AUSTRALIA V BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS

Aus will feel they should've won this easy , missed 15 points

What a strange game.

f u pollock!

What a game.

pete beale

FT 21-23

Drama!!!

crazy finish , what happened to beale >?

Funniest bottle job in a long time.

lions series

halfpenny 1 - 0 beale/oconnor

Great entertainment, thoroughly enjoyed that

FT

AUS 21 LIONS 23

in the words of Kylie .............. lucky ! lucky ! lucky !

thing is the ref will get away with that now..till the next episode!

aussies going to be doing some serious kicking practice in the next few days

when did John Terry nip on at the end

Great game and some quality tries but the last 20 minutes was pretty rubbish rugby by both sides.

will he ref the next one think the aussies will try thier best to get him

GTFI

Only one more Southern hem ref left..

How many kicks at goal did Australia miss ?

ian beale slipped mega LoL , touched 1.46 to make that kick ...LoL

who refs the next 2 tests?

5 i think

Lions need to sort that scrum out , looked very weak at the end . Going backwards and to ground

Cole was rubbish in the 6 nations - should never be on the field

should get a decent price for 2nd test now will lump on

lions scrum looked fine until they subbed the front row

Extraordinary end.

Craig Joubert ref for the next game and he hasn't had a decent game since that cluster**** of a world cup final. Romain Poite gets the last one.

Went down easier than Kathy brake in a lay by

Always wanted us to get to a 3rd game. Job done for now..

second coming...YOUR BOYS TOOK ONE HELL OF A BEATING!

and bad value fav backing mugs once again get away with it

overs matched at 1.01 !!!

44.5..youd have been livid with that!

Slightly hollow victory .  Aussies "kicking" themselves . Reassessment needed Lions . Had the Aussies on the run , didn't finish them . Great spectacle , nail biting finish . Lots of mistakes both sides . Plus some great play .  Still a win is a win .

good call on corbisiero selection Mr G    had a stormer

Australia beat themselves.  Simple answer.  If they had a decent kicker they won the match.  Why was Quade Cooper not in the squad?  Questions will be asked.

yeah that aussie 10 looked very poor, and not just his kicking

his passing was all over the place, he got turned over too easily in contact

quade cooper must be well p!ssed off

Aussies "kicking" themselves .



And missing!

The kicker bottled it..slip just disguised this fact.. A few sports psychologists needed down under

poker savant
Aussies "kicking" themselves . And missing!

Lions skipper and coach dont seem too over enjoyed...we won, it wasnt the best game to watch but a win is a win and we move on.  The ref needs to be looked at, he missed some very obvious pens

Lions skipper and coach dont seem too over enjoyed...we won, it wasnt the best game to watch but a win is a win and we move on.  The ref needs to be looked at, he missed some very obvious pens

Yep he needs looking at through a crosshair..

Is Scott Quinell related to Nev Wilshire off The Call Centre?

lions should never have given that pen away , but the kick was more kathy beale than Kurtley , loL

lol  guiness2dear   sth African joubert next ref   far more suited/sympathetic to "lions" tactics at breakdown for me    really disappointed with todays official could (shoud)have been very costly

Im an aussie but Beale **** himself twice. Both sides are pretty poor imo and the sooner Robbie Deans **** off the better.

allow me to translate for mr o driscoll   "the ref was a ****"

Is Will Greenwood standing on something during his on field interviews. He looked 6 inches taller than George North

Anyone know who was MOM please?

McGeechie not happy with ref

yes he is standing on Beale who slipped over walking past

6:6 is Will

Ye Gods, the Aussies couldn't even win this match despite the cringeworthy decisions of the officials.

Memo to officials : in future, maybe best award penalty tries to the Aussies to be absolutely sure that a bottling kicker won't mess things up.

Jun 22, 2013 -- 1:14PM, Monstrous Bryan wrote:

Anyone know who was MOM please?

Believe Sky have just announced MOM was George North

Very poor effort by some of the Lions, cant blame the officials for everything fellahs..... Phillips was slow slow sloooooooooow to the ruck & heaslip poor at the back of the scrum & in open play & was Sam playing or jus in the refs ear all game....? Thank feck for Sexton & the backline & 1/2 penny's kicking to keep the Lions in the lead, thought the 2 locks did well & Croft was excellant with go-forward but in general 2nd best a lot of the time.

RugbyMan
22 Jun 13 10:34
Joined:
29 May 03
| Topic/replies: 20,871 | Blogger: RugbyMan's blog
Australia coming into this completely cold, so that could really have an impact. I am sure Deans is happy that his players are ready, but there's no substitute for

Have to agree it might account for the Aussie injury toll as well.I bet the Lions are pleased they had the early matches now.

O Connor was useless

It's funny how I read all the UK guys moaning about the ref while here in Aus we are doing the same thing!

That's just because you were expecting the penalty try from the scrum 45m out, rather than just the penalty?

Nice one brother!

Good to see one of those nail biters finally go our way.  Best team probably lost tbf, they left 14 odd points out there, plus the injuries etc.  Aussies won't be 2/1 next week.

origin of ref remains the key factor in these games....advantage Lions in 3rd test when a French ref is in charge and we can have a go at the scrum and breakdwn...speaking of which Vuinopola was really shown up today, I would have the ScotGrant on the bench next game.

Roberts and Bowe to come back in, should improve things.  Does BOD 100% start ahead of Davies...I suppose so.

Warburton really a shadow of the player he was and we are carrying him.  Croft doesn't carry close in and remains an enigma for me.

Going to be a very tight series, lets hope Halfpenny can continue to be the difference.

doubleagent

Serious question. What didn't the ref give you that you thought he should have?

Are you sure about Roberts coming back. A hammy is very tricky.

Eternal just generally speaking I feel that the Lions tacklers don't roll away and  that the Lions don't stay on their feet and seal off a lot. Also they block runners chasing kicks. As far as specifics I can't go too far because HUGE beer consumption is confusing me!! I think Paul OC very lucky no to be yellow carded at about the 65 min mark.

Is Warburton the man to lead the side anyway? Have to agree he was on the missing list when they needed some inspiration at the back end of the game.

I think there will be a lot of deliberation on the BOD or Davies question.

Warburton was outstanding in 2011 but not so hot here when Wales toured last year. Is captain so virtually guaranteed starting spot. Tipuric who I thought looked fantastic in the 6N was outclassed against Brumbies so I think they will stick with Sam.

Likewise Bowe v Cuthbert after his try (and he needed that after fumbling a high ball early on).

Case for starting Youngs at 9 maybe?

Corbisiero did some good stuff but should maybe have stopped the 2nd try (fended off by Folau).

After Jones the Rock went off, the scrum lost its effectivness for me, and was surprised they made they switcheroo so early in 2nd half.

Thought I might mention on here how FANTASTIC was Israel Folau? Unbelievable!

Does anyone know what prices the in-play went to?

Folau seemed a lovely balanced runner indeed.

Adam Jones going off looked to have a big effect-think he might be asked to go a bit longer next Test.

Doubleagent no arguments about POC but 2 of your guys should have been off way before that.

Tipuric had a rare poor game the other day in a poor side/team performance cant have been worse than SW if he'd played today.
Personally think Faletau unlucky to lose out to Heaslip-if the coaches had it down as a close call then TF may well play in the next test.

Australia will be kicking themselves after missing such a great opportunity to go 1-0 ahead in the series. Conversely, the Lions will be delighted to have won the match, particularly after being on the receiving end of a refereeing performance of such ineptitude that it made Bryce Lawrence's four years ago in the 1st Test against South Africa look competent.

With another Southern Hemisphere referee in charge next week, I would replace Heaslip with Faletau, which should help Warburton at the breakdown. In addition, I would start with Youngs at scrum-half, primarily because Phillips was poor (to put it mildly) and was so comprehensively outplayed by Genia. In my opinion, it would be unfair to drop Cuthbert after today's game, so I can see Bowe, now that he is available for selection, replacing Maitland on the bench.

Onwards to the 2nd Test...

The Businessman 22 Jun 13 15:00 
Australia will be kicking themselves after missing such a great opportunity to go 1-0 ahead in the series. Conversely, the Lions will be delighted to have won the match, particularly after being on the receiving end of a refereeing performance of such ineptitude that it made Bryce Lawrence's four years ago in the 1st Test against South Africa look competent.

With another Southern Hemisphere referee in charge next week, I would replace Heaslip with Faletau, which should help Warburton at the breakdown. In addition, I would start with Youngs at scrum-half, primarily because Phillips was poor (to put it mildly) and was so comprehensively outplayed by Genia. In my opinion, it would be unfair to drop Cuthbert after today's game, so I can see Bowe, now that he is available for selection, replacing Maitland on the bench.

Onwards to the 2nd Test...


They'll probably miss.

Do people feel Croft played well?

Thought he was well below average Ozy, and could not understand why it took till the 72nd minute for Lydiate to get on.

I don't think any of the back row (particularly at the breakdown) covered themselves in glory, Ozymandius. For that reason, I cannot see the same three starting next Saturday. In my earlier post, I stated my preference for Faletau to replace Heaslip, but I wouldn't be averse to seeing Lydiate starting in place of Croft instead.

Dan Cole seemed to get hammered in the scrum after coming on . The last pen was more than fair , he was on his knees

Youngs for Phillips is the obvious choice and 1 of Tuilagi/Roberts for Davies. Bowe must be in the 23 and would be a safer bet than Cuthbert defensively. Back row worth a few thoughts.

Neither of them will be of any use if they persist with the fecking boring let's give em the ball back box bastard kicking............

I think Davies was a bit unlucky in that he didn't seem to be quite sure of his lines at times, maybe due to playing 12 and having no time with O'Driscoll. Will probably improve for a week, but I guess that Roberts will come in if fit anyway. Gives more direction and a go-to option.

Davies was doing Robert's job and that's not his game at all.

None of the back-row looked great although I thought they all went well enough. Heaslip probably the best of the trio, but a few moments letting him down. I don't see the point of Lydiate on the bench, he either starts or doesn't feature at all surely? Maybe O'Brien will feature next week. The trouble with leaving out Croft is how much is lost from the line-out because O'Brien or Lydiate can't replace that.

Lydiate is decent enough in the lineout RM, but I imagine the presence of Croft, and the fact that he is a club team mate settled Youngs throwing in. I think Lydiate may have been on the bench because there was a presumption we would be further ahead with 10 to go. Think they may start him nxt week with SOB on the bench

The difference with Croft to other back-rows is that he's not an extra line-out option, he can be the main line-out jumper. Hibbard's not exactly covering himself in glory at the moment, so I expect Youngs will start again and that makes Croft important.

Very tough balance for Gatland to strike. If Lydiate was 100% you would go with him for sheer physical presence, but I've not seen anything in the past 2 months to suggest he's at his best. O'Brien seems a more likely option, but again you gain in one area and lose in another. With Croft available you could get rid of a lock on the bench and add a back-row, but it is a gamble.

Lots of good options but not one of them making themselves un-dropable. Tipuric probably the most unlucky of the lot.

Lots of good options but not one of them making themselves un-dropable. Tipuric probably the most unlucky of the lot.

This is true. And it is probably the area where due to the resources we have available, a change wouldn't make that much difference. Most important thing is that Phillips does not get another start. Won't happen though

Sadly no, Phillips will probably start again, but he was hopeless today. Trouble is that nobody trusts Murray at all and Youngs is capable of being as erratic as Phillips. I think Youngs is the better option though overall, particularly if Roberts comes back, as I really don't see the point in having all these enormous, line-busting, backs if the scrum-half spends half the game running things up himself or dithering.

Youngs is without a doubt the better option. Did you see Phillips wondering what to do when Genia was running at him before the first try? Oz knew exactly what was coming from him while he was on, Mowen had him utterly tied up round the fringe, rendering him not just ineffective, but a burden on the rest of the team. At least Sexton might get some decent, quick ball from Youngs

Yep, it's a killer. Phillips gets away with it against lesser opponents, but how many times has he gone missing against the Aussies now? Can't remember him ever playing well against SH opponents.

Aussies went after Phillips, yet the Lions didn't seem to go after Genia, which seems bloody weird bearing in mind how good Genia is. Maybe a reason for Lydiate to play next week?

Are there any highlights?  Really appreciate if anyone knows where.

Watched on some dodgy live stream in pub which kept on crashing - missed all tries!

Tia

yeah , good point Rubhahunish , had a quick look for highlights streams , came up a blank , i'd love to see beale miss those 2 pens again anyone know a good highlights stream of the game ?

found one ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLg8VCLddoI

lol @ 1:48:28

cheers, my man

How low did Aus trade in that game?

1.46 - 1.50

Can it get worse for Oz? Horwill now cited for a stamp on Alan Wyn Jones, so could be banned if found guilty.

NOT SO BAD,,HORWILL IN,O CONNELL OUT WITH A SHOULDER INJURY,,,,,,,,McCABE AND BARNES SHOULD BE FINE,BEN TAPUI IN FOR COOPER AND THE FASTEST PLAYER IN BOTH SQUADS JESSE MOGG REPLACING IAONE,,,,CANT WAIT FOR SATURDAY,,,AUSSIE BACKLASH WILL BE HARD,,,,CANT SEE THE LIONS RIDING THIER LUCK AGAIN BUT YOU NEVER KNOW