British and Irish Lions Tour 2013

[Syferus]

BOD is 34 ... I rarely watch rugby, but surely BOD is not the force he used to be?

You have your answer. The best passer in world rugby and a complete defender. 13 tackles without a single broken one the last day.

[deiseach]

As a Liverpool fan once explained to me about playing Man U. He loved nothing better than Keane to play out of his skin, score a goal and Liverpool to win 2-1. So with the Lions, the Bowe, Sexton and O'Brien toplay well, the Aussies to win by 10 points...Advance Australia Fair!

Can't have been much of a Liverpool fan then.

he's a Corkman!

Still can't be much of a Liverpool fan. You wouldn't catch my wife saying she hopes Wayne Rooney does okay for Man Utd just because they're both Scousers.

[Walter Cronc]

BOD is 34 ... I rarely watch rugby, but surely BOD is not the force he used to be?

You have your answer. The best passer in world rugby and a complete defender. 13 tackles without a single broken one the last day.

Thats a bigggggg shout. Genia??

[Syferus]

BOD is 34 ... I rarely watch rugby, but surely BOD is not the force he used to be?

You have your answer. The best passer in world rugby and a complete defender. 13 tackles without a single broken one the last day.

Thats a bigggggg shout. Genia??

I'm thinking out in open field, the feints, the dummies, the direction switches. He's got exceptional vision.

Obviously scrum halves are going to be specialised in passing quick ball but there's less room for invention with your passing at 9. BOD would have made a serious scrum-half, actually, especially when you consider his work as fourth back rower a lot of the time.

[Walter Cronc]

Yeah know what you mean, I actually think for all his faults Quade Cooper is one of the worlds best passers!!

[johnneycool]

Gatland is going for crash bang wallop, crash bang wallop and then crash, bang wallop again rugby, BOD hasn't got the build for that. Its the managers choice.

He might be right, he might be wrong who really cares as there will be a better contest on later that evening down in Nowlan park.

[rodney trotter]

No ones mentioned it but do u think there is anything personal going on?

It's always been personal between Gatland and Ireland.

Imagine if BOD was retiring this season. Imagine our greatest ever player going out like this. Small mercies.

Gatland doesn't have to keep everyone happy by selecting Drico. He has looked at him in the last 2 tests and feels he is not up to the task, he is probably wrong, But he won't give a fook if the Lions beat Australia if they lose, them he had the balls to drop a star player and make a brave call which would have back fired on him..

Its not about agenda with Irish players, sure there was 9 in the orginal squad and various other called up like Zebo , Court. That's only crap talk.

If you don't think he has an affliction against all things Irish you've been hiding out under a rock for over a decade. He never forgave us for sacking him.

Today was partly him reverting to type and picking the tallest and widest feckers available to him but there's plenty of scope for his own emotions to be mixed into the pot as well.

Heaslip and Murray were both shafted too and we've forgotten that in the rush to talk about BOD.

Do you actually believe Gatland would jepordise a test Series at 1-1 going into the final test , over getting rough treatment from the IRFU 10  years ago?
Gatland is a kiwi , he would like to beat Australia as much as the players. He probably feels O Driscoll's body isn't recovering as it should from tough test games, by watching him daily in training.

Its not about politics, he is picking the side/ squad he feels on current form can beat Australia in the final test. Wether we would agree with him or not,

[passedit]

Gatland is going for crash bang wallop, crash bang wallop and then crash, bang wallop again rugby, BOD hasn't got the build for that. Its the managers choice.

He might be right, he might be wrong who really cares as there will be a better contest on later that evening down in Nowlan park.

100%, also once he never made the team the bench wasn't an option as a like for like replacement was needed for the Walloper with the dodgy hammer.

I thought he looked old last saturday, not as bad as the Stones at Glastonbury, but definitely like he'd gone to the well once too often. Just didn't think Gatland would have the Cojones to drop him.

p.s Here's hoping Kilkenny and Kerry are helped off the stage this weekend.

[gallsman]

While I disagree with dropping O'Driscoll in the first place and certainly from the squad, there appears to have been a collective madness covering this island in the last two days. "Oh, but remember how great Roberts and O'Driscoll were together." Yes, most of us do. That was four years ago. Roberts and Davies are the regular Welsh centres who play together an awful lot more frequently. Everyone is rushing to condemn Davies as he's the one O'Driscoll has made way for but he's a fine player in his own right. A lot of people are pointing out that BOD made one and scored one against the Welsh this year. I seem to recall Davies torching us for two the year before that.

Gatland was entitled to make the call and he'll end up living and dying by it.

On a pure form assessment, Murray is much more unlucky than O'Driscoll. Of the 160 minute played by Lions scrum-halves so far in the Tests, only Murray's 20 minutes have stood out for the right reasons.

[deiseach]

While I disagree with dropping O'Driscoll in the first place and certainly from the squad, there appears to have been a collective madness covering this island in the last two days.

Correct. The reaction has been completely disproportionate. Gatland is out to win a rugby match. Should the Lions win, will all those people going mental over this be issuing apologies for the lack of judgement? Like fun they will.

[muppet]

The really tight calls were:

Hooker - Youngs (England) v Hibbard (Wales)
Decision Wales

Openside - O'Brien (Ireland) v Tipuric (Wales)
Decision Ireland

No. 8 - Healsip (Ireland) v Fetanau (Wales)
Decision Wales

Scrum half - Phillips (Wales) v Murray (Ireland) v Youngs (England)
Decision - Wales

Centres - Roberts & Davies (Wales) v BOD (Ireland) v Tuilagi (England)
Decision Wales & Wales

England faired worse than we did tbh.

If both Roberts and Tuilagi breakdown during the match, Gatland will be absolutely vilified in the English media. The Irish are understandably upset but the huge reaction in the English media has a different agenda. They can use BOD as a stick to beat Gatland, who they dislike for not picking more English players, without fear of being accused of bias.

[Walter Cronc]

While I disagree with dropping O'Driscoll in the first place and certainly from the squad, there appears to have been a collective madness covering this island in the last two days. "Oh, but remember how great Roberts and O'Driscoll were together." Yes, most of us do. That was four years ago. Roberts and Davies are the regular Welsh centres who play together an awful lot more frequently. Everyone is rushing to condemn Davies as he's the one O'Driscoll has made way for but he's a fine player in his own right. A lot of people are pointing out that BOD made one and scored one against the Welsh this year. I seem to recall Davies torching us for two the year before that.

Gatland was entitled to make the call and he'll end up living and dying by it.

On a pure form assessment, Murray is much more unlucky than O'Driscoll. Of the 160 minute played by Lions scrum-halves so far in the Tests, only Murray's 20 minutes have stood out for the right reasons.

Not gona fall out with ya my friend but if you remember correctly Davies was shocking against us this year in Cardiff. He threw 2 passes into touch if I remember correctly. As for his try in the Aviva the year before, it was a case of George North bulldozing Fergus Mc Fadden and the Irish backline, with a sublime offload to Davies to run in un-opposed.

[gallsman]

While I disagree with dropping O'Driscoll in the first place and certainly from the squad, there appears to have been a collective madness covering this island in the last two days.

Correct. The reaction has been completely disproportionate. Gatland is out to win a rugby match. Should the Lions win, will all those people going mental over this be issuing apologies for the lack of judgement? Like fun they will.

Absolutely not, I least amongst them. That's where I get back to the fact that I don't really care who wins. I'd like the Lions to of course but I'll not worry too much if they don't.

[gallsman]

Not gona fall out with ya my friend but if you remember correctly Davies was shocking against us this year in Cardiff. He threw 2 passes into touch if I remember correctly. As for his try in the Aviva the year before, it was a case of George North bulldozing Fergus Mc Fadden and the Irish backline, with a sublime offload to Davies to run in un-opposed.

And O'Driscoll threw a shocking pass last Saturday - it happens. From the wider Irish reaction, you'd have thought it was the BOD of old which, much as we love to kid ourselves, he's not. I still think he should have been kept in for his defense and leadership (I think he was the real leader even when Warburton was fit - he had just as many conversations with the ref) but at the end of the day, Gatland's job is to win a series. If this team does it, he's done his job.

[Syferus]

Rarely do I hope for injuries but how delicious would it be if Roberts or Tuilagi did a SON and tripped over a ball or the like before Saturday evening?

Gatland looks like he's in for a clobbering.