Wallabies squad for Lions tour

[Smokin_Safari]

Thanks Ken for the heads-up.

Just finished watching the game a few days late - if the ARU persists in employing a monkey as a coach, at least give him a translator so Kafe (& we, the paying & supposedly supporting public) can understand what the monkey says in an interview.

Even swapping texts with Sharpie has us shaking our collective shaved noggins. If the biased NSW press are now siding with QC, perhaps the race callers on Fox can state the obvious without threat?

Clearly;

- swap Mogg for Barnes

- that kid I saw playing under 15's last week for O'Connor

- Horwill's heart to go on display at Melbourne Museum to displace Phar Lap's

- expand the Holy Trinity to include Genia

- nail Horne to the bench to keep him there for the free ice cream

- give Palu a posthumous award as he's always missing in action

- teach Victorians that this magical game is something special - not just another sporting event you line up for free tickets for

- SACK DEANS - surely the ARU remuneration system works on KPIs like every other competent business? Whoops, maybe I just called out the elephant in the room...............................

Marty

[frenchkiwi]

Thanks Ken for the heads-up.

Just finished watching the game a few days late - if the ARU persists in employing a monkey as a coach, at least give him a translator so Kafe (& we, the paying & supposedly supporting public) can understand what the monkey says in an interview.

Even swapping texts with Sharpie has us shaking our collective shaved noggins. If the biased NSW press are now siding with QC, perhaps the race callers on Fox can state the obvious without threat?

Clearly;

- swap Mogg for Barnes

- that kid I saw playing under 15's last week for O'Connor

- Horwill's heart to go on display at Melbourne Museum to displace Phar Lap's

- expand the Holy Trinity to include Genia

- nail Horne to the bench to keep him there for the free ice cream

- give Palu a posthumous award as he's always missing in action

- teach Victorians that this magical game is something special - not just another sporting event you line up for free tickets for

- SACK DEANS - surely the ARU remuneration system works on KPIs like every other competent business? Whoops, maybe I just called out the elephant in the room...............................

Marty

and Holwill's boot sprigs... need to be embossed in gold and put in a museum after he got away with that...

maybe Brett Gosper australian and head of IRB will tweet in a bid for them? (he used to like tweeting about such things)

[Ken Gargett]

that is a bit rich. still, i suppose one man's accident...

there are players i can see doing that but horwill has a good track record and no history of dirty play.

i, for one, believe him!

[frenchkiwi]

I also enjoy the scrum, although prefer them now as I watch them, rather than having my ear bitten, or a knee in my face!

I grumble is the RFU titting about with the rules,"crouch, pause, engage" seemed to work..but they changed it. Many recent matches I have seen have been won and lost due to some packs not getting what the ref expects of them...(another bugbear, referees differing interpretations of the rules, and their favourite points to pick on...btw, does any team roll the ball in straight anymore?

I also enjoyed Jones' little wind up in that scrum..experience!

But it doesn't look like the North can wipe out the Aussie scrum anymore!

As for Gatland, I've never been a fan of his, I don't think either side "deserved" the win, and it was going to be down to the roll of the dice who did. His Welsh team do not win as much as they should, with the players he has available, and he also suffers from a form of blindness to players that should be picked.

Paul O'connoll will be missed in the next test.

brace yourself then ... IRB are trialling "crouch, bind, set" at this very moment ... more than cosmetic as front rowers will have to bind instead of just touching, a bit more like the old days. It means the initial Hit will be much reduced, and they want to see if this will result in less collapsed scrums. It sort of makes sense but we'll see.

gotta feel for those poor front rowers... and for my poor son, who was taught "crouch, touch, pause, engage" when getting his backside wiped and will now be forever confused

as for gatland, well, he should probably swap tuilagi in onto the bench and have one dynamic/elusive backrow ball runner somewhere in the 22 if not the XV. O'Brien or Faletau come to mind. The lions don't seem to be getting any real go forward in phase play, the absence of Roberts seems to be hurting there.

[Ken Gargett]

word here is there a good possibility - hard as it is to believe - that wallabies will start with kimlin and add smith to the bench, dropping hooper and gill.

and horne will come in if a a-c out.

every day, the rugby vandal gives us another reason to hate him even more. every day, he provides more and more evidence he has not got a clue.

and no one has a clue what will happen at 5/8 etc.

[frenchkiwi]

that is a bit rich. still, i suppose one man's accident...

there are players i can see doing that but horwill has a good track record and no history of dirty play.

i, for one, believe him!

i don't reckon that he was intending for the face as that is just suicide, but he may or may not have been intending to remind the guy to get out of the ruck (like he did a few weeks ago against the Force - got a post match yellow card for stamping which is strange and silly).

the point is the silly local judiciary system, had it been a wallabies tour to the uk, he would've got at least 1 week regardless, and Brett Gosper would've tweeted his outrage and upped it to two (as happened to Adam Thompson last year). Had it been a south african TMO in SA, he would've been red carded like Tuilagi on the weekend (probably would've thrown a penalty try in too lol)

in any case suspensions just ruin a good test series especially when it's "guessing the player's intentions" type stuff.

[Ken Gargett]

agree re the guessing intentions. ridiculous. i remember a few years back a league judiciary gave gorden tallis three weeks because one member - a QC no less and clearly an idiot (they are not mutually exclusive) - said that he 'could see the intent in his eyes'. no you can't. no matter how many soppy mills and boon novelists might tell you what can be seen in eyes. they are just eyes!

i think every country feels it gets the raw prawn from judiciaries in opposing nations - both for their own players being suspended and the opposition getting off. i know we have.

[mazolaman]

as for gatland, well, he should probably swap tuilagi in onto the bench and have one dynamic/elusive backrow ball runner somewhere in the 22 if not the XV. O'Brien or Faletau come to mind. The lions don't seem to be getting any real go forward in phase play, the absence of Roberts seems to be hurting there.

Absoloutely, hence my lack of enthsiasm for some of the Welsh players earlier...no line breaker, no tackle breaker.

Roberts or Tuilagi would make a huge difference.

[Ken Gargett]

so beale and o'connor were seen out on the town at pubs etc till at least 4am. in the week of the biggest game of their careers. but they were not drinking, they say. so the stooges at the aru say it is okay.

it is not possible to make this crap up. how can they be so stupid?

and if the rugby vandal had any balls, he'd drop them both. but there won't be a problem because he likes them.

seriously, i am a whisker from donning the red for saturday. get rid of the lot of them.

[frenchkiwi]

to those wondering where the Lions tour rated in the sporting pantheon relative to origin et al...

have you ever seen this kind of reenactment before ? true dedication!

[Ken Gargett]

to those wondering where the Lions tour rated in the sporting pantheon relative to origin et al...

have you ever seen this kind of reenactment before ? true dedication!

that is amazing but how bored would you have to be with life! and what happened to an entire side of suncorp stadium.

[frenchkiwi]

that is amazing but how bored would you have to be with life! and what happened to an entire side of suncorp stadium.

very bored. they must be paid to do it because they do it for all sorts of sporting events, all big events considered of interest in the uk

[Ken Gargett]

very bored. they must be paid to do it because they do it for all sorts of sporting events, all big events considered of interest in the uk

seriously? nice to watch once but hard to see anyone making a habit of it?

[mazolaman]

It rains a lot here.

[frenchkiwi]

Australia: Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Leali'ifano, Joe Tomane, James O'Connor, Will Genia, Wycliff Palu, Michael Hooper, Ben Mowen, James Horwill (captain), Kane Douglas, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson. Replacements: Saia Fainga'a, James Slipper, Sekope Kepu, Rob Simmons, Liam Gill, Nick Phipps, Rob Horne, Jesse Mogg

so no changes apart from injuries. Rudd will replace Gillard in the stands. G Smith deemed not fully fit. hope the lions throw a few new players in for excitement's sake.

[mazolaman]

British and Irish Lions: L Halfpenny (Wales); T Bowe (Ireland), B O'Driscoll (Ireland), J Davies (Wales), G North (Wales); J Sexton (Ireland), B Youngs (England); M Vunipola (England), T Youngs (England), A Jones (Wales), A-W Jones (Wales), G Parling (England), D Lydiate (Wales), S Warburton (Wales, capt), J Heaslip (Ireland).

Replacements: R Hibbard (Wales), R Grant (Scotland), D Cole (England), T Croft (England), S O'Brien (Ireland), C Murray (Ireland), O Farrell (England), A Cuthbert (Wales).

[Ken Gargett]

i see that the irb has decided to review the decision re horwill. whether you think he is guilty or not, i find this one of the most extraordinary things i've seen in years and it is very hard to believe that it isn't caused by some in the lions camp getting in the ear of the irb. which is disgraceful and little short of corrupt. in fact, it is hard to see it as anything other than corrupt.

guilty or not, he went through the procedure, put up a defence and the irb's own judicial officer made the decisions, gave reasons. he is a highly respected QC (respected not a word you hear bandied about re most rugby officials - the aru and the irb high among them). so we can assume that they have absolutely no faith or trust in their own officials? is every rugby administrator braindead?

the irb has given itself the right to review decisions but not once in its entire history has it ever overturned, let alone reviewed, a not guilty decision. not once. and the only time in the entire history of the irb that it has intervened was simply to have a penalty increased. so now some bloke from canada will review the review. if the irb is not happy with that, will they find someone else?

but the timing? the day before the most important game played in australia in a decade, the irb attempt to have the australian captain wiped out. that is truly mindboggling. it is clearly nothing more, whatever the result, than an attempt to disrupt the australians (you'd wonder why they feel the need to bother).

where is the concept of natural justice? granted a very long time since i first failed that course but surely this goes completely against all the principles of natural justice? if they wipe out horwill, the aru should finally grow a pair and go straight to court for an order to allow him to play.

the stupidity of this for the lions is that if/when they beat the wallabies, it will now be seen as a tainted victory.

truly disgraceful.

[frenchkiwi]

i see that the irb has decided to review the decision re horwill. whether you think he is guilty or not, i find this one of the most extraordinary things i've seen in years and it is very hard to believe that it isn't caused by some in the lions camp getting in the ear of the irb.

this is typical of IRB politics. a lot going on behind the scenes. E.g. John O'Neill putting the pressure on ref Lawrence via IRB ahead of the south african quarterfinal in 2011. IRB CEO tweeting in to alter thompsons suspension last year after lunching with an unhappy british journo. IRB head of refs O'Brien, under pressure from kiwi press, listing Barnes mistakes after '07 quarterfinal back in the days when the IRB would not discuss referee performances.

the IRB is still an old boys network and so much more amenable to pressure from the unions and the media. You just need to have the ear of the right IRB person ... or better the ********... and squeeze. Rugby tradition at its finest.

[Ken Gargett]

this is typical of IRB politics. a lot going on behind the scenes. E.g. John O'Neill putting the pressure on ref Lawrence via IRB ahead of the south african quarterfinal in 2011. IRB CEO tweeting in to alter thompsons suspension last year after lunching with an unhappy british journo. IRB head of refs O'Brien, under pressure from kiwi press, listing Barnes mistakes after '07 quarterfinal back in the days when the IRB would not discuss referee performances.

the IRB is still an old boys network and so much more amenable to pressure from the unions and the media. You just need to have the ear of the right IRB person ... or better the ********... and squeeze. Rugby tradition at its finest.

the IRB has less integrity than a bunch of indian bookmakers at a cricket game. if pulver had any balls, and he has shown no sign of it so far, he'd dig in, tell them to drop it and that horwell was playing. if they had a problem, then the lions can run out to an empty stadium and the ARU will sue the IRB for the lost income.

more chance of three dozen supermodels knocking on my door this evening than that happening.

[Ken Gargett]

add to that, we still have deans stuffing things. another player with whom he is personally offside doesn't even make the bench - george smith. despite 100 tests and being one of the all time greats, deans thinks he needs more time to acclimatize to the wallaby set up? does he think everyone is as stupid as he is? beale, a deans favourite, comes out of alcohol camp and goes straight. doesn't need time. but smith does? spare me.

and james o'beiber back at 5/8. well, let's give him another chance, never mind that this is the last gasp.

makes the irb crap even more stupid because it is so unnecessary.

[Smokin_Safari]

With SportsBet odds on Wobblies at 2.35, worth a few bucks. Then I can afford the Krug to celebrate Deans' resignation.

[Ken Gargett]

With SportsBet odds on Wobblies at 2.35, worth a few bucks. Then I can afford the Krug to celebrate Deans' resignation.

problem with that is first that you'll most certainly do your dough and if you do win your dosh, he ain't going nowhere.

[El Presidente]

am a little stunned at the Horwill re-investigation.

have a look at the video in slow motion. Horwill was pushing with his head and torso across the back of Hooper. He would have had no idea of who was near his legs.

He must have been cited by a back

[frenchkiwi]

add to that, we still have deans stuffing things. another player with whom he is personally offside doesn't even make the bench - george smith. despite 100 tests and being one of the all time greats, deans thinks he needs more time to acclimatize to the wallaby set up? does he think everyone is as stupid as he is? beale, a deans favourite, comes out of alcohol camp and goes straight. doesn't need time. but smith does? spare me.

and james o'beiber back at 5/8. well, let's give him another chance, never mind that this is the last gasp.

makes the irb crap even more stupid because it is so unnecessary.

G Smith wouldn't be back in the squad if they didn't want him. Maybe a bit wary of all these "miraculous recoveries" a la Digby Ioane, players saying they've recovered weeks earlier than expected and turning out to be not quite match fit after all. And as 7 there's no let-up, you're in the trenches as we saw in the 1st test...

I still can't wait to see him take to the pitch though as none of the 7s from either team have his nous at the breakdown. 3rd test will do here's hoping it's not a dead rubber!

[frenchkiwi]

am a little stunned at the Horwill re-investigation.

have a look at the video in slow motion. Horwill was pushing with his head and torso across the back of Hooper. He would have had no idea of who was near his legs.

He must have been cited by a back

that doesn't matter it's all emotion - "he stood on his face!" "shocking" "appalling" etc

like when Botha did a perfectly legal cleanout injuring adam jones (there's a hint for palu or mowen) in the 09 SA lions tour, shock horror, suspension. Even adam jones said it was fine.