[jhuntley93]

also the top try scorers in the last 4 years have all been scottish, Visser had it last 3 and Thom evans the year before, but we still fail to score tries at international leval. mystery

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by Idris Dragon)
Stringer's pass was and still is godawful. If you want a get it and get it gone scrum half the young Lloyd Williams is your man.

Wrong. It was great a few years ago. He didn't take that stupid step and just fired it at ROG. Great passer of a ball.
He's no good now though.

Lloyd Williams I haven't seen a lot of, but will keep an eye on over the next year.

My backline:

9. Mike Blair
10. Jonny Sexton
11. Lee Halfpenny
12. Jamie Roberts (maybe J. Davies instead)
13. Brian O'Driscoll
14. Tommy Bowe
15. Rob Kearney

George North runs it close though. Tim Visser might be an outside bet too. Really spoilt for choice in the back three.

[jhuntley93]

(Original post by pinkpenguin)
Wrong. It was great a few years ago. He didn't take that stupid step and just fired it at ROG. Great passer of a ball.
He's no good now though.

Lloyd Williams I haven't seen a lot of, but will keep an eye on over the next year.

My backline:

9. Mike Blair
10. Jonny Sexton
11. Lee Halfpenny
12. Jamie Roberts (maybe J. Davies instead)
13. Brian O'Driscoll
14. Tommy Bowe
15. Rob Kearney

George North runs it close though. Tim Visser might be an outside bet too. Really spoilt for choice in the back three.

no stuart hogg?

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by jhuntley93)
no stuart hogg?

Again, definitely in with a shout.
It's hard because you've gotta weigh up Halfpenny's kicking vs. a lot of people who have come through this season. I'm sure we'll be in a better situation to decide after the 6N next year.

Our back three is miles better than the Aussie back three though. It's quite hilarious.

[jhuntley93]

(Original post by pinkpenguin)
Again, definitely in with a shout.
It's hard because you've gotta weigh up Halfpenny's kicking vs. a lot of people who have come through this season. I'm sure we'll be in a better situation to decide after the 6N next year.

Our back three is miles better than the Aussie back three though. It's quite hilarious.

think we should put out our 2nd choice forwards then just to even it up a bit!
imagine our front row

1 cole
2 hartley
3 ?
4 gray
5 croft
6 ob'rien/denton
7 warburton
8 morgan

and anyway put weir in at 10 he wont miss a kick, does halfpenny play on the wing if so back 3 of 11 north/visser 15 hogg/karney 14 halfpenny then have sexton/priestland at 10. We have so many options assuming no one gets injured

[Idris Dragon]

(Original post by pinkpenguin)
Wrong. It was great a few years ago. He didn't take that stupid step and just fired it at ROG. Great passer of a ball.
He's no good now though.

The step wasn't my gripe. My issue is that whenever Stringer throws a pass, he very rarely gets the ball going through with a tight spiral, this means the ball goes slowly through the air, he can't achieve a flat trajectory and gives your outside half lass time (or the 10 stands deeper, which is equally as bad). When ROG stood close in the 2005 GS game a combination of poor feed and poor kicking technique (a lot of coaches will teach you not to throw the ball in the air when punting) led to a prop charging the ball down...

Look at the snap feed of someone like Rob Howley (particularly before he popped his shoulder) or Dawson's feed to Guscott for that drop in 1997 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyoGE001VTg]. Tight spiral means the ball gets to the 10 quicker, giving them more time to do something with it...

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by Idris Dragon)
The step wasn't my gripe. My issue is that whenever Stringer throws a pass, he very rarely gets the ball going through with a tight spiral, this means the ball goes slowly through the air, he can't achieve a flat trajectory and gives your outside half lass time (or the 10 stands deeper, which is equally as bad). When ROG stood close in the 2005 GS game a combination of poor feed and poor kicking technique (a lot of coaches will teach you not to throw the ball in the air when punting) led to a prop charging the ball down...

Look at the snap feed of someone like Rob Howley (particularly before he popped his shoulder) or Dawson's feed to Guscott for that drop in 1997 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyoGE001VTg]. Tight spiral means the ball gets to the 10 quicker, giving them more time to do something with it...

I get what you mean, but I still actually think Stringer's pass was pretty darned quick. His technique wasn't conventional but it did the trick (2004-9 sorta time, ignoring the 2007 RWC of course...) ROG had time.

Obviously, Howley and Dawson were better scrum halves than any of the 4 home nations have produced in the last 10 years.

One thing the Lions 100% have to do is play flat. That's why I think Sexton may be the best choice for FH. Play flat on the gainline like 2009 and get Roberts and O'Driscoll wrecking the Aussie three quarters

I HATE HATE HATE 10s who play deep.

[Idris Dragon]

(Original post by pinkpenguin)
I get what you mean, but I still actually think Stringer's pass was pretty darned quick. His technique wasn't conventional but it did the trick (2004-9 sorta time, ignoring the 2007 RWC of course...) ROG had time.

Obviously, Howley and Dawson were better scrum halves than any of the 4 home nations have produced in the last 10 years.

One thing the Lions 100% have to do is play flat. That's why I think Sexton may be the best choice for FH. Play flat on the gainline like 2009 and get Roberts and O'Driscoll wrecking the Aussie three quarters

I HATE HATE HATE 10s who play deep.

BO'D might not be in the test team. A lot will hinge on how the Welsh centres get on in the next 12 months. If they cause the Aussies lots of trouble, the don't be surprised if you see us go in with two taffs in midfield.

I agree, playing flat is really important. I think with the Welsh centres inside of him, Farrell could play flat. My only worry with Sexton (and Priestland) is that we would have to play halfpenny out of position (putting him in over Ashton [been out of sorts since RWC], Cuthbert [Defense suspect] and Bowe [Class wing, would find it hard to leave him out]).

North/Halfpenny would be more than solid on the wings, 0.5p has played a lot on the wing too; plus we did something similar to carry Jenks through the 97 tour to enhance our attacking play. I would just be weary leaving out world class finishers after poor finishing cost us the last lions tour.

We could also do with a bit of this from someone... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTtTbcfwCMA

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by Idris Dragon)
BO'D might not be in the test team. A lot will hinge on how the Welsh centres get on in the next 12 months. If they cause the Aussies lots of trouble, the don't be surprised if you see us go in with two taffs in midfield.

I agree, playing flat is really important. I think with the Welsh centres inside of him, Farrell could play flat. My only worry with Sexton (and Priestland) is that we would have to play halfpenny out of position (putting him in over Ashton [been out of sorts since RWC], Cuthbert [Defense suspect] and Bowe [Class wing, would find it hard to leave him out]).

North/Halfpenny would be more than solid on the wings, 0.5p has played a lot on the wing too; plus we did something similar to carry Jenks through the 97 tour to enhance our attacking play. I would just be weary leaving out world class finishers after poor finishing cost us the last lions tour.

We could also do with a bit of this from someone... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTtTbcfwCMA

Halfpenny is fine on the wing. Played there loads. Definitely wouldn't sacrifice Kearney just for Halfpenny's boot.
Although I am confident that both Flood and Sexton can kick well enough. Priestland I haven't seen enough of (because Halfpenny does it..).

You don't take BOD and then not play him.. He had a fantastic game again at the weekend. Does all the unseen stuff and has a great pair of hands. Maybe even consider moving him to 12 with Jonathan Davies at 13 or something.

Plus he'll have one hell of a bone to pick with the Aussies since last time.

The 2001 tour was the first games of rugby I remember watching. So unbelievably excited. My first rugby shirt too

[Idris Dragon]

Just got in from cricket to see the RFU's decision about London Welsh. Really disappointed, especailly as they would have been playing down the road from me next year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rug...op-flight.html

I wonder if this turns into a court case. It would be depressing to see promotion and relegation from the Premiership in both England and Wales both being decided in the high courts...

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by Idris Dragon)
Just got in from cricket to see the RFU's decision about London Welsh. Really disappointed, especailly as they would have been playing down the road from me next year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rug...op-flight.html

I wonder if this turns into a court case. It would be depressing to see promotion and relegation from the Premiership in both England and Wales both being decided in the high courts...

The Championship is a bonafide joke nowadays. The play off system is retarded (although they're sorting that out now) and tbh if you get promoted, you should be able to take the spot. The Pirates' stadium isn't that bad, and there's nothing wrong with the Kassam! (I'm annoyed because I live in Oxford too..)

They're stupid rules which prevent other franchises from growing. Newcastle, as a team, could do with a season in the Championship. Crowd sizes at Worcester dropped slightly but were still ballpark 7k or so.

The Champ can be a great place for young English talent to learn their trade. No idea why the RFU seems to be putting rules in place which show a nonchalance to the max.

Unless they are purposely trying to ringfence the Premiership/ensure there is a NE club in the Prem.

[spanish9]

(Original post by pinkpenguin)
The Championship is a bonafide joke nowadays. The play off system is retarded (although they're sorting that out now) and tbh if you get promoted, you should be able to take the spot. The Pirates' stadium isn't that bad, and there's nothing wrong with the Kassam! (I'm annoyed because I live in Oxford too..)

They're stupid rules which prevent other franchises from growing. Newcastle, as a team, could do with a season in the Championship. Crowd sizes at Worcester dropped slightly but were still ballpark 7k or so.

The Champ can be a great place for young English talent to learn their trade. No idea why the RFU seems to be putting rules in place which show a nonchalance to the max.

Unless they are purposely trying to ringfence the Premiership/ensure there is a NE club in the Prem.

I have watched every single play-off game, and I've spotted, that Championship teams, can't tackle. Any AvivaPrem team would trash them! Btw I'm a Newcastle fan so I hope we don't get relegated.

[marcusmerehay]

To be fair, no-one gave Exeter a chance when they came up - they (in particular) had issues because they'd spent the best part of 10 years effectively as a feeder club to Bath.

The fact that they've overhauled them so soon is nothing short of remarkable.

[QwentyJ]

(Original post by spanish9)
I have watched every single play-off game, and I've spotted, that Championship teams, can't tackle. Any AvivaPrem team would trash them! Btw I'm a Newcastle fan so I hope we don't get relegated.

You could say the same about the Toon's tackling this season, tbh. I could also make the same statement about Bath and Wasps. LW and the Pirates would both make a good step up, but would have to recruit. Just look at what Exeter gave done.

[Mufasaa]

(Original post by jhuntley93)
Mike blair for scrummy, scotland always played so much better when him and laidlaw were 9 +10 this is my back line

9 blair
10 sexton
12 roberts
13 tualangi
14 north
11 visser/bowe/halfpenny
15 hogg/karney/

No Foden? The man's utterly brilliant, I can't see why he doesn't get the love he deserves from many, anti-English bias?. And ROG>Tuilagi.

[Idris Dragon]

(Original post by Mufasaa)
No Foden? The man's utterly brilliant, I can't see why he doesn't get the love he deserves from many, anti-English bias?. And ROG>Tuilagi.

Simple - Rob Kearney is the best full back going.

[Mufasaa]

(Original post by Idris Dragon)
Simple - Rob Kearney is the best full back going.

I think I was more bothered by Stuart Hogg - Kearney's place can't really be debated.

[Hylean]

(Original post by Mufasaa)
No Foden? The man's utterly brilliant, I can't see why he doesn't get the love he deserves from many, anti-English bias?. And ROG>Tuilagi.

ROG can't defend, though. Whilst I love him and think he's probably one of the best kickers ever, and definitely far better than Sexton, he is a weak link in any defensive line and every side out there knows it. He tries, and he has actually gotten better over the past few years, but he is still weak. To be honest, I'd probably take ROG as a sub and use him tactically, but the team needs a strong back line.

And yes, Kearney's place is assured. That man is simply amazing.

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by Mufasaa)
No Foden? The man's utterly brilliant, I can't see why he doesn't get the love he deserves from many, anti-English bias?. And ROG>Tuilagi.

In all seriousness, there are other things to think about for the Lions tour. Foden has been known to be a bit of a ****. Not okay on a Lions tour. Gotta take the characters (hence why I haven't suggested ROG...)

[jhuntley93]

(Original post by Mufasaa)
I think I was more bothered by Stuart Hogg - Kearney's place can't really be debated.

i'm scottish so that might answer your question