British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand (2017)

[Twoilms]

Cement Head is taking the piss with Warbs and McCaw sure? Very few opensides in the history of the game are anywhere near Richie.

Old man George Smith runs him fairly close.

 

[Highlander35]

Moriarty needs to be in the 23, and Daly needs to start at 13 if Gatland wants to win.

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[Upthenuts]

So they should take them all on, this is the last remaining old style tour in Rugby. It's the only thing traditional left since the game went professional.

im all for it id love to see the lions winless come the end of the tour, but then again they do get a game
against the blues

 

[KevinO]

im all for it id love to see the lions winless come the end of the tour, but then again they do get a game
against the blues

I think they will win more than just the blues, I would give them at least 4 wins. Super Teams will be with out All Blacks so they should pick up at least 3 from 5 (Blues, Chiefs and Highlanders). NZ Maori won't be good enough, they did lose to Munster last year and the Lions will be a lot stronger then them.

Also a winless tour would see the Lions death, which is a massive blow for SH bank balances.

 

[zer0]

I think they will win more than just the blues, I would give them at least 4 wins. Super Teams will be with out All Blacks so they should pick up at least 3 from 5 (Blues, Chiefs and Highlanders). NZ Maori won't be good enough, they did lose to Munster last year and the Lions will be a lot stronger then them.

Not quite. The Blues and Crusaders will have their full squads available. The Highlanders were also supposed to have enjoyed the same privilege, but the Samoa test seems to have put an end to that.

Gatland has also intimated that the test series is the priority so it seems as though the test players will be shielded. That will somewhat counterbalance the loss of All Blacks for the Chiefs and Hurricanes. The Chiefs, especially, should be dangerous as they won't loose as many players as the Hurricanes.

 

[zer0]

To add to the above, the Maori are now set to receive All Black reinforcements.

The torrid British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand just got tougher, with New Zealand Maori set to be bolstered by All Blacks for their match against the tourists in Rotorua.

Just as they did in Chicago last year before the test against Ireland, it is understood the All Blacks will again release players within the 33-man squad not needed for their warm-up match, expected to be against Samoa in Auckland on June 16.

In Chicago the Maori team which thrashed the USA 54-7 included All Blacks Elliot Dixon, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Rieko Ioane, Damian McKenzie and Kane Hames.

All five could again be released for the Maori team hell bent on repeating their memorable and historic 19-13 triumph over the Lions in Hamilton in 2005 under Matt Te Pou. This time around the Lions and Maori match is one day after the All Blacks are due to take on Samoa.

There is also a chance Nehe Milner-Skudder, who is still struggling to bear weight on his broken foot, could feature if he does not recover in time to make the initial All Blacks squad.

In what is sure to be an emotionally-charged occasion, Colin Cooper's stacked Maori team is likely to feature former All Blacks blindside and Chiefs centurion Liam Messam, along with James Lowe, Akira Ioane, Matt Proctor and possibly Charlie Ngatai who made his long-awaited return from concussion after a year out of the game in Waikato club rugby on Saturday. Even if it is not Kerr-Barlow released, Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara both qualify for the Maori.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...cks-for-match-against-british-and-irish-lions

It'll be a significantly stronger Maori team than the one that faced Munster and should certainly now live up to the hype as the unofficial fourth test.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

It'll be a significantly stronger Maori team than the one that faced Munster and should certainly now live up to the hype as the unofficial fourth test.

LET US BRING THE TWIN BATTLE HAMMERS OF THOR AND SATAN AND TANGATA WHENUA AND HONE HEKE HIMSELF DOWN UPON THE EGGSHELLED SKULLS OF THESE FOREIGN INTERLOPERS, LET US CEREMONIOUSLY TAN THEIR BEATEN & SKINNED LILY-LIVERED HIDES UNDER A BAKING & SULPHUROUS ROTORUA SUN AND THEN DRUNKENLY CLOTHE OUR OFFSPRING IN THE NEW & GAY GARMENTS IN A VAGUELY ABSURD MANNER THAT PROBABLY WENT OUT OF STYLE LAST YEAR AND THEN LET US RAISE THE HANGI AND FEAST UPON THE SMOULDERING ENTRAILS OF THE VANQUISHED, EVEN THE BITS THAT STILL SMELL LIKE DIRT, IN SUMMARY WE WELCOME THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS TO THEIR TOUR OF AOTEAROA IN THIS, THE YEAR OF CHRIST & SANTA, 1682.

 

[zer0]

"And Saint The-Best-Whitelock raised the Lions Tour 2017 up on high, saying, "O Lord Richie, bless this thy Lions Tour 2017, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies from Blighty to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the Lord Richie did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large kumara hash browns.

And the Lord Richie spake, saying, "First shalt thou field the three brothers Barrett in the tests. Thou shalt field three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt field, and the number of the fielding shall be three. Four shalt thou not field, neither field thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number be reached, then lobbest thou thy Beauden 'the Hurricane' Barrett of Tarankai towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."

Amen.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

This tour is about all I'm looking forward to for the remainder of our winter

 

[Brumby Runner]

I think they will win more than just the blues, I would give them at least 4 wins. Super Teams will be with out All Blacks so they should pick up at least 3 from 5 (Blues, Chiefs and Highlanders). NZ Maori won't be good enough, they did lose to Munster last year and the Lions will be a lot stronger then them.

Also a winless tour would see the Lions death, which is a massive blow for SH bank balances.

I have to agree KO, but again demonstrates the importance of commercial interests over rugby quality if it were to happen. NZ sides are so far superior to most other sides in quality of play, that if they prove to be just as superior against the cream of the NH, then that is precisely why rugby is suffering in the public's eyes at the moment.

Not saying that NZ are to blame, but that all other sides must bring themselves urgently up to the standards now being set consistently in NZ.

 

[zer0]

The Lions won't go winless. At the very least they'll win the first match against the provincial players, if only by the sheer weight of the talent mismatch.

As for the franchises, even with the Blues at full strength, the Lions should beat them. The only way I can see the Blues winning is if A) the Blues dial the basketball jailbreaks up to the 11; and B) the Lions roll out their dirtiest of dirt trackers in order to give the better players a rest before the Crusaders match, which will be a challenge for the Lions. The Highlanders will be without the Smiths and a few others. They'll fight hard, but should be overcome. The Chiefs won't be hit too hard by test duties so are eminently capable of springing another ambush. The Hurricanes will be without Beauden, so could go either way.

So by my reasoning that two very likely wins (Blues, Highlanders), two where the Lions should win but could be ambushed (Chiefs, Hurricanes) and one almighty challenge (Crusaders).

 

[Twoilms]

You are either overestimating the kiwi provincial sides or underestimating the Lions. They won't lose a provincial game.

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[zer0]

Well they lost to the Brumbies last time out, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Besides, the only tour match I believe the Lions will not be strong/overwhelming favourites for is their match against the Crusaders, as they will be fielding their All Black pack.

 

[Highlander35]

Wins against the Blues and "Barbarians" with game management in mind, and just fiddling with combinations.

A hard fought loss against the Crusaders with a strong side, but it's excused: most of the Irish and English players have gone deep into the finals and this is their first game.

The experimental line up (including Hogg, Seymour, Watson, Daly at 13, George, Sinckler and Moriarty) gets put out for the 'Landers game, and there's a shock loss, but instead of blaming his likely Benchies (e.g. Marler, Cole, Jonathan Davies but others too).

Despite only grinding to a narrow, ugly win over the Maori, Gatland, afraid of risking losing badly with experimentation rather than losing with face, sticks with his prefered side, and we get a whitewash.

BILs brand is sufficiently damaged, RFU and PRL manage to negotiate a shorter tour, which is further reduced each time till it's commercially unviable for the Home Nations, and the subsidisation of the Southern Hemisphere game by the NH reduces quite dramatically, drawing more and more players to the money of England and France, leading to the downfall of Super Rugby.

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[ChargerWA]

Pffft, like the old bald fluffybunnys at the RFU could resist throwing their best at the ABs or Springboks every 12th year. They'll even come down and dirt track against Aus if they have to every 12th year, at least they can win 1/3 each cycle.

 

[Highlander35]

First BILs Squad Change.

Ben Youngs withdraws from the Tour for family reasons (Tom's Wife's Cancer is now Terminal) replaced by Greig Laidlaw.

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[waiopehu oldboy]

Lions squad assembled for the official team pic, complete with mascot:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11852105

OK, so using an actual lion probably raises some H&S issues but a labrador wearing a wig? Seriously?

 

[Highlander35]

I disagree WOB.

It sums up the last great bastion of amateurism in the top level, in so much that an event with so much honour and respect can't also be a massive piss take.

It's almost certainly on its way out, but embrace it while it's here.

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[Inside Shoulder]

Lions squad assembled for the official team pic, complete with mascot:

View attachment 9203

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11852105

OK, so using an actual lion probably raises some H&S issues but a labrador wearing a wig? Seriously?

I think its a golden retriever wearing a wig - they're much more fierce

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Only two weeks until the tour starts & the Lions have some new injuries to sweat on:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...r-lions-coach-warren-gatland-ahead-of-nz-tour

SO'B appears to be the only one in serious doubt having not played for a month now, the others look not too serious unless McGrath's x-ray picks something up.