The Springboks vs British & Irish Lions 1st Test Thread

[Sards]

No problem man, we have Elton on the bench to do a Morne Steyn 2009 impression and kick the decisive penalty in the 80th minute.

You've clearly forgotten Elton missing the winning kick in the dying minutes against Oz in Bloem leaving us at 23 all. I was there and I haven't.

Was meant to be ironic

Feel for Sauce. The only other real option is Morne who doesn't exactly have the pedigree for this.

[assfly]

Good BIL team. Pity they didn't select Farrell and Hill, would have looked forward to them getting cards.

I'm surprised they went with Duhan. Yes, he's scored tries, but looked pretty average against SA A.

Kwagga vs Conan will be interesting too.

[JM2K6]

I'm surprised they went with Duhan. Yes, he's scored tries, but looked pretty average against SA A.

Quite hard for him to impress against SA A, having not been selected for the squad...

[OomStruisbaai]

B&I Lions – 15 Stuart Hogg (Scotland), 14 Anthony Watson (England), 13 Elliot Daly (England), 12 Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), 11 Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), 10 Dan Biggar (Wales), 9 Ali Price (Scotland), 8 Jack Conan (Ireland), 7 Tom Curry (England), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain, Wales), 4 Maro Itoje (England), 3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), 1 Wyn Jones (Wales).
Substitutes: 16 Ken Owens (Wales), 17 Rory Sutherland (Scotland), 18 Kyle Sinckler (England), 19 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), 20 Hamish Watson (Scotland), 21 Conor Murray (Ireland), 22 Owen Farrell (England), 23 Liam Williams (Wales).

[Chilli]

Good BIL team. Pity they didn't select Farrell and Hill, would have looked forward to them getting cards.

I'm surprised they went with Duhan. Yes, he's scored tries, but looked pretty average against SA A.

Kwagga vs Conan will be interesting too.

Has the Lions team been announced?

[Torquemada 1420]

Good BIL team. Pity they didn't select Farrell and Hill, would have looked forward to them getting cards.

I'm surprised they went with Duhan. Yes, he's scored tries, but looked pretty average against SA A.

Kwagga vs Conan will be interesting too.

Has the Lions team been announced?

[assfly]

Quite hard for him to impress against SA A, having not been selected for the squad...

Oops

Still, I think the Lions have better wingers than him.

You're welcome, mocker gods.

[Torquemada 1420]

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nché


16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse


Kinda a symmetry where both sides have opted for force except at 14 and 15.

[OomStruisbaai]

Pity they didn't select Farrell

He is on the bench. Farrell vs Junkies. Advantage ?

[Slick]

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nché


16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse


Kinda a symmetry where both sides have opted for force except at 14 and 15.

oh la la, this is going to be good!

[Biffer]

Quite hard for him to impress against SA A, having not been selected for the squad...

Oops

Still, I think the Lions have better wingers than him.

You're welcome, mocker gods.

Coul be an afternoon of Kolbe running round DVDM and DVDM running over the top of Kolbe.

[assfly]

Let's have a look. Man on man.

Ox vs Furlong - Advantage Furlong, based on recent gametime.
Bongi vs LCD - Advantage LCK, in the form of his life.
Nyakane vs Jones Advantage Jones, Nyakane in poor form.
Eben vs Itoje - Even, both world class.
Mostert vs AWJ - Advantage AWJ, can't argue with that.
Kolisi vs Curry - Advantage Curry, Kolisi playing with damaged lungs.
PSdT vs Lawes Advantage PSdT of course.
Kwagga vs Conan - Even, don't really rate either to be honest.
Faf vs Price - Advantage Faf, only just.
Pollard vs Biggar - Advantage Biggar, based on recent gametime
Mapimpi vs Watson - Even
DdE vs Henshaw - Advantage DdE, looking so good and Henshaw been average
Am vs Daly - Advantage Am, but Daly a different player compared to England
Kolbe vs Duhan - Advantage Kolbe, best wing in the world.
Le Roux vs Hogg - Advantage le Roux, Hogg hasn't looked great this tour.

Boks 6 - 6 Lions with 3 evens. PSdT the only clearly better player in the pack, with our backline looking better.

Kitsoff vs Sutherland - Advantage Kitsoff
Marx vs Owens - Advantage Marx
Frans vs Sinckler - Advantage Sincker, he's going to make a huge impact I reckon
Lood vs Beirne - Advantage Beirne
Elstadt vs Watson - Advantage Watson by a country mile
Herschell vs Murray - Advantage Murray easily
Elton vs Farrell - Advantage Farrell every day
Willemse vs Williams - Advantage Williams

Bench, the score is Boks 2- 6 BIL. Big area of concern for the Boks. Second half could see the pendulum swing in the direction of the Lions.

In summary, Lions are favourites.

[Chilli]

B&I Lions – 15 Stuart Hogg (Scotland), 14 Anthony Watson (England), 13 Elliot Daly (England), 12 Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), 11 Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), 10 Dan Biggar (Wales), 9 Ali Price (Scotland), 8 Jack Conan (Ireland), 7 Tom Curry (England), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain, Wales), 4 Maro Itoje (England), 3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), 1 Wyn Jones (Wales).
Substitutes: 16 Ken Owens (Wales), 17 Rory Sutherland (Scotland), 18 Kyle Sinckler (England), 19 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), 20 Hamish Watson (Scotland), 21 Conor Murray (Ireland), 22 Owen Farrell (England), 23 Liam Williams (Wales).

Eish.
Lions by 20

[Biffer]

PSdT vs Lawes Advantage PSdT of course.

This is one of the reasons I don't like the Lawes selection. PSdT vs Beirne would have been a great matchup.

[assfly]

This is one of the reasons I don't like the Lawes selection. PSdT vs Beirne would have been a great matchup.

Agreed. I thought Beirne had done enough in recent weeks to claim that jersey.

[boere wors]

Let's have a look. Man on man.

Ox vs Furlong - Advantage Furlong, based on recent gametime.
Scarra vs LCD - Advantage LCK, in the form of his life.
Nyakane vs Jones Advantage Jones, Nyakane in poor form.
Eben vs Itoje - Even, both world class.
Mostert vs AWJ - Advantage AWJ, can't argue with that.
Kolisi vs Curry - Advantage Curry, Kolisi playing with damaged lungs.
PSdT vs Lawes Advantage PSdT of course.
Kwagga vs Conan - Even, don't really rate either to be honest.
Faf vs Price - Advantage Faf, only just.
Pollard vs Biggar - Advantage Biggar, based on recent gametime
Mapimpi vs Watson - Even
DdE vs Henshaw - Advantage DdE, looking so good and Henshaw been average
Am vs Daly - Advantage Am, but Daly a different player compared to England
Kolbe vs Duhan - Advantage Kolbe, best wing in the world.
Le Roux vs Hogg - Advantage le Roux, Hogg hasn't looked great this tour.

Boks 6 - 6 Lions with 3 evens. PSdT the only clearly better player in the pack, with our backline looking better.

Kitsoff vs Sutherland - Advantage Kitsoff
Marx vs Owens - Advantage Marx
Frans vs Sinckler - Advantage Sincker, he's going to make a huge impact I reckon
Lood vs Beirne - Advantage Beirne
Elstadt vs Watson - Advantage Watson by a country mile
Herschell vs Murray - Advantage Murray easily
Elton vs Farrell - Advantage Farrell every day
Willemse vs Williams - Advantage Williams

Bench, the score is Boks 2- 6 BIL. Big area of concern for the Boks. Second half could see the pendulum swing in the direction of the Lions.

In summary, Lions are favourites.

Except for the front row our bench is terrible. Agree that we could get into trouble in the 2nd half

Have to put in a word for Mostert though. He is world class and in outstanding form. Both of which AWJ isn‘t any more.

[OomStruisbaai]

Let's have a look. Man on man.

Ox vs Furlong - Advantage Furlong, based on recent gametime.
Scarra vs LCD - Advantage LCK, in the form of his life.
Nyakane vs Jones Advantage Jones, Nyakane in poor form.
Eben vs Itoje - Even, both world class.
Mostert vs AWJ - Advantage AWJ, can't argue with that.
Kolisi vs Curry - Advantage Curry, Kolisi playing with damaged lungs.
PSdT vs Lawes Advantage PSdT of course.
Kwagga vs Conan - Even, don't really rate either to be honest.
Faf vs Price - Advantage Faf, only just.
Pollard vs Biggar - Advantage Biggar, based on recent gametime
Mapimpi vs Watson - Even
DdE vs Henshaw - Advantage DdE, looking so good and Henshaw been average
Am vs Daly - Advantage Am, but Daly a different player compared to England
Kolbe vs Duhan - Advantage Kolbe, best wing in the world.
Le Roux vs Hogg - Advantage le Roux, Hogg hasn't looked great this tour.

Boks 6 - 6 Lions with 3 evens. PSdT the only clearly better player in the pack, with our backline looking better.

Kitsoff vs Sutherland - Advantage Kitsoff
Marx vs Owens - Advantage Marx
Frans vs Sinckler - Advantage Sincker, he's going to make a huge impact I reckon
Lood vs Beirne - Advantage Beirne
Elstadt vs Watson - Advantage Watson by a country mile
Herschell vs Murray - Advantage Murray easily
Elton vs Farrell - Advantage Farrell every day
Willemse vs Williams - Advantage Williams

Bench, the score is Boks 2- 6 BIL. Big area of concern for the Boks. Second half could see the pendulum swing in the direction of the Lions.

In summary, Lions are favourites.

Lions by 50

[handyman]

Let's have a look. Man on man.

Ox vs Furlong - Advantage Furlong, based on recent gametime.
Scarra vs LCD - Advantage LCK, in the form of his life.
Nyakane vs Jones Advantage Jones, Nyakane in poor form.
Eben vs Itoje - Even, both world class.
Mostert vs AWJ - Advantage AWJ, can't argue with that.
Kolisi vs Curry - Advantage Curry, Kolisi playing with damaged lungs.
PSdT vs Lawes Advantage PSdT of course.
Kwagga vs Conan - Even, don't really rate either to be honest.
Faf vs Price - Advantage Faf, only just.
Pollard vs Biggar - Advantage Biggar, based on recent gametime
Mapimpi vs Watson - Even
DdE vs Henshaw - Advantage DdE, looking so good and Henshaw been average
Am vs Daly - Advantage Am, but Daly a different player compared to England
Kolbe vs Duhan - Advantage Kolbe, best wing in the world.
Le Roux vs Hogg - Advantage le Roux, Hogg hasn't looked great this tour.

Boks 6 - 6 Lions with 3 evens. PSdT the only clearly better player in the pack, with our backline looking better.

Kitsoff vs Sutherland - Advantage Kitsoff
Marx vs Owens - Advantage Marx
Frans vs Sinckler - Advantage Sincker, he's going to make a huge impact I reckon
Lood vs Beirne - Advantage Beirne
Elstadt vs Watson - Advantage Watson by a country mile
Herschell vs Murray - Advantage Murray easily
Elton vs Farrell - Advantage Farrell every day
Willemse vs Williams - Advantage Williams

Bench, the score is Boks 2- 6 BIL. Big area of concern for the Boks. Second half could see the pendulum swing in the direction of the Lions.

In summary, Lions are favourites.

Scarra is not even in the matchday 23.

[assfly]

True it is tough on Mostert, but it's AWJ. The man is a legend. They're very different players, but this is the sort of game AWJ was born for.

[boere wors]

We are fucked on so many levels, we are the total underdogs here. Lions clear favorites on paper. Exactly that is why I think the boks will win it on saturday. Will be a repeat of the SA A game.

Go bokke, moer hulle!

[average joe]

AWJ is an old warhorse held together with gum-gum and duct tape. This will probably be he's last international. If he makes it through this one without falling apart he might get another.

[handyman]

The message to the props and hookers surely are everybody go 100%, maximum effort for 40 minutes each. Bash them into submission.

I really hope we can avoid cards.

[Biffer]

AWJ is an old warhorse held together with gum-gum and duct tape. This will probably be he's last international. If he makes it through this one without falling apart he might get another.

The other parts of him are made of mahogany and tyre irons though.

[OomStruisbaai]

Scarra is not even in the matchday 23.

Scarra is on the bus to Bloemfontein. Released from the squad

[handyman]

True it is tough on Mostert, but it's AWJ. The man is a legend. They're very different players, but this is the sort of game AWJ was born for.

Against most players, I would back you, but Mostert is very underrated and I think he will at least match AWJ. In any case, it will be good to watch.

[Sards]

Good BIL team. Pity they didn't select Farrell and Hill, would have looked forward to them getting cards.

I'm surprised they went with Duhan. Yes, he's scored tries, but looked pretty average against SA A.

Kwagga vs Conan will be interesting too.

Call me a fool but I enjoy watching Duhan in action. He is a beat of a winger.

[notfatcat]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

[assfly]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

We'll still win.

Just securing our position as the underdogs.

[OomStruisbaai]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

We are just realistic. You confuse us with the Aussies.

[handyman]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

We are the best and we are the worst.

[Biffer]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

Yeah. 12 years ago this would have been pages of slagging off Lions players and an education in Afrikaans insults.

[Biffer]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

We are just realistic. You confuse us with the Aussies.

Naah, they're far more racist.

[sorCrer]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

Yeah. 12 years ago this would have been pages of slagging off Lions players and an education in Afrikaans insults.

Still would have been if this Bok team hadn't been Covid interrupted and was playing with home crowds ... on the Highveld.

[handyman]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

Yeah. 12 years ago this would have been pages of slagging off Lions players and an education in Afrikaans insults.

Still would have been if this Bok team hadn't been Covid interrupted and was playing with home crowds ... on the Highveld.

We play with both hands tied behind our back, but yeah, no complaints.

[OomStruisbaai]

I remember the days when South Africans were considered by all to be steadfastly arrogant and unwaveringly confident. You lot are a disgrace to your nation. You're world champs for heavens sake - get behind your side!

Yeah. 12 years ago this would have been pages of slagging off Lions players and an education in Afrikaans insults.

No Afrikaans speakers, only Souties here.

[Sards]

Quite hard for him to impress against SA A, having not been selected for the squad...

Oops

Still, I think the Lions have better wingers than him.

You're welcome, mocker gods.

Coul be an afternoon of Kolbe running round DVDM and DVDM running over the top of Kolbe.

Tasty either way...

[Sards]

Is it only me or does the BILs backline look like pretty boys. Always touching their hair and always so presentable. I can only think its all the indoors and being very public

[Lemoentjie]

Lions by 50, no chance for the Boks

[OomStruisbaai]

Is it only me or does the BILs backline look like pretty boys. Always touching their hair and always so presentable. I can only think its all the indoors and being very public

Afrikaans?

[JM2K6]

My concerns for the Lions are Biggar and AWJ's fitness, the scrummaging of the props, the underwhelming Conan, and some defensive concerns in the backline. But it's a fairly beastly side and everyone picked has good reasons to be starting, with the exception of a couple of "best of a bad bunch" options.

Not sure exactly what the game plan will be - Daly and Price both getting the nod suggests we'll want some pace on the ball.