Lions Tour 2013
- Thread starter kronic
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I am pretty sure Paddy Ryan will be the sixth choice prop in 2013.
Robbo, Alexander, Kepu, Slipper and Palmer are all likely to be ahead of him.
Robbo, Alexander, Kepu, Slipper and Palmer are all likely to be ahead of him.
kiap
Steve Williams (59)
Think you're right. Maybe not in that order, though. Alexander as a starter worries me.
I think Alexander has well and truly cemented himself as our starting THP in 2012. Our scrum has been stronger when he is on than when Kepu or Slipper have been playing 3. That is a big turnaround from previous years when he was clearly the weakest of the three.
Palmer is the only potential player to upset the applecart in this situation. I can't see him leapfrogging multiple players to become a starting prop for the Lions tour though. I think he is a chance for a bench spot though.
Palmer is the only potential player to upset the applecart in this situation. I can't see him leapfrogging multiple players to become a starting prop for the Lions tour though. I think he is a chance for a bench spot though.
kiap
Steve Williams (59)
If that's based mostly on the EOYT (including the England game) then I disagree on Alexander.
Hopefully Palmer is fully fit next Soup season and playing well, I reckon he will be needed.
I could see it, especially if he plays most of the THP at the Brumbies, and as usual, we see Alexander at LHP again. Palmer was better than a pot plant last season, and was getting a bit more involved. If he can build that, and retain his scrummaging effectiveness, he would be a real chance for the Lions, whose scrum will be solid.
disco
Chilla Wilson (44)
Braveheart,
I actually though our scrum looked better with Slipper, Moore & Kepu than it did with Robinson, TPN & Alexander. I'm certainly no expert on Rugby let alone scrums but I was thinking it worked better because they are all similar in height.
disco
Chilla Wilson (44)
Just read Rugby Heaven write up on how the Lions plan to play direct & really smash threw the Wallabies rather than go around us which is a fair assumption considering they'll probably be bigger all over the park. Most of the talk was about Jamie Roberts & Tuilagi running amok in the midfield which really wouldn't be a lot different to what BOD did in 2001.
As much as these two players have carved up opposition defences the Wallabies really haven't been troubled by either player. Ok we've only seen Tuilagi once but we've played Roberts 5 or more times and he's never had the impact against the Wallabies as he did other nations. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) has always been a very good defender & should be partnered by Barnes or Tapuai who are both very good low tacklers so I'm confident we can contain these two for the majority of 3 test matches.
They will have their moments but hopefully not a day out like O'Driscoll had at the gabba in 2001.
As much as these two players have carved up opposition defences the Wallabies really haven't been troubled by either player. Ok we've only seen Tuilagi once but we've played Roberts 5 or more times and he's never had the impact against the Wallabies as he did other nations. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) has always been a very good defender & should be partnered by Barnes or Tapuai who are both very good low tacklers so I'm confident we can contain these two for the majority of 3 test matches.
They will have their moments but hopefully not a day out like O'Driscoll had at the gabba in 2001.
That and he is truly a #3, he doesn't have to clear them all, just the #3s among them.
Also, I know straight from the horses mouth that Bladesy is a Palmer fan.
Just like everything else, a whole heap is going to depend on who is selecting.
kiap
Steve Williams (59)
Cheers, Hugh. I did this exercise in April this year, and it's interesting to see how much the scene has changed in 9 months:
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/community/threads/wallabies-2012.10096/page-6#post-345072
I adapted the idea from somewhere, but can't remember exactly what that was. Might have been some business presentation. It definitely wasn't a Rugby context though, so I'll claim it for that.
April 2012 version
GaffaCHinO
Peter Sullivan (51)
that one was from april this year look at the one at the top for an updated version.
kiap
Steve Williams (59)
Yeah, McKibbon should be in the mix. Should have got a cap against Wales.
If anyone wants play around with it, the excel spreadsheet is attached here:
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/community/attachments/team-xlsx.2164/
(It's a bit clunky to use, though. The link is from the old version because I killed all the formatting on the new one).
dudebudstud
Ward Prentice (10)
I still prefer Hooper and Pocock on the field at the same time. The Wallabies have done it before with Waugh and Smith. Perhaps put in Douglas for Timani in the second row to add another jumper.
If we are saying the Lions pack is going to out muscle the Wallabies then Hooper is the way to go, both in defense and attack. Just look at the way he performed against the Arg, Eng and SA forwards. All three of those teams have notoriously strong forward packs, and didn't Hooper receive MOTM in at least two of those games?
If we are saying the Lions pack is going to out muscle the Wallabies then Hooper is the way to go, both in defense and attack. Just look at the way he performed against the Arg, Eng and SA forwards. All three of those teams have notoriously strong forward packs, and didn't Hooper receive MOTM in at least two of those games?
Bardon
Peter Fenwicke (45)
Rob Howley, Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell have been confirmed as part of Gatland's coaching staff.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20638321
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20638321
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