B&I Lions vs SA A Lions match thread

[Sandstorm]

Smith magic and Zamitt scores a 75m try. Lovely.

[handyman]

I can see why the Lions prefers this than playing vs the SA A team again.

[Sards]

End to end

[ASMO]

Dare I say, best performance by a 10 on tour so far

[Slick]

Erm Smith… this is a performance. Shame he doesn’t have another game as he looks the best 10 we have had

[JM2K6]

The try doesn't hide how poor Fagerson has been since he came on, pretty sure he has played himself out of contention.

Careful the Scots will be in on you for that. I agree, though. No way he's ahead of Furlong or Sinckler based on tour performance.

I’d probably agree with that- but I don’t think he has been poor tonight, that’s a strange one

He's been getting smashed in the scrums sadly

[JM2K6]

9 tackles for Smith too

[Sandstorm]

Dare I say, best performance by a 10 on tour so far

He’s great.

[Sandstorm]

Stomps open up like a cheap sardine can in the last 10

3-49
78 mins

[sockwithaticket]

Pop the corks, bit of champagne to finish off proceedings.

[Sards]

Stomps open up like a cheap sardine can in the last 10

3-49
78 mins

BILs fitness is commendable

[Sandstorm]

Clinical last 60 mins by the Loins destroys the Stomps kids.

[OomStruisbaai]

Can't believe we kept it under 50.

[Sards]

Clinical last 60 mins by the Loins destroys the Stomps kids.

Destroyed all our provincial sides.

[Chilli]

Please play Farrel at 10 for the tests.

[Chilli]

Can't believe we kept it under 50.

It shows a lot of character from them.

At least they never rolled over and played and played dead.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Please play Farrel at 10 for the tests.

I think there's a good chance that Farrell's future is hindering England's chances rather than hindering the Lions.

[Sards]

They need to review the bok players not playing for their provincial sides....too late this time but the evidence that it's required is there for the future

[sorCrer]

9 tackles for Smith too

[Blake]

Evan Roos looked the goods out there tonight. No other Stormer really did.

Masimla, Petersen and Kotze were all very poor.

When only 1 player in your 2, 8, 9, 15 “spine” plays well, you are always going to struggle, and we did.

It’s disheartening how toothless we look in attack. Just either hitting it up with a forward, or shuffling it along the backline hoping for linebreak…or a penalty so that we can take a lineout and maul it up.

Nobody running onto the ball, no screens or decoy runners, no offloads or tip passes before contact. It’s like we’ve regressed 10 years.

Congrats to the Lions. Looking forward to the first test.

[ASMO]

Test starters for me are

Furlong
LCD
Wyn Jones
Itoje
Henderson
Watson
Curry(8)
Lawes
Price
Biggar
Henderson
Don't know, not Farrell though, Daly probably.
VDM
Watson
Hogg

[JM2K6]

9 tackles for Smith too

?

90 metres with ball in hand, several defenders beaten, made a heap of tackles (and missed two), a couple of fumbles, a couple of great kicks from hand, some brilliant timing of the pass to set up line breaks, and nailed 7/7 conversions.

I've seen worse Lions debuts.

[Kawazaki]

Smith looked great, full of energy, verve, ambition, skill and he had a positive and optimistic view of opportunities as they unfolded on the field in front of him.

He's really what a flyhalf should be - the most skillful player in your team, the go to player when you need a spark.


It's going to be Farrell at 10 outside Murray at 9 isn't it.

[Kawazaki]

I think Daly must be in the 23 but he's playing good enough to start. And he could start at 13 or 15.

[Chilli]

Test starters for me are

Furlong
LCD
Wyn Jones
Itoje
Henderson
Watson
Curry(8)
Lawes
Price
Biggar
Henderson
Don't know, not Farrell though, Daly probably.
VDM
Watson
Hogg

AWJ will be there.

I don't really see the love for Koos's son. He looks like a flat track bully.
Smith seems to be the real deal.

[JM2K6]

It was nice to see Johnny Hill have a good game. Very physical, loads of work in attack and defence, and always looking to support an offload and keep attacks going. Too little too late but we saw what he can offer.

[JM2K6]

Test starters for me are

Furlong
LCD
Wyn Jones
Itoje
Henderson
Watson
Curry(8)
Lawes
Price
Biggar
Henderson
Don't know, not Farrell though, Daly probably.
VDM
Watson
Hogg

AWJ will be there.

I don't really see the love for Koos's son. He looks like a flat track bully.
Smith seems to be the real deal.

Thing is everyone looks like a flat track to him. He's steamrolled everyone he's faced during the season and the tour.

[Torquemada 1420]

These Lions performances appear to be worsening, game by game.

[OomStruisbaai]

It's a real shame the Lions didn't played the Bulls. The Bulls would have gave them a tough match on Loftus.

[Hal Jordan]

It was nice to see Johnny Hill have a good game. Very physical, loads of work in attack and defence, and always looking to support an offload and keep attacks going. Too little too late but we saw what he can offer.

Let's hope it's his light bulb moment and he brings it to the England shirt.

[Big D]

I'm really not sure about Dalys defence at 13. Missed too many tackles today.

WRT Fagerson, most Scots had discounted him for the test team already.

[sockwithaticket]

Test starters for me are

Furlong
LCD
Wyn Jones
Itoje
Henderson
Watson
Curry(8)
Lawes
Price
Biggar
Henderson
Don't know, not Farrell though, Daly probably.
VDM
Watson
Hogg

Henshaw perhaps? Although Henderson at 12 makes room for another lock.

I'd have a back row of 6. Curry, 7. Watson and 8. Conan, but that's because I hate playing locks in the back row. If we're going to do it, Curry to 8 and Beirne to 6. Lawes is too slow off the side of the scrum to play international 6.

[handyman]

It's a real shame the Lions didn't played the Bulls. The Bulls would have gave them a tough match on Loftus.

Agreed.

[boere wors]

Marcel Coetzee didnt play, did he?! Injured?

[Tichtheid]

WRT Fagerson, most Scots had discounted him for the test team already.

Aye, I thought he merited selection in the first place, but his form has not been good on the tour.

[And 1 guest]

Ali Price has to be in with a shout to start at 9. Centres are just a headache. So many difficult decisions for test starters

[assfly]

Evan Roos looked the goods out there tonight. No other Stormer really did.

Masimla, Petersen and Kotze were all very poor.

When only 1 player in your 2, 8, 9, 15 “spine” plays well, you are always going to struggle, and we did.

It’s disheartening how toothless we look in attack. Just either hitting it up with a forward, or shuffling it along the backline hoping for linebreak…or a penalty so that we can take a lineout and maul it up.

Nobody running onto the ball, no screens or decoy runners, no offloads or tip passes before contact. It’s like we’ve regressed 10 years.

Congrats to the Lions. Looking forward to the first test.

That sums it up quite well. Very much like the Sharks first game I thought; they had their moments but kicked ball away and made silly errors.

A fair reflection of the poor state of our domestic rugby. Anyone who think the Bulls would have done any better is out of their mind.

[Sards]

Evan Roos looked the goods out there tonight. No other Stormer really did.

Masimla, Petersen and Kotze were all very poor.

When only 1 player in your 2, 8, 9, 15 “spine” plays well, you are always going to struggle, and we did.

It’s disheartening how toothless we look in attack. Just either hitting it up with a forward, or shuffling it along the backline hoping for linebreak…or a penalty so that we can take a lineout and maul it up.

Nobody running onto the ball, no screens or decoy runners, no offloads or tip passes before contact. It’s like we’ve regressed 10 years.

Congrats to the Lions. Looking forward to the first test.

That sums it up quite well. Very much like the Sharks first game I thought; they had their moments but kicked ball away and made silly errors.

A fair reflection of the poor state of our domestic rugby. Anyone who think the Bulls would have done any better is out of their mind.

Look what Jake did to Rassie. Jake took has beens and youngsters from a provincial base and outclassed Rassie's nationwide selections of seasoned pros. You cannot underestimate the Bulls whilst they have the master tactician that is Jake coaching the squad. I have huge respect for him. Even Rassie is still using Jake's 2007 gameplan. I always said that the only way for the Springboks to really prepare for the BILs was a match against the Bulls.
Jake makes the hard decisions. You never know his starting...because if you don't perform you don't play. I am sure they fight really hard to get into the starting lineup and they always execute well. They all know exactly what their job is. And the gameplan. Huge respect for where the Bulls are now. Considering that when Jake took over they were a mess.

[assfly]

Look what Jake did to Rassie. Jake took has beens and youngsters from a provincial base and outclassed Rassie's nationwide selections of seasoned pros. You cannot underestimate the Bulls whilst they have the master tactician that is Jake coaching the squad. I have huge respect for him. Even Rassie is still using Jake's 2007 gameplan. I always said that the only way for the Springboks to really prepare for the BILs was a match against the Bulls.
Jake makes the hard decisions. You never know his starting...because if you don't perform you don't play. I am sure they fight really hard to get into the starting lineup and they always execute well. They all know exactly what their job is. And the gameplan. Huge respect for where the Bulls are now. Considering that when Jake took over they were a mess.

I wouldn't call that SA A side a team of seasoned pros. I commented on the match thread earlier that it was a weird team. JN doesn't seem at all concerned they lost, he was clearly giving a few guys a chance to have a run and try some combinations. It was effectively a last chance for some players to make a case for inclusion in the test side, which is why players were more interested in their individual performances than the team performance.

This is the same team that lost to Benneton ffs. And the same Bulls team that nearly lost to a poor Sharks side in the Currie Cup earlier this year.

Our local rugby is piss poor. Bulls are the best of a very bad bunch. Let's see where they are in 6 months after a few Pro16 games under their belt.

[Sards]

Look what Jake did to Rassie. Jake took has beens and youngsters from a provincial base and outclassed Rassie's nationwide selections of seasoned pros. You cannot underestimate the Bulls whilst they have the master tactician that is Jake coaching the squad. I have huge respect for him. Even Rassie is still using Jake's 2007 gameplan. I always said that the only way for the Springboks to really prepare for the BILs was a match against the Bulls.
Jake makes the hard decisions. You never know his starting...because if you don't perform you don't play. I am sure they fight really hard to get into the starting lineup and they always execute well. They all know exactly what their job is. And the gameplan. Huge respect for where the Bulls are now. Considering that when Jake took over they were a mess.

I wouldn't call that SA A side a team of seasoned pros. I commented on the match thread earlier that it was a weird team. JN doesn't seem at all concerned they lost, he was clearly giving a few guys a chance to have a run and try some combinations. It was effectively a last chance for some players to make a case for inclusion in the test side, which is why players were more interested in their individual performances than the team performance.

This is the same team that lost to Benneton ffs. And the same Bulls team that nearly lost to a poor Sharks side in the Currie Cup earlier this year.

Our local rugby is piss poor. Bulls are the best of a very bad bunch. Let's see where they are in 6 months after a few Pro16 games under their belt.

You can't blame the players for what is quite frankly an embarrassing loss. Coach is still coach. That's your responsibility to make sure they play as a team. And win as a team. Otherwise you just pen all your excess players onto the team sheet and tell them to go out and show what they have.
Wtf is Elstadt doing any where near the side.
Why was Dan not given a game and JLDP not played in his natural position.
Why is Jantjies still there when Goosen is red hot and so composed.