So bar one more match on Tuesday against the Brumbies, the shadow boxing is over and this week a test team is selected. Where are the Lions? Who should play at 6? And should we ever pick a Lions team in November again?
Paddy Logan – Ulster Rugby Nerd
Last November the Nerds were invited to select their Lions XV. Looking back at it now it certainly lends credence to the views of those who think chat of Lions XVs prior to the start of the 6 Nations is daft. Here it is, at risk of blowing any credibility I might have out of the water:
15 Kearney
14 Bowe
13 BOD (c)
12 JJV Davies
11 Gilroy
10 Sexton
9 Care
1 Healy
2* Best
3 Adam Jones
4 Gray
5 Ryan
6 Ferris
7 Warburton
8 Heaslip
In my defence, Super Stevie was still fit and looked nailed on and Care was yet to have his implosion against the Azurri. If I were looking for something to crow about, I could point out the centre partnership which looks likely to start in the first test, especially after the mostly disappointing Jamie Roberts hobbled down the tunnel at the Allianz Stadium.
However, 5½ months after my initial prediction, Ulster played Scarlets in the semi-final of the Rabo. Jonathan Davies wouldn’t have been in the top 3 centres on display, with Olding, Cave and, towards the end, Jared Payne, all looking far better. In fact Davies was abject and the improvement in the space of 5 weeks is extraordinary. What is Gatland’s secret? Davies was magnificent today, running fabulous lines, passing and off-loading crisply, and tackling anything that came close. Even before Roberts left the field, JJV looked to have played himself into contention. I am certainly much more excited at the prospect of having two footballers in the centre than one half of the partnership being a one-dimensional bosh merchant.
Elsewhere for the Lions, despite the Sky cheerleading (more of which later), it was a bit of a curate’s egg. Vunipola’s lack of scrummaging prowess was cruelly exposed by Paddy Ryan who has one Wallaby cap (and that was off the bench). As if trying to prove Bob Dwyer right, Vunipola was immediately scrummaging perpendicular to the touchline. At other times he was popped up or driven backwards. In the loose he was ordinary with one particularly awful loss in contact. He would have played himself out of the test side if Corbisiero hadn’t come on and conceded two penalties straight away. Suddenly loosehead looks a real worry.
Alongside Vunipola, Tom Youngs had a fine game in the loose and his darts were decent although he was not asked to throw to the back of the lineout. He tends to lob his throw, which better defensive lineouts may exploit. Hibbard came on after 60 and had one obvious over-throw to 6. I think that there is nothing to choose between the hookers, and I would go with the strongest scrummager, but then I would, wouldn’t I?
POC was a class above and Alun Wyn had a fine game, playing himself into contention. To be honest, any from Jones, Parling or Gray would be OK, and I have no idea what the best combination might be.
At half-back, Phillips put in one of his more annoying performances, getting walked 10m by referee Jaco Peyper in the 2nd half, and trying a kiss-ball-style con trick when intentionally running into the Tahs’ winger. You may detect he’s not my favourite player, and I still don’t rate his passing. Youngs’ pass is much zippier and I would have liked to see him alongside Sexton for a spell.
On the wings, Maitland was back to his underwhelming self but Zebo looked very lively in the first half, and nearly had a dream start when his left toe caught the touchline as he was going in for a try with his first touch as a Lion. I’m not sure he did enough to get ahead of Cuthbert but if North doesn’t recover, he will surely be a test starter this time next week.
At full back, what is there left to say about Leigh Halfpenny. Reliable in defence, excellent in attack and supernatural off the tee. He is immense and rightly nailed on to start. However, one has to feel for Rob Kearney. There was no chance that Halfpenny wouldn’t be in the starting lineup, but with North struggling to be fit, and Cuthbert’s dodgy defence, he could have made a case for Halfpenny to move to the wing with a 40 minute cameo. Instead, Gatland held him until the 60th minute, and he was limited to 20 minutes of watching scrum resets.
If Halfpenny is nailed on, Sexton is indispensable. He had another excellent game, standing flat and passing as well as ever. Farrell was not as poor as he has been but the gulf in quality is obvious and must be a worry.
Where Daddy Faz, Rowntree and Gatland will really struggle when it comes to selection will be the back-row. All 7 of the loosies have really put their hands up. The skipper, whilst solid, has surely been the least impressive. Although he topped the tackle count , his ‘hoooooge’ total of 12 was only 1 ahead of POC and he was solid without being spectacular. For my money, he has to be as good as Tipuric to get selected and he clearly isn’t on current form. No doubt, Warburton apologists will, fairly, point to the fact that he has played in the two most competitive games of the tour but there is simply no denying Tipuric’s outstanding ability: he’s a match for Warburton at the breakdown and is one of the Lions’ finest footballers in the loose.
Tom Croft had the eye-catching outing that the WoC lads were calling for but, despite his box-office wheels and lineout prowess, I still feel he is too lightweight to slug it out at the start of the match. By all means bring him on for impact but I don’t think he is part of the Lions’ premier break-away unit.
Unlike the Sky team, of course. Punditry gave way to cheerleading as Barnes gushed over the lanky midlander. In between times he uttered Olympic standard tosh such as ‘Roberts is the Lions biggest secret weapon’. To describe the Northern hemisphere’s least subtle bosher as a secret weapon defies belief. At half-time, their assessment of Warburton made him sound like Pocock on steroids, rather than the earnest ground-hog that he was on the day. After the match, Scott Quinnell described his tackle-count as ‘hoooooooooooooooge’ when, as discussed earlier, it was merely one better than the tight-head lock’s. It almost makes one yearn for George Hook. Almost!
So here’s my Lions XV and the one I think will actually take the field at Brisbane next weekend. Whatever the team, let’s hope they thrash the shackle-draggers.
My Test 23 Wazza’s 23
15 Halfpenny Halfpenny
14 Zebo Cuthbert
13 BOD (c) BOD
12 JJV Davies JJV Davies
11 North North
10 Sexton Sexton
9 Phillips Phillips
1 Grant Vunipola
2* Best Hibbard
3 Adam Jones Adam Jones
4 Gray Alun Wyn Jones
5 POC POC
6 SOB Lydiate
7 Tipuric Warburton
8 Heaslip Heaslip
16 Youngs Youngs
17 Vunipola Corbisiero
18 Cole Cole
19 Alun Wyn Jones Parling
20 Croft SOB
21 Youngs Youngs
22 Farrell* Farrell
23 Kearney Zebo
*only because 36 hasn’t had a run
