Rugby Union

[Butts]

Yes, I thought it would be a close game but that Toulon would edge it in the end. I envisaged the scores being tied before JW stepped up with the last kick of the game being a drop goal to win it!

I wonder if he'll make it to The Lions on the back of that ?

 

[Greenback]

I think Gatland wanted him, and as he is only taking two recognised 10's, then I'd say the door is still very much open for him tos tep on to the plane at some point...

 

[Tibbs]

I wonder if he'll make it to The Lions on the back of that ?

They asked, he said no as he wanted to stay with Toulon. However he has been quoted as saying he'd be willing to step in, if he's fit enough.

Well done as well for winning European player of the year. Just imagine how many times he'd have won it had he not been so loyal to Newcastle.

He'd have also been injured less as he'd have had a decent back row and now had to do all the tackling himself...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Christian Wade, the wing player of London Wasps, won both the Player of the Year award and the Young Player of the Year award at the RPA recent event.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The British and Irish Lions made a solid start to the tour in Hong Kong, in a very high humidity level of 94%, by beating the Barbarians 59-8, scorng no less than eight tries in the process.

 

[flymo]

The game itself, whilst being a fab win for the Lions, was a bit of a start-stop affair with frequent handling errors on both sides. The temperature here in HK does drop a little in the evening but at this time of year it may drop from around 34C during the day to around 30C in the evening. The relative humidity rises as the temperature drops.

There were some fisticuffs in the opening moments too which brought a bit of life to the match in which Owen Farrell put Schalk Brits in his place. They're mates too at Saracens. The Lions scrum was fantastic, I think they won every one.

The Lions are now on their way to Perth to play Western Force on Wednesday, Oz time. Should be a brilliant tour.

 

[Greenback]

It's hard to judge what is essentially a warm up game against a scratch side that is played in such a high humidity.

Nonetheless, I am sure the Lions coaches are just about as pleased as they could be in the circumstances.

 

[flymo]

Thumping good win for the Lions in Perth today. Looks like they totally blew the opposition, Western Force, away winning 17-69. Confidence must be sky high right now.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Good as the result looked on paper, it still is a sad reflection of the game today that a game against a British Lions XV seemed to be a lesser fixture for Western Force than the coming match this Sunday when they play the New South Wales Waratahs, so they put out a weakened side against the tourists in order to field their strongest team possible against the New South Wales Waratahs.

 

[Greenback]

Puting out a weakened side does allow the Lions a more gentle introduction into the tour. After a stopover in Hong Kong it is still a bit early for a thumping, highly competitive match against a highly experienced team!

I think it is in the interests of the Lions to build up gradually.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Brumbies 14...Lions 12

Euphoria now back to reality leval.

 

[Greenback]

That game was a banana skin waiting to happen, especially with no recognised outside half and a winger who retired from top level rugby almost two years ago!

 

[Butts]

That game was a banana skin waiting to happen, especially with no recognised outside half and a winger who retired from top level rugby almost two years ago!

Let's hope The Lions "step up to the plate" when the first Test Match is played.

 

[Michael.Y]

I personally don't count that team as a true Lions team - it was more a case of fulfilling the fixture list whilst attempting to mitigate injuries - sort of the opposite of the Western Force situation.

Similar to the Wales loss against Japan - a full-strength Wales squad would have won that series. What it did prove however was how the lack of match practice for the lower ranks of the Welsh team showed up on the international stage. Perhaps with the elite all buggering off to France to earn money our developing squad will get match time with the Regions.

Anyhoo, a full weekend to look forward to. Plus did anyone see how good Samoa were on Saturday against the Italians? Makes me glad we're not playing them this year and puts our loss against them last autumn into perspective. That team is coming on.

 

[Butts]

I personally don't count that team as a true Lions team - it was more a case of fulfilling the fixture list whilst attempting to mitigate injuries - sort of the opposite of the Western Force situation.

Similar to the Wales loss against Japan - a full-strength Wales squad would have won that series. What it did prove however was how the lack of match practice for the lower ranks of the Welsh team showed up on the international stage. Perhaps with the elite all buggering off to France to earn money our developing squad will get match time with the Regions.

Anyhoo, a full weekend to look forward to. Plus did anyone see how good Samoa were on Saturday against the Italians? Makes me glad we're not playing them this year and puts our loss against them last autumn into perspective. That team is coming on.

Samoa beat Scotland recently as well
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Australia 21 Lions 23 in Brisbane.....

Lions scrape through thanks to Beale missing two kicking chances to win it for the Wallabies.

Biggest disgrace - Live Commentary on Talksport and viewing on Sky:cry:

This should be free to air on BBC !!!

 

[Greenback]

Lions win by 2 points. Apparently the Aussies had some injuries with the first being stretchered off after only one minute.

 

[Johnuk123]

Biggest disgrace - Live Commentary on Talksport and viewing on Sky:cry:

This should be free to air on BBC !!!

BBC long ago gave up the idea of broadcasting sport they would rather indulge untalented cooks with show after show of cooking.

 

[flymo]

Watched the Lions game live on TV (Setanta) here in HK and thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable and enthralling game of rugby. I thought the Kiwi ref had a very poor game and the Aussie kicking was terrible. O'Connor for Oz missed quite a few points but the slip from Beale meaning the missing of the last kick of the game was in my opinion justification for the poor refereeing. Sorry Oz fans!!
The injuries to the Aussies may carry forward to the next game but losing the first guy after only 50 seconds was a tough break for them.
I thought no.3 for the Lions, Jones, also had a poor game and he was eventually subbed after around 60 minutes or so.
All in all, can't wait for the next one in Melbourne next week.

Lions win by 2 points. Apparently the Aussies had some injuries with the first being stretchered off after only one minute.

The Aussies had 3 in total stretchered off.

 

[andrew bell]

Watched the Lions game live on TV (Setanta) here in HK and thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable and enthralling game of rugby. I thought the Kiwi ref had a very poor game and the Aussie kicking was terrible.

Thats what happens with referees in these test matches, they laws are slightly different in Southern Hemisphere than the North so the referee was going to give 50/50 calls to Australia. Wait until next week when (I think) the referee is French, the calls will go the Lions way.
If you swapped the kickers around the Lions would of lost but about 20 points (maybe more) which goes to show how much responsibility the kicker actually has

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

BBC long ago gave up the idea of broadcasting sport they would rather indulge untalented cooks with show after show of cooking.

....but would everyone be prepared to pay more for in their licence fee in order that BBC can compete with Sky et al in Rugby and Cricket? I doubt it, I think that these sports are lost to free-to-air. (entirely agree with you about the cooking tho', seems to be on every time I look at the TV when my other half is watching!...and I do the cooking anyway!)
...back to the game, thoroughly enjoyable and genuinely nerve-racking at the end, felt sorry for the lad who missed the penalty, then I thought, no, he's Australian!

 

[Butts]

....but would everyone be prepared to pay more for in their licence fee in order that BBC can compete with Sky et al in Rugby and Cricket? I doubt it, I think that these sports are lost to free-to-air. (entirely agree with you about the cooking tho', seems to be on every time I look at the TV when my other half is watching!...and I do the cooking anyway!)
...back to the game, thoroughly enjoyable and genuinely nerve-racking at the end, felt sorry for the lad who missed the penalty, then I thought, no, he's Australian!

There are still certain "Listed Events" that have to shown on terrestrial TV in the UK such as FA Cup Final / Scottish Cup Final , in my view Lions Tours should be included in this group.

Sports coverage on BBC is better than on any other channel -as has been demonstrated when they go "head to head" with anyone else showing the same event at the same time - BBC viewing figures are always higher and for good reason.

The Licence Fee being frozen for 5 years is a joke , handing an advantage to other Broadcasters who don't seem to have followed suit in freezing their levels of subscription.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Will Genia's sublime dummies, run and kick to Izzy Folau for the try. And, a few minutes later, George North's awesome display of power and speed from the Lions' 10m line to the touchline.
Just for seeing those two moments, I can forgive the poor game management by both sides. If you haven't seen those tries, YouTube is your friend...

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

There are still certain "Listed Events" that have to shown on terrestrial TV in the UK such as FA Cup Final / Scottish Cup Final , in my view Lions Tours should be included in this group.

Sports coverage on BBC is better than on any other channel -as has been demonstrated when they go "head to head" with anyone else showing the same event at the same time - BBC viewing figures are always higher and for good reason.

The Licence Fee being frozen for 5 years is a joke , handing an advantage to other Broadcasters who don't seem to have followed suit in freezing their levels of subscription.

I don't disagree with you at all, just can't see anything happening to loosen the grip that Sky has on major sporting events. Money talks and all that....

 

[Butts]

Good win against Melbourne Rebels 35-0 , just pray we can keep it up on Saturday and get the second win required for the series

 

[flymo]

Good win against Melbourne Rebels 35-0 , just pray we can keep it up on Saturday and get the second win required for the series

The game against the Rebels was never in doubt much. A terrific display of kicking again and even a penalty try against the Melbourne team for what appeared to be a deliberate offside when the Lions were but a couple of metres from the try-line.

As for Saturday, the referee for the second test, Chris CRAIG Joubert, is from South Africa. I guess a lot of the outcome will depend on his refereeing but I confess to not knowing much about him and his refereeing personality. Whatever happens the Lions must not give away too many penalties.

Should be an absolute corker of a game. :grin:

 

[Greenback]

Do you mean Craig Joubert or is there another one? The pressure will definitely be on the Aussies now, though they will take a lot from the final quarter last week.

The Lions have to be professional now and look to play to their strengths and finish the series off this week. To my mind, Gatland is one of the best around for instilling into players the right mental attitude to get the job done.

 

[flymo]

Do you mean Craig Joubert or is there another one? The pressure will definitely be on the Aussies now, though they will take a lot from the final quarter last week.

The Lions have to be professional now and look to play to their strengths and finish the series off this week. To my mind, Gatland is one of the best around for instilling into players the right mental attitude to get the job done.

Yes, sorry, Autocorrect strikes again...... Edited the original to include the correct name.

 

[Butts]

Halfpenny blows a chance to win the series in the dying seconds of the match

Ah well on to Sydney and victory

 

[Johnuk123]

Two fairly average sides today could have gone either way, now Australia have the upper hand I fancy them to win next week.

 

[flymo]

Watched the game today and agree that the two sides were average. Lions failed to score any tries whereas the Aussies did. The conversion from Leali'ifano was outstanding. The Aussies gave away too many penalties, mind you the Lions gave away their fair share.

The last game will be a sell out and rightly so.

Interesting though that the first two tests have been decided on the last kick of the game, both penalties missing to lose the game. Absolutely fantastic advert for rugby union. Bring it on next week........