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Does the Lions captain necessarily have to captain his intl or club side, or just a world-class player, who can deal with the ref and deliver the coaching messages?
Candidates
Best - A good player, not necessarily a starter though
Gethin Jenkins - Certain to start, captained wales during the championship final match, Gat loves him
AWJ - Poor last time, No-one standout-ish in the 2nd row
Robshaw/Warburton/R Jones - Cant be certain of place
Philips - Great Lions series last time, raises game when pressure is higher, doesnt captain usually, but has done previously for wales
BOD - Respected by All, B&L veteran. Can he influence much as a 13, also poor form and injured a lot.
Cant think of any other candidates
I make Gethin and Philips good outside tips for this. Thoughts?
Candidates
Best - A good player, not necessarily a starter though
Gethin Jenkins - Certain to start, captained wales during the championship final match, Gat loves him
AWJ - Poor last time, No-one standout-ish in the 2nd row
Robshaw/Warburton/R Jones - Cant be certain of place
Philips - Great Lions series last time, raises game when pressure is higher, doesnt captain usually, but has done previously for wales
BOD - Respected by All, B&L veteran. Can he influence much as a 13, also poor form and injured a lot.
Cant think of any other candidates
I make Gethin and Philips good outside tips for this. Thoughts?
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Nobody is certain to start at this stage.
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I make Jenkins 2nd fav for his position and I make Phillips the most likely player out of a 50 man short list to throw his toys out of his pram as soon as anything goes wrong. I can think of at least 8 players from Wales alone that would make a better captain, and that's being lenient I think.
Lions captains can't be starting fights in city centres after too many shandies! |
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AWP will probably get this....too many doubts around the other candidates
SW.. ? Great leader but probably a better player without the burden at his age, also injury prone... Gatland will get better out of him, out of the limelight. GT..Just can't see it...not a certain starter...how strong is he media-wise Robshaw ...Maybe right man wrong time. BOD ... what can I say? No way. I think what swings it for AWP is that he fronts up well in the media, he's on a roll, and he has the experience. |
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AWJ obviously :)
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Is he really that certain of a place in the XV though? That would be my main concern, though to be fair it is a concern with every possible captain right now.
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I think there are five certain starters barring injury and I wouldn't have Jenkins as one of them. A single figure price on him captaining the Lions is up there with the very worst prices I have ever seen. And I think hell would have to freeze over before Mike Phillips is considered. You need to remember that this is a brand as much as it is a rugby team and they want a proper ambassador. Think about it - he went to France to after a number of unwelcome scuffles, one of which resulted in him get his hide handed to him by a bouncer outside a McDonalds at whatever time in the morning.
15 Halfpenny 14 Cuthbert 13 12 11 10 9 1 Healy 2 3 Jones 4 5 Parling 6 7 8 |
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As yer man Wallace said on the rugby club & i go along with his thinking, BOD could be a good choice as skipper for his exp & ALL would look upto him, it would also free up all the potential skippers as listed to jus concentrate on getting into the 1st XV as tbh not one of them is guaranteed a slot due to the competition.
Agreed BOD is ALSO under pressure for a spot, mayeb even in the squad, however maybe ? (throws his hat) in picking BOD does he (gatland) neccassary have to pick him to start the tests. With his exp & age not making the test XV wouldnt cause as many ripples & by then others will have sorted out their starting roles & Gatland can pick a test captain nearer the date. Gatland's known for curveballs so why not, pick a captain with exp to handle the press/tour/pressure etc & then let the rest play? Jus a thought. |
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Very fair idea I reckon
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Yeah, interesting idea.
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has to be heaslip so
looks good , got the gift of the old cliche |
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if ye honestly think gatland will pick a non-playing captainhang yourheads in shame
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Regarding O'Driscoll that's pretty much my thinking throughout, and I'm not as convinced as some others that O'Driscoll is struggling for a spot. It's Roberts and O'Driscoll for me for sure (obviously things can change) but Davies has not been consistent, for instance his shocking first 40 mins against Ireland, and Tuilagi is hot, cold, hot again and repeat. You need big game players for the Lions and that is O'Driscoll pure and simple, plus I think he will love to play off Roberts shoulder again.
If Heaslip is Lion's captain I will eat my own feet. I will be amazed if he starts, barring a load of injuries, and I don't even have him in my squad. |
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or maybe Alastair Campbell
lions experience media savvy etc |
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RM pretty sure that Roberts will be extremely happy to play with BOD as well, reckon he has been waiting since last time
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wasn't Paul O'Connell the last Lions captain
HMMM not quoted |
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just gone over for a try 10 minutes into his comeback
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I'm sure you could get a price on him if you asked nicely. Has a hell of a lot of ground to make up, but at least he does have the history of leadership.
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As an aside I have just been realising how bloody expensive it is in Australia these days. Not saying it was cheap in 2001 but the combination of inflation and a knackered exchange rate are going to have fans from these shores taking a few sharp breaths on a night out should they have any money left after stumping up on getting there and getting tickets.
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I arrive a couple of days before the Waratahs game and leave a couple after the second test, Vis. Return flights to Dublin were €1,400, and I have a couple of internal flights thrown in totaling AUD200. There's four of us so at least we can share the burden in terms of renting a car when required and we've gone for apartments in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne as all the hotels (unsurprisingly) are ramping up their prices for match weekends. Unless a couple of potential contacts come good on match tickets, it's looking like we'll have to shell out around AUD300 a pop for them. And that's before you factor in food and drink. I'm committed now so I'm trying to get over the fact that it ain't cheap and just enjoy it for what it is - the trip of a lifetime.
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Oh aye it will still be a great trip regardless Dunc.
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Yeah...I hear Australia is crazy expensive these days...anyway it will be some trip.
Did u read Gatland's comments on the captaincy in the Sunday Times today (and perhaps elsewhere). It reads as though he would consider a ceremonial Captain, similar to Furelli's theory above....which sounds like BOD would be in pole position....9/2 available.... |
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Sounds like Gatland has all but ruled out players from French clubs now, those likely to make the final at least. Could get rid of a few potential bolsters.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/britishandirishlionsrugby/9950131/British-and-Irish-Lions-coach-Warren-Gatland-ends-Jonny-Wilkinsons-dream-of-one-last-tour-Down-Under.html
Does sound good for O'Driscoll as captain. Not so for the Frenchies, as RM says. Wonder if they will release Gethin Jenkins as he was beginning to look back to his best. See the article says that it's believed he will take two specialist fly-halves. Laidlaw the cover then? |
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1 Healy 2 Jenkins 3 jones 4 laws 5 O Connell 6 Tipuric 7 Warburton 8 O Brien 9 Phillips 10 Sexton 11 Visser 12 Roberts 13 BOD 14 North 15 Halfpenny. Captain - BOD
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Just heard off a farily decent source that AWJ was offered the captaincy on the weekend.
For gods sake dont bet on it just thought i'd pass on what i heard.Source is high up at the Ospreys. |
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Just another little interesting,but ulitmately useless(probably) bit of news.Kelly Brown,the heavily backed Scotish captain,has a stammer and says he dreads the media committments that go with the job.Surely,as a Lions captain,that'll put him under tremendous emotional strain given how many interviews he'll have to do?
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In what mythical world has Kelly Brown been heavily backed to be Lions captain?
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Forget captain. Big rumours that JSD is being strongly looked at for the tour. If only.
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