British and Irish Lions Tour 2013

Hoof Hearted · July 06, 2013, 01:18:02 PM

Quote from: Gaffer on July 06, 2013, 01:16:25 PM
where s John Terry?

riding gatlands wife probably !

Wildweasel74 · July 06, 2013, 01:25:39 PM

john terry lol class!!

bennydorano · July 06, 2013, 01:51:15 PM

Great win, Gatland vindicated but O'Driscoll could have played there without any need for a tactical change, hindsight is a great thing tho.

What will Gatland do now? Is there a big payday waiting for him somewhere? All Blacks?

Capt Pat · July 06, 2013, 01:56:42 PM

He could and should have been Ireland's coach for a very long time. Gatland would never have been Wales and lions coach if Ireland hadn't sacked him.

Syferus · July 06, 2013, 02:03:49 PM

Quote from: Capt Pat on July 06, 2013, 01:56:42 PM
He could and should have been Ireland's coach for a very long time. Gatland would never have been Wales and lions coach if Ireland hadn't sacked him.

Err, what?

screenexile · July 06, 2013, 04:41:42 PM

Lads in essence the BOD call proved not to be all that decisive. Lions were head and shoulders above Wallabies without playing too much expansive Rugby.

For all the talk of Roberts I saw 68 mins of Rugby and can't remeber his name being mentioned. Fair play to the Lions they won the series but the quality wasn't much to write home about!

PS. Tommy Bowe, O'Brien and Sexton were all excellent IMO!

muppet · July 06, 2013, 04:48:42 PM

Quote from: screenexile on July 06, 2013, 04:41:42 PM
Lads in essence the BOD call proved not to be all that decisive. Lions were head and shoulders above Wallabies without playing too much expansive Rugby.

For all the talk of Roberts I saw 68 mins of Rugby and can't remeber his name being mentioned. Fair play to the Lions they won the series but the quality wasn't much to write home about!

PS. Tommy Bowe, O'Brien and Sexton were all excellent IMO!

Agreed due to the game plan, the centres were largely irrelevant.

On the other big Gatland calls,

Hibbard - probably the wrong call
O'Brien - definitely got that right
Feletau - played fairly well so gets benefit of the doubt
Phillips - poor, shouldn't have made the test squad.

RealSpiritof98 · July 06, 2013, 05:25:36 PM

IMO if they had went with Murray for the last 2 tests the score would have been 3 zip. the Irish obviously had no voice in the coach meetings and it was only O'Brien's sheer excellence and dodged determination that finally played him into the squad. Sexton was fecking lording it and they still pulled him off with 20 left to give the coach's son a run (okay didnt really matter in the end) but the game was still somewhat in the balance. In the grand scheme of things its a great Lions victory, but when analysed their quality on paper really did outweigh that of Australia and a series loss would have been a travesty. 4 years is a long time away but the New Zealand tour will be a much more sterner test, however there is plenty of talent at the right age to give it a great rattle.

GalwayBayBoy · July 06, 2013, 05:29:30 PM

I guess the narrative will now say that Gatland was vindicated but in reality the dropping of BOD had no material impact on the game one way or another. Had he played they would have won just as handsomely given the Lions' complete dominance up front and in particular in the scrum. Something they didn't have in the previous two games. A dominant set-piece makes everyone look better.

Leo · July 06, 2013, 10:50:07 PM

Gatland got it right, leave our myopia out of it.
Great win.

bennydorano · July 06, 2013, 11:16:42 PM

Correcto, you couldn't have put a fag paper between the teams in the first 2 tests & then to dish out a hiding in the third speaks volumes for his selection, tactics & man management, he mightn't have been directly responsible for some of it, but the buck stops with him.

Syferus · July 07, 2013, 12:05:33 AM

Quote from: bennydorano on July 06, 2013, 11:16:42 PM
Correcto, you couldn't have put a fag paper between the teams in the first 2 tests & then to dish out a hiding in the third speaks volumes for his selection, tactics & man management, he mightn't have been directly responsible for some of it, but the buck stops with him.

He got most calls right but it was hardly rocket science to pick Roberts, Corb and the Tullow Tank.

Philips instead Murray was totally wrong and Gatland realised that quick enough. Heaslip deserved to keep his spot and BOD couldn't have been any more anonymous than Davies. The mast-head calls just placed a pall over preparations for the third test and ended up not really contributing much to the victory either way so he was only really working against himself on those counts.

Sidney · July 07, 2013, 12:14:02 AM

From the Bunker · July 07, 2013, 01:54:03 AM

Quote from: Sidney on July 07, 2013, 12:14:02 AM

and not a sign of emerald green or Gold?

Rudi · July 07, 2013, 09:10:31 AM

Lions tour is the greatest load of shite going. I like rugby, would watch Irish U20's play in Athlone etc. How an irish man can be passionate about a team packed with Welsh players trying to beat a team, Ireland beat well (and in their own back yard) 18 months ago is beyond me. 4 teams V 1. Could you imagine a best selection of New Zealand, SA and Australia taking on Scotland or Ireland in a Lions tour. Irish lads in red jerseys drinking pints in pubs in Melbourne, screaming lions lions lions, posh toffs, would love to shoot them.