The Lions tour of Australia 2013

[Nick_1020]

So...the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia is a matter of weeks away.

I think the Lions have a great chance to win the test series and can't wait for it to kick off.

Anyone else here looking forward to it or have an interest in rugby?

 

[BIGPADDY]

Rugby league is the only rugby for me and it the rugby league world cup in the UK this year im so excited. :excited:

 

[busngabb]

Rugby league is the only rugby for me and it the rugby league world cup in the UK this year in so excited. :excited:

Bang on bro, RL all the way.

 

[Nick_1020]

Partial to a bit of league myself.

Who do you think will win the RLWC? England are just about as strong as they have ever been but it's kinda hard to see past the Aussies, even without Lockyer pulling the strings. How are NZ looking these days?

 

[BIGPADDY]

Partial to a bit of league myself.

Who do you think will win the RLWC? England are just about as strong as they have ever been but it's kinda hard to see past the Aussies, even without Lockyer pulling the strings. How are NZ looking these days?

I think new Zealand and Australia will be in the final and it will be England vs France to take third place.

 

[busngabb]

I think new Zealand and Australia will be in the final and it will be England vs France to take third place.

France is a big call, I would go for one of the Pacific Island teams as they will be rammed with NRL players that don't quite make the grade for Aus or New Zealand.

England at home have got to be aiming to beat New Zealand. We have this enormous mental block when it comes to Australia, but second has to be the aim.

As for the opening posters question, so we don't derail the thread completely, I reckon the Lions will do well. If they pick on form that is, there is always the risk with Lions squads that they pick on reputation.

 

[BIGPADDY]

As for the opening posters question, so we don't derail the thread completely, I reckon the Lions will do well. If they pick on form that is, there is always the risk with Lions squads that they pick on reputation.

I haven't watch union for a while now but I have heard that the lions were on good form however the Aussies are good as well it will be interesting. I think we have to factoring the temperature, climate and it always harder away from home.

However I think the first games will be getting there bearing and be tough which they would get stronger through the tour.

Will they be having a game at New Zealand due to how close both are?

 

[Nick_1020]

I haven't watch union for a while now but I have heard that the lions were on good form however the Aussies are good as well it will be interesting. I think we have to factoring the temperature, climate and it always harder away from home.

However I think the first games will be getting there bearing and be tough which they would get stronger through the tour.

Will they be having a game at New Zealand due to how close both are?

There's no game against NZ (that'll be in 2017) but the Lions will be playing against the Barbarians in Hong Kong at the start of the tour as well as playing some Aussie super rugby teams midweek.

Although I think the Lions will win the series, a lot rests on the refs. The standard of international reffing is pretty poor at the moment...I know it's not an easy job and they're always gonna miss things in matches, but it would be great to see consistency applied to both teams so there's less of a chance to question the result.

 

[Nick_1020]

The squad has been announced and it contains quite a few surprises imo. Some good players have been left behind and some very average or players who are simply not good enough have been given the nod.

Here's the squad...I've underlined a few of the players I think are quite lucky. Some haven't played much lately, others are just a bit crap:
Backs: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Rob Kearney (Ireland), Tommy Bowe (Ireland), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Sean Maitland (Scotland), George North (Wales), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland), Jamie Roberts (Wales), Manu Tuilagi (England), Owen Farrell (England), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Conor Murray (Ireland), Mike Phillips (Wales), Ben Youngs (England).

Forwards: Dan Cole (England), Cian Healy (Ireland), Gethin Jenkins (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales), Matt Stevens (England), Mako Vunipola (England), Dylan Hartley (England), Richard Hibbard (Wales), Tom Youngs (England), Ian Evans (Wales), Richie Gray (Scotland), Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales), Paul O'Connell (Ireland), Geoff Parling (England), Tom Croft (England), Toby Faletau (Wales), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Sam Warburton (Wales).

I can see the merit of selecting both Bowe and Lydiate but neither have played much since coming back from injuries that have kept them off the pitch for a while. Gotta feel for the likes of Robshaw, Wood, Ryan Jones, Best, Biggar/Flood, Launchbury as they're all better players than some selected.

Still think we can win the test series as there's a strong match day squad in it but we may struggle with the midweek games, especially if the Aussie Super Rugby teams select strong teams and I think they most certainly will.

Tbh...I can't wait!!!

 

[arnieman]

Yeah league all the way