Lions 2009 thread

[Capt Pat]

There was nothing wrong with the garowen lads it was his braindead way of clattering in to the South African player that was the problem. He was trying to win the game and could have if he had dealt with the situation propeerly, ie tackle the South African the instant he hit the ground and then try and tuen the ball over and possibly win a penalty for the South African holding on.

Rog only enters a rugby field to be outhalf and kick the goals, he doesn't have the physical ability to be anything else. If they did not switch Stephen Jones to inside centre today then they made a big mistake.

The best bit of the game was O'Driscoll taking out the South African prop.

[FermPundit]

South Africa v British and Irish Lions: player ratings - The Telegraph

British and Irish Lions:

Rob Kearney: Scored a try, caught all the bombs that came his way and punted beautifully. Almost perfect. 9

Tommy Bowe: Kept his width to fix Steyn for Kearney to score Lions first try. Not many chances to shine himself. 6

Brian O'Driscoll: Well up for it. Had an early tussle with Matfield and played like a flanker forcing turnovers. Eventually injured. 8

Jamie Roberts: Not as many line breaks but still carried bodies over the advantage line. Like O'Driscoll, battered at end. 8

Luke Fitzgerald: Victim of disgraceful eye gouge by Burger. Always threatening and did well to thwart Pietersen in first half. 7

Stephen Jones: Potted a snappy drop goal to reward Lions pressure and squeezed over a penalty which nearly earned Lions the draw. 6

Mike Phillips: Important runs through the middle of the rucks and mauls to keep Bok defence honest. Pass not that slick. 7

Gethin Jenkins: Failed to offload when Lions looked certain to score. Part of a massive scrummaging effort. Clashed heads with Habana. 6

Matthew Rees: Just about held his lineout throwing together. Big influence in scrum and loose play. 7

Adam Jones: Got one over on the beast which was a big psychological lift for Lions. Another Lion who was bashed up. 7

Simon Shaw: Fabulous match. Annoyed Botha, smashed rucks and carried ball into heart of Bok defence. At 35, he even kept going to the end. 8

Paul O'Connell: Didn't carry ball that well but prominent in early lineouts and forced turnovers late on. Leadership much improved too. 7

Tom Croft: Not as conspicuous as first Test but still keen to mix it with the big boys. Has had a good tour. 6

David Wallace: Much better. Made a nuisance of himself at the breakdown and outplayed Burger. 7

Jamie Heaslip: More visible. A couple of punching runs in the first half were excellent. Faded slightly late on. 6

Replacements: O'Gara gave away the final penalty which cost Lions the match but the Lions were out on their feet at that stage. Andrew Sheridan pick of replacements. Actually got cross. 7

South Africa:

Frans Steyn: Another mixed bag from a multi-talented player but when he's good he is very good, witness that superb penalty on half-time. Looks like a world class centre playing full-back. 7

JP Pietersen: Looked much livelier than last week and showed real gas to take his first half try. Much more involved and always needed watching by the Lions hard pressed defence. 7

Adi Jacobs: Still doesn't look a world beater but a much tidier performance than last week. Midfield defence on Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Roberts was much tighter. 6

Jean de Villiers: Was just beginning to show his class when departed injured. Worked hard when required to repulse the Lions midfield. 6

Bryan Habana: Much more like it after a quiet weekend in Durban. Devastating runner who was looking for work from the off and took his try like the thoroughbred he is. 8

Ruan Pienaar: Has great qualities but not convincing and looked vulnerable when the Lions cranked up the pressure inthe first half. 6

Fourie du Preez: Has found the excellent Mike Phillips a real handful in this series and has not been at his world class best. Some nice touches to keep the Boks ticking over but nothing sensational. 6

Tendai Mtawarira: A very tough day at the office after Durban's heroics and he wouldn't have been devastated when injuries to Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins resulted in uncontested scrums. 5

Bismark du Plessis: Struggled like the beast and was making little impact in the scrum although his line-out throwing remained consistent and underpinned the Boks line-out excellence. 5

John Smit (capt): HIs leadership was as good as ever but nowhere near as effective at scrum-time and gave a few penalties away. By his own standards a middling game. 6

Bakkies Botha: Always a considerable line-out presence and ferocious in the contact area. Decided to bait Andew Sheridan and to his surprise got as good as he gave. 7

Victor Matfield: Supreme in the line-out, as ever, and a more than useful operator in the loose but would have wanted to produce something bigger and better in front of his own Blue Bulls fans. 7

Schalk Burger: Should have been sent off for gouging after 41 seconds. The referee has no discretion in the matter, it has to be red. Yellow was totally the wrong call. Burger faces a long ban, Berdos has a ton of explaining to do if he is to get another big game anytime soon. 0

Juan Smith: Has had to play amuch tighter game than he is used to. Never lets the Boks down but not as influential as he would have hoped. 6

Pierre Spies: Has not lived up to the hype. Another quiet game devodi of his athletic 50 yard dashes. Put one important tackle in on BOD in the first half but did little else of significance. 5

Replacements: The bench copped all the flak last week but they all played a magnificent hand this week, not least the extremely talented Jaque Fourie, who did brilliantly to take his try even if 20,000 Lions fans will tell you his torso was on the touchline, and Morne Steyn with his magnifcent 53m match winning kick. 10

[Bord na Mona man]

Great performance by the Lions all the same.
With 7 Irish players on board they nearly earned the first Lions test win since 2001.
Throw in Ferris and Flannery and you'd have the guts of Irish team capable of taking on the Springboks in their own backyard.
They ran out of players in the end.

O'Gara will take the heat for his brain stagger, but a few other mistakes like bad line outs also cost them.
I'm not sure how well he'll recover though. He has gone into a slump since 2007 and is pushing on.
I think its time to start planning for the 2011 World Cup without him.

[Capt Pat]

Who do you get to replace O'Gara though? Sexton had a good finish to the Heineken cup, but what we really need is a couple of options like we had in the O'Gara - Humphreys era.

[Hound]

Cracking game, sickening end. The last test would have been just sensational if it wasn't a dead rubber. Although injuries may mean there's a shadow team out.

The Lions were absolutely superb in the first half, and Kearney was magnificent, but in the second they just couldnt get on the front foot.

People talking, especially in the media, about Shaw being great. Before the game I thought his selection was an error, because his weaknesses (mainly his stupidity) outweigh his strenghts. So I kept a close eye on him and I'm going to go completely against the grain and say he cost Lions the game as much as O'Gara. Yes, he was superb in the loose and better than expected in the lineout but Shaw gave away 5 penalties in the match, everyone of them needless, 4 of which came in the first half, without which its likely the Lions would have been out of sight at half time.

I believe Fourie was in touch for the try, but the cameras didnt show it either way. The last picture you can see is he is clearly in field but Philips clatters him from the side and you see Fourie's feet sliding towards the sideline and then the picture of his feet is blocked from all angles just as he touches down. I think its lkely his feet touched the line before he got the ball down but it was a 50/50 call.

[bcarrier]

Kearney was some loss to Cooley Kickhams and Louth ....he is some bit of stuff.

Pity ROG didnt play a bit of GAA - might have learned how to attack ball in the air. He has got off a bit lighter in press than expected today. The focus is correctly on ref bottling the decision in first minute.

Will BOD be around for next world cup - he cant be replaced.

[Hound]

When Kearney made the breakthrough with Leinster, I was an instant fan, but I was also sick that the Dubs had lost what undoubtedly would have been a top drawer GAA player if he gave primary focus to gaelic football. Relieved when I was told he wasn't a Dub!

[INDIANA]

Cheika will probably stick him on the wing and play Nacewa there.

I disagree on the front foot thing Hound. They had plenty of ball but they keep kicking it away in the second half. Didn't have the conviction to see it home.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Only watched a recording of the match this morning after travelling to both Kildare matches yesterday.

It was some contest and the Lions can be truly proud of their efforts. Anyone who questioned the Lions concept and how much the players believe in it got an emphatic answer. It was great to see the Irish players leading the charge. I thought Wallace, O'Driscoll and Kearney in particular, were superb.

The Springboks were fortunate that the Lions were cursed with injuries. Once both the centres had to be replaced the whole thing fell apart. Not surprising really given the way both Roberts and O'Driscoll have played throughout the tour. The move to uncontested scrums was also a blow because if anything, the Lions had the upper hand in the scrum. Fair play to Rees and Jones - must admit I didn't think they'd be up to it. The decision to bring on Wyn-Jones when Adam Jones went off was a big mistake. Surely Martyn Williams was made for that game and Wyn-Jones could have replaced Shaw who was fecked in the last ten minutes.

Felt a degree of sympathy for O'Gara. He screwed up big time but the Lions were all out on their feet at that stage. The only explanation I could offer for the penalty he gave away was that he shipped two huge belts in the space of a minute and that he was possibly slightly concussed??

[Declan]

Spot on AZ re O'Gara. Burger should have gotten red never mind yellow and 8 weeks is a joke. Lions should have put more points on the board in the first half. Kearney was outstanding I thought but they should just head home now and forget about the third match - will they give the other lads a chance now I wonder to play?

[Bord na Mona man]

Who do you get to replace O'Gara though? Sexton had a good finish to the Heineken cup, but what we really need is a couple of options like we had in the O'Gara - Humphreys era.

At least there is 2 years to try and get Sexton up and running for the World Cup.
He looks a bit raw so far but at least he has potential to improve.
The same goes for the likes of Cian Healy.
Ireland should use the 6 nations to strategically build a team like the French do, which would mean trying out more players.

[man in black]

O Gara is a clown. A disaster waiting to happen. He hasnt the physical game to mix it at that level.

[Declan]

See O'Driscoll is on his way home as well

[Schkite]

Interesting looking team for the final test:

15. Rob Kearney
14. Ugo Monye
13. Tommy Bowe
12. Riki Flutey
11. Shane Williams
10. Stephen Jones
9. Mike Phillips
8. Jamie Heaslip
7. Martyn Williams
6. Joe Worsley
5. Paul O'Connell (c)
4. Simon Shaw
3. Phil Vickery
2. Matthew Rees
1. Andrew Sheridan

Replacements:

16. Ross Ford
17. John Hayes
18. Alun-Wyn Jones
19. David Wallace
20. Tom Croft
21. Harry Ellis
22. James Hook

South Africa make 10 changes aswell.

[gallsman]

Joke of a team. Not starting Hook? Starting Flutey  and S Williams? Starting Vickery?? Was he not retired two weeks ago??