My contribution to the George Smith for Wobs Danger Man will also fail Gaggers criteria which I take to be a logical and well structured post with an introduction, discussion and conclusion on how GS will tear a new rectum for the B&I Lions in the upcoming Test Series.
Not only is this well past the deadline, but, and a big but because the team hasn't been announced yet, IMHO I think that the biggest Danger Men for the B&I Lions will be their Captain (most likely Warburton) followed by their Coach.
From what was on display at the 6N the leadership of the potential Captains are rather poor and will struggle to get the best out of a rather disparate grouping of players from teams none of which had a good consistent tournament. The Welsh look like being the biggest grouping of players in the Lions squad, and they came away from here last season with a big fat donut, despite taking on an injury depleted Wallabies A side.
Gatland is probably a nice guy and well suited to NH Coaching and the styles and patterns of play that are useful for NH conditions, mind sets and skill sets. While he wasn't coaching the Boyo's on last years tour, his DNA was all over the team and they just didn't click. They had the potential to win the Series 3-0 with comfortable margins in all games but just couldn't do it.
I sense the same thing happening again. The B&I Lions will have access to a fair bit of rugby talent but they will come here soft and underprepared, lacking that tough match preparation that can not be obtained from working out in the gym or on the training paddock. The Coach will not have access to the players for a long enough period to meld them into an efficient and cohesive unit playing a consistently high level of Test Match footy in the expected warm dry conditions on hard tracks. The team will fracture into mostly nationally based splinter groups because the Captain will not have sufficient leadership skills to prevent this from occurring. As always politics and favourites will come into selections both with the touring squad and the match day team lists. This will also further undermine team cohesion.
The B&I Lions present a formidable challenge for the Men in Gold but the Achillies heel will be found from within their ranks and not because they may be up against a Wallaby legend who just happens to be playing some decent footy at the moment.
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