happened inside of them.

And hten we have the brilliant Erasmus and Nienaber combination.    By now theyw ould have started analyzing the team and every player in the squad and they soon will be able to coach the players accordingly.    They have no competition when it comes  to rugby ecumen in teh world at present.       

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Granted rugby or any team game d oes not exactly fit these metaphoric comparisons but in a wider context it does, isolated gobbly gook criticisms are really bloody damn stupid.

Rugby is a team game that, to be functional must rely on strengths in certain areas to overcome weaknesses's in others.

Boks with Itoje replacing Mostert...and maybe Conan replacing Wiese/Kwagga in the absence of Thor....Maybe Curry for Kolisi,  but I wouldn't do that...I like Kolisi

Judging by the past 2 games, I prefer Willie to Hog...I prefer our wings, centers and halfbacks...both our front rows too.

We should comfortably win the 3rd test, but it's a funny old game, you never know when a team just suddenly come together and morph into something greater than the sum of the parts...especially a Lions touring side.

Donal Lenihan

If Gatland got away with the decision to omit Liam Williams from the starting side in the first test, he paid a big price for it this time round. The fact that he wasn’t even on the bench to shore things up was a calamitous error.

“In addition to Williams, a proven finisher of the quality of Josh Adams has to come back into the equation.

“To facilitate that, the midfield also needs tweaking with a shift of Robbie Henshaw to outside centre with Bundee Aki or Owen Farrell coming into the equation inside him.“

…. ……

Ben Kay:

15 Liam Williams
14 Josh Adams
13 Robbie Henshaw
12 Owen Farrell
11 Anthony Watson
10 Dan Biggar
9 Ali Price
1 Mako Vunipola
2 Luke Cowan Dickie
3 Tahgh Furlong
4 Maro Itoje
5 Alun Wyn Jones
6 Courtney Lawes
7 Tom Curry
8 Talupe Faletau

….

So once again Game, set and match….this is too easy, it’s not even a challenge.

As Putin said to Obama “Crimea River”. Gatland is a plodding fool.

Unteromlett, just stay down. I implore you. 

Saffex, you claim there's never been a weak Lions side.

From the ABs point of view, there's very rarely been a strong one, so I beg to differ!

What about the 2005 Lions side who were whipped by the ABs in 3 tests 21-3, 48-18 and 38-19?

That's what I would call a weak side.

Mind you the stats tell the story:

ABs vs Lions: Played 41   Lions have won 6 = 14.63%

Boks vs Lions: Played 48  Lions have won 18 = 37.5%

We seem to have far less trouble beating them, so that is why we don't rate them.

Sharkbok, we'll see what happens soon enough in the Rugby Championship! Not sure why you are saying Retallick is way past his best when he is still getting up to speed following his sojourn in Japan. In top form he adds invaluable grunt to our scrum and is by far the best lock in world rugby.

I'll give you an honest assessment on his performances after a few more games,  but don't count on his being a spent force.

As far as the last Lions tour to NZ is concerned, you have to remember SBW's red card in the 2nd test and Roman Poite's brain fade in the 3rd where we should have had a penalty kick to win in the last minute that was basically in front!

I'm not silly enough to say we will definitely beat the Boks, unlike Saffex who's spouting already that the Boks are peerless and the best in the world.

Words that may come back to bite him....

Thanks for the reminder, Moolaa !! 

"where we should have had a penalty kick to win in the last minute that was basically in front!"

This reminds me of WC 2011: Two throat slams on Frenchmen, yet the Dodos get the penalty to win the game.

As for Retallick being the best? Very funny. You just pray he doesn't have to face Morné again. RG is the best and most complete lock in world rugby. 

Let it go Aug......We won fair and square in 2011.

Has Snyman ever been considered for the title of "World's Best Player"?

Doesn't even rate a mention....

Hahaha Augie the Morne Steyn monstering Jaws incident was hilarious

I think the two wise claimants on site really lost the battle totally - they claimed the story about the failures they supported is not applicable and their claims since 2011 is true and there were no0 failures - the Japan and Italy losses by the Springboks did not happen - the Perth loss was not due to a Morne bugger-up and entirely due to Lambie missing a tackle -  that the WC in won was won by the wrong nation since the Springboks were weak and the English team weaker, while ignoring th fact that the England team convincingly beat  the AB's in the semi.   

There attacks on some player go on all the time and  their attacks on Erasmus based on lies started the moment he was appointed - they even lied about the position rsmus was appointed in in 2018. 

One has to wonder whether they are real enemies of the truth anyway.        

Mozart

I looked at the WC when dealing with performance analysis of individual players - especially in the final - and never said the team was weak as you repeatedly pointed out.    However,  that assessment was done six months nbefore the series even started and dealt more specifically with the English players in the squad with one rare reference to Bundee Aki.   The latter did not play in any test thus far.

I never mentioned hte weakness of Mostert at lock - which was a factor in both tests played since then.   

Mind you I believe in teams combining well and winning matches  because of good coaching - while you constantly claim matches are won by individual players and not tems - so i can see where you are coming from.      .              

You don't see squat Lügnerin. 

The fact that that the series hasn't been the greatest watch and has had very few line-breaks or defenders beaten doen't mean either team crap.

I see anti Bok twits saying all the Boks do is kick high up and unders. No criticism of the Lions who have done exactly the same with many a cross kick for the wings added in.

Mozzzzzzz and the Org (one eyed Org at that ) are now reduced to to a two pronged attack on Rassie. If the Boks lose its because of Rassie and players like Du Toit, Allende, Malherbe  and so on. If the Boks win its because the opposition is  weak. The England team that thrashed the wee abs in the RWC make up the bulk of the team with the cream of Wales, Ireland and Scotland are added. Yet this is a weak team!

2 of the top 4 sides in the world are available for Lions selection.

Poor mozzzzz squawks about game set an match and has yet to win a single argument. All he and the Org display are a virulent anti Rassie bias that has more than obscured their vision, it has blinded them.

I wish them a speedy recovery.

• (1)

 
• SOUTH AFRICA

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• NEW ZEALAND

• (3)

 
• ENGLAND

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• IRELAND

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• FRANCE

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• AUSTRALIA

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• ARGENTINA

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• SCOTLAND

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• WALES

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• JAPAN

Nobody said the Lions are playing good rugby. They are playing the same two dimensional stuff we are. Right now Oz,  the ABs and to some extent the Bargies who offload superbly, are keeping the beautiful game alive.

The Lions always struggle to be more than their component parts. They have to come together as a team. But in this case the greats of past Lions’ teams aren’t around. You could pick any of the squad and not change things, competent but not exceptional.

And as Gatland tacitly admits with his changes for the final test, they haven’t gelled as a team. The Lions have a losing record over the years and this team’s ordinary raw material  makes it doubly difficult.

@ Mike….’that assessment was done 6 months before the series even started’. Nope, that assessment was done on May 7 as your post shows. You claimed almost every aspect of the Lions team was inferior. Now you have the gall to attack me for saying the same thing. Stop lying on the Board.