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Is this sarcasm? Never heard Ryle been called excellent before. No one likes him in Ireland really. The best Irish commentator is Philip Matthews who sadly only commentates for the BBC on non England games.

What? Where did you hear that Folau is out?

Apart from Greg Norman and Michael Hutchence Australia doesnt really have much of a history of choking so I was surprised that that is kinda what happened v France albeit France were actually surprisingly good value for the win in retrospect. Really tough one to call this one!!! Except for the...

Find this a really tough game to call. Ireland are missing a couple of really good players in Healy and O'Brien. However, we have our strongest ever squad so the back up guys McGrath and Henry/Ruddock are pretty good. Henry would probably start but he was sidelined due to a temporary blockage of...

Do Australia play like the Waratahs or will that start playing like them given that Cheika had some reall success with them this year?

Thats true and I think thats why Ireland defended the lineout that SA scored the try from.

The coaches get to talk to the ref before the game dont they?

The reason Ireland did not contest the lineout is because they did not want to engage with SA's maul. Everyone knows that the maul is one of SA's greatest weapons which they are able to score tries, gain meters and pick off penalties from all day. In the lead up to the game a lot of the focus...

Sub plot: Two former heineken cup winning Leinster coaches coming head to head at the spiritual home of Irish rugby. An interesting spectacle awaits.

The reason for that is Lancaster has identified the need to play a more expansive game v SA. In selecting Farrell at inside centre he will be able to evolve from their traditional 10 man game to a more expansive 11 man game.

Thank you. We are touring SA the year after the WC in 2016. That will be tasty for sure. Its been a long time since I have seen SA wear their change jersey. One other point from the game to highlight was that Ireland didnt make one single offload out of a tackle whereas SA made 7. Schmidt...

Was at this match and it was really cold but the torrential rain had ceased hours before so decent conditions for the game and the perfect Desso Grassmaster landsdowne pitch was immaculate as always. There were lots of Boks supporters in full voice over from London mostly and they seemed to...

Shame this match will be nothing more than a training session for the Lions as it would be good to have a proper run out. However, unless Im mistake the Aussies will not have any warm up matches either will they?

Im looking forward to seeing POC and Grey tomorrow. Think they are a test pairing in the making. I think they would complement eachother nicely.

In some ways I agree, he isnt a classic scrum half. However, a lot of people are writing him off in the NH which may give him the motivation to step it up a gear or two. He was pretty good v SA in the last series too. Also annoyingly he tends to play well v Ireland.

I'm sorry I dont get your point re Priestland and Flood. Hangover to blame probably. I wouldnt have picked them for the Lions, not by a long shot. No I can do this for Cooper as the last time he was really outstanding in Super rugby Australia won the tri nations championship but its a little...

I do understand what the positives are re Cooper. I just think the negatives have been more prominent lately particularly at test level. Thats the point though he has hardly played test rugby at all in the last couple of years. Beale has played more games at 10 than anyone for the Aussies lately.

Who will be the Lions top performer this time round. In NZ Ryan Jones got a lot of the plaudits and Roberts or Drico seemed to be the main men In SA. Who will stand out this time? I have a feeling Philips is going to rip it up.

Yeah its named after one of them Tom Richards, who is the other one?

It has come around too soon for Madigan as he has no test experience at all (bar a few caps off the bench). Madigan has proven for Leinster this year though that he can be a match winner. His performance against a particularly good Galsgow side this year stands out. However, its hard to know if...