All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1
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All Blacks team to play the Lions at Eden Park on Saturday (caps in brackets):
- Joe Moody (25)
- Codie Taylor (16)
- Owen Franks (91)
- Brodie Retallick (61)
- Samuel Whitelock (85)
- Jerome Kaino (78)
- Sam Cane (41)
- Kieran Read (97)
- Aaron Smith (59)
- Beauden Barrett (50)
- Rieko Ioane (2)
- Sonny Bill Williams (34)
- Ryan Crotty (26)
- Israel Dagg (62)
- Ben Smith (61)
Reserves:
16. Nathan Harris (5)
17. Wyatt Crockett (59)
18. Charlie Faumuina (47)
19. Scott Barrett (5)
20. Ardie Savea (13)
21. TJ Perenara (30)
22. Aaron Cruden (47)/ Lima Sopoaga (7)
23. Anton Lienert-Brown (10)
British & Irish Lions
- Mako Vunipola - Saracens, England
- Jamie George - Saracens, England
- Tadhg Furlong - Leinster, Ireland
- Alun Wyn Jones - Ospreys, Wales
- George Kruis - Saracens, England
- Peter O'Mahony (capt) - Munster, Ireland
- Sean O'Brien - Leinster, Ireland
- Taulupe Faletau - Bath Rugby, Wales
- Conor Murray - Munster, Ireland
- Owen Farrell - Saracens, England
- Elliot Daly - Wasps, England
- Ben Te'o - Worcester Warriors, England
- Jonathan Davies - Scarlets, Wales
- Anthony Watson - Bath Rugby, England
- Liam Williams - Scarlets, Wales
Reserves:
16. Ken Owens - Scarlets, Wales
17. Jack McGrath - Leinster, Ireland
18. Kyle Sinckler - Harlequins, England
19. Maro Itoje - Saracens, England
20. Sam Warburton - Cardiff Blues, Wales
21. Rhys Webb - Ospreys, Wales
22. Johnny Sexton - Leinster, Ireland
23. Leigh Halfpenny - Toulon, Wales -
A stab at analysing All Black attack plans from a random blog:
Attack analysis: how will New Zealand attack the Lions’ defence at Eden Park?
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I feel like the free world is at stake. A battle of good vs evil. Will we wake on Sunday morning to a scorched earth where 10-man rugby overlords have mercilessly crushed all opposition or will the larks be singing and the crickets chirping as running rugby once again spreads its verdant wings and rays of golden sunshine bathe a benevolent populace? These are troubling times my friends but let the blackness bring light.
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@Bones Arrogant!
But yeah, I'm full of hubris, with bouts of condescension for the brits when I'm chatting with people I want/need to keep onside with.
Test#1 - short arm-wrestle, then ABs run away with it
Hurricanes - midweek side try too hard to become candidates for "fixing the team", get rolled
Test#2 - ABs humming, Lions disorganised and demotivated - walk-over
Test#3 - hash-tag-Blackwash hash-tag-Bloodbath -
@Kruse said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
@Bones Arrogant!
But yeah, I'm full of hubris, with bouts of condescension for the brits when I'm chatting with people I want/need to keep onside with.
Test#1 - short arm-wrestle, then ABs run away with it
Americas Cup - The Larry and Russell show gets down-trou'd
Hurricanes - midweek side try too hard to become candidates for "fixing the team", get rolled
Test#2 - ABs humming, Lions disorganised and demotivated - walk-over
Test#3 - hash-tag-Blackwash hash-tag-BloodbathFor full arrogance factor I added some more
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The real story is ALB out for Crotty - ALB has made every post a winner and his combination with SBW was impressive.
Savea dropping perhaps a year too late - good to see they finally made the call, the only surprise is that it wasn't Naholo getting the nod.
The bracketing of Cruden and Sopoaga is curious. The press release doesn't mention that it is predicated on Cruden's recovery. If Cruden is iffy now, is he that much better than Lima that he is worth rolling the dice on?
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@rotated said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
The real story is ALB out for Crotty - ALB has made every post a winner and his combination with SBW was impressive.
Savea dropping perhaps a year too late - good to see they finally made the call, the only surprise is that it wasn't Naholo getting the nod.
The bracketing of Cruden and Sopoaga is curious. The press release doesn't mention that it is predicated on Cruden's recovery. If Cruden is iffy now, is he that much better than Lima that he is worth rolling the dice on?
Apparently Crudes will play if his knee is right by Friday.
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I think Crotty deserves to start, and can understand the decision to go with the most experienced midfield combo. I'm a little unsure about his test experience at centre though, by the looks he's only played against the USA and Samoa there.
Ioane is a genuine bolter, but then Hansen has always liked to have one of those to change up the dynamic. It's a good call, this could well be the changing of the guard. It may seem harsh but the strike rate of our best outside backs starts falling pretty quickly after 25.
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Well my humble apologies to Rieko fans. I was wrong. Ashcloth and alcohol free beer until Saturday.
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Rieko wow. Even I wasnt expecting that. I do think the Lions Maori game would have done him a world of good. Much better preparation for this game than Savea who only started to look half decent against a shot Samoan side in the second half.
ALB unlucky but glad he is at least on the bench.
Scott Barrett may not have the power of Romano but his lineout ability is very important off the pine (obviously along with his skillset).
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Vunipola, George, Furlong
AWJ, Kruis
O'Mahoney, Faletau, O'BrienMurray, Farrell
Daly, Te'o, Davies, Watson
WilliamsBig call on AWJ, the (correct) non-starting of Warburton, the (correct) non-selection of North, Williams
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Halfpenny on the bench is quizzical.
Not expecting Farrell to last, so need a kicker?
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What's up with Joseph?
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Re AWJ instead of Itoje, Itoje definitely has more impact off the bench. But if you're playing the ABs I think you play all your trumps from the off. I like AWJ, but I think Gatland has got this one wrong. I'll be delighted to be wrong.
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Not too much to complain about in that squad. Ever so slightly contentious for me is the AWJ/Itoje situation and Halfpenny on the bench.
The lock issue for me is that I think Itoje is now offering more but against that I'd rather have itoje coming on for a tired AWJ or an injured Kruis than the other way round. So hard on itoje but it's a 50/50 call. As for Halfpenny, he has done little wrong but if you have Williams at full back presumably for his attacking intent and you have Farrell as a place kicker, I'd rather have some midfield cover.
But on the whole a pretty good squad.
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@Catogrande Pleased for Daly, quality will out. Any injuries in midfield I think you'll see him move in, Williams to wing, Halfpenny to FB. That sort of "one replacement =3 changes in the backline" smacks of Lancaster, and it never worked well.
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Am curious about how many tests has Farrell started at 10.
Itoje on the bench makes sense so he can get all excited when he comes on and shout a lot.
Williams better be bow-legged good. Glad Daly got a starting role. He looks like he might make a difference. Is he facing the Reiko guy?
Should be a good match.
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@Pot-Hale
Farrell has 24 of his 44 test starts at 10
However, 16 of his 17 test starts since the RWC have been at 12. That said, he still plays fly half successfully week in week out for Sarries.
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
Poor Scotland.
Naa its good. Means i can support the ABs 100% and not hope a token Scot goes ok
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@MN5 said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
@Stargazer said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
Poor Scotland.
Naa its good. Means i can support the ABs 100% and not hope a token Scot goes ok
With the emphasis on token
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In conversation with my cousin he presented
"Interesting that one-third of the starting 15 were not first choice in their starting positions for their respective countries in the 6N....Williams, Te'o, Farrell, George, O'Mahony."
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
I thought that Ioane's performance for the Maori might have cost him a possible start. I'm looking forward to seeing him with ball in hand.
So much for the pro-Welsh bias in the Lions XV.
I assume it was pre planned, and Rieko's performance in a bumbling Maori team and Julian's fine second half in the opposed training run didn't change things.
I'm happy to see they've taken the chance!
Tough on ALB to miss out but I assume it was the same, Crotty and SBW were always going to start together if fit.
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I'm a fan of Crotty, but not at 13 and not in place of ALB.
Hope this works out.
Great stuff for Ioane. Deserves his selection.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel I'm not a fan of Crotty, but I think he'll go fine, he's become a consistent player. But, I'd have picked ALB personally. Handy guy to have on the bench.
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@Nepia said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
@Rancid-Schnitzel I'm not a fan of Crotty, but I think he'll go fine, he's become a consistent player. But, I'd have picked ALB personally. Handy guy to have on the bench.
I have no doubt he'll do the job. He's a class player. The question is will he do it as well as ALB in that position. Has he played there for the ABs before or at least recently? He's 12 for the Saders.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel I don't think he has recently.
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@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
@MN5 said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
@Stargazer said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
Poor Scotland.
Naa its good. Means i can support the ABs 100% and not hope a token Scot goes ok
With the emphasis on token
Sigh. Seymours hat trick will have to wait til next weekend
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There was a time a while back when crotty was seen by many as a better 13 than a 12 because he was a lot like Conrad
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@kiwiinmelb Hansen has supposedly said just that this morning (only heard a snippet on the radio)
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I think if alb comes on for sbw , crotty moves into 12 , alb to 13 .
I reckon they like to change the shape a bit when the subs come on , bit like beuady to FB, bsmith to wing , moves the point of the threats .
It keeps the opposition guessing , the advantage of having utilities
