im just saying why cant we support the team it ruins it for me when the 4 nations squabble over who has the most players,the media will inevitably kill the concept.we wait 4 years with all the hype then just slam every decision in every game ,even the commentators over dramatise every dropped ball or missed line out.just enjoy it imo

I heard Keith Wood seething on BBC Radio and I can understand the Irish being upset about him not being on the bench.

The simple fact is that he wasn't playing well enough to merit his place, he wasn't before the start of the tour and that's the problem.

It would have been better to give him responsibility for the mid week games and help the younger tourists. I doubt he would have made the Test side had Roberts been fit.

I've no problem with the team being predominantly from Wales, as long as we win I don't care who plays.

I think Farrell will get a run out early this Test.

Farrell   You wouldn't be a league man KK would you by any chance?

Very interesting clip posted by shaggykev above, here it is again, worth a look;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VttNqKXu84o&feature=youtu.be

If you think Farrell's got guile, you can't have seen much of him play.

from what i can gather there are only a couple of selections that are up for debate, the obvious one being BOD but before the tour started he wasn't in everyones test team its only because of sentiment that theres such a strong feeling about the selection but you can't allow that to dictate your thinking.

9 is one obvious debatable position but if the Lions are going for a more physical approach then Phillips is probably the best option although he needs to be a lot better than he was in the first game. At 8 i think Faletau is a strong ball carrier that has never let Wales down and comes into this game fresher and less battle weary so thats probably smart too.

They have a front 5 that should be strong at the scrum and they can use a rolling maul effectively.

The key is going to be not kicking the ball badly which i think they've done so far in the tests and controlling the Australian back 3 and Genia if they can do that it should be a tight game but one they can win.

For all the criticism of Wales they've come extremely close to winning in Australia a few times, the margins are very small.

Will Carling ‏@willcarling 2h
Jaw is still hanging open at Lions selection ……..!!

Matt Giteau ‏@giteau_rugby 5h
Gee dropping @BrianODriscoll out of the team is a huge call.. For mine, he has been the stand out unsung hero this series.. Defensively huge

Dan Carter ‏@DanCarter 1h
There must be some angry Irish out there waking up to see @BrianODriscoll not playing this weekend. #ShouldBeTheCaptain

"BOD understands the Lions better than Gatland does" - Keith Wood

Brendan gallagher ‏@gallagherbren 2h
Does any rugby fan out there doubt for a single second that BOD wd have risen to the occasion for the Lions on Sat on his farewell? #BOD

Neil Back ‏@NeilBack 30 Jun
@BrianODriscoll Things happen for a reason....4th Tour, last chance! Lead the Lions to series win Saturday. All the very best mate. #Destiny

David Campese ‏@Davidcampese1 1 2h
Lions team info. Sorry but you have just handed to series to Australia. 7 chances and still no real match winner

Austin Healey ‏@IamAustinHeal ey 54m
If anyone is welsh is in Australia in the NSW region, has their own boots (not vital) and fancies a game give Warren a call on 07967339123

Oh well at least its only 4 years until we play some rugby under a bit more open minded kiwi (Joe Schmidt).  Another positive is this will be a very spicy 6N

Even the Aussies want him back;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FeaDsc5GfO8

Defensively sound, but hasn't even looked like doing anything from an attacking point of view. I'm a massive O'Driscoll fan, but in truth he's been very lucky to get 2 test starts based on this season's form and what he has shown this tour. A lot of legend, not a lot of action.

Timing is a bit bizarre though. Gatland has already left out one or two captains (Robshaw, Brown), has seen O'Connell get injured (and O'Connell is clearly the only real Totem, ie. Johnson-esque rally to my banner sort of individual) followed by Warburton's injury. Then he decides to drop one of the very few leaders. Leadership is definitely something that has been lacking on this tour, although on the other hand that includes when O'Driscoll has been playing. Watching Stephen Moore in particular last week giving out encouragement and making sure anyone who made a mistake was given a pat on the back and a word in the ear made me notice how little that happened on the other team. Vunipola had a strange game where he either did brilliantly or terribly, but the only person talking to him in either case seemed to be Tom Youngs, mainly because he was standing nearby. I would have kept O'Driscoll just so he could fulfil that role.


As for the rest, Hibbard's form is a worry, the line-out has been extremely solid under Youngs, but the Lions now have a front-row that is well set up for a NH referee. ie. it's huge and very capable of doing plenty of damage. Good to see Faletau get a chance, although nobody has managed to stand out in this back-row throughout the tour. The back-row is now at it's most rough and tough, with a bit of guile sacrificed for that brawn, and along with the enormous tight-five it's clear how Gatland wants to play this game.

rugby man........always love reading your views.......can this team beat the aussies....I was strong on the aussies but this team selection has thrown me....I would greatly appreciate your view....cheers

1. I don't think Wazza has called this one correctly. I'd have gone with BOD.
2. More importantly however, from the perspective of the Lions as a continuing concept in the Professional age- seething along national lines (eg Keith Wood and others) seriously undermines it.

wales are not that good,,,lost to ireland and england lost to the ocassion ,,,,aussie tharshing on the cards

It's a tough one to work out for sure. Tension is going to be incredibly high, about as much pressure as you can find in any game of rugby, and the two teams have been extremely equal so far - 1pt between them on aggregate.

For their extra backline threat and cohesion Australia have become favourites, but there are pretty good reasons for opposing that. Firstly the scrums were messy last week, but the Lions went with 2 lesser scrummagers - Vunipola is still very young and Youngs not very big, but even then they did pretty well after a ropey start. Corbisiero is a better scrummager, Hibbard is a big lump, and Romain Poite is a Frenchmen so he likes to penalise weaker scrums. It's always tough to predict scrums at this level, but this is certainly the Lions best chance to get at them here. They've also gone for bulk in the back-row and in recent games the Lions have been low on carriers - Croft, Warburton and Heaslip all struggling to make yards.

Jamie Roberts is fresh and could be a massive plus point. Australia aren't big at 10/12 and if Roberts gets rumbling over the advantage line quick ball could be a lot more likely. On the other hand he may just be too rusty, but who knows.


Just like in previous weeks I'm seeing one team start as favourites when I can't separate the two. As CC says, the draw should be a runner (though this could lead to complications at the end as to whether teams will settle for the draw?) and another very tight game decided by very small margins seems most likely. You can do the draw, Lions 1-5 and Australia 1-5 for around 6/4.

Well I thought the Lions would be under-priced for the 3rd week on the bounce but given I wanted Corbisiero back and a go with Roberts, I am now not so sure.  Also the back row does look a good group and the bench looks to be potentially the best impact of the 3 weeks, though again the backs don't excite me one bit  - but then you have to have a 9 cover and Farrell is always going to be backup 10 - at least Manu may offer something different.

So in short, for me Gatland is rolling the dice and fair play to him as last week's personnel were not working and he has more people to choose from this week.  The BOD dropping is over-hyped as all likewise things these days are given that everybody has to have their say - Joey Barton ffs.

In conclusion, at the prices I now feel the Lions are a much better bet than in weeks 1 and 2.  However, I also feel Aus are much more likely to win by 12.5+ this week.  It's an either/or job for me.  It may click or may just be a game too far with another team cobbled together with too many changes from an increasingly beaten up squad.

As for the draw - weeks 1 and 2 were the ones that got away, last week especially.  The market seems a week behind and is now catching up offering low 20s - why such a shift when you have been comfortably getting 30s pre in the first two Tests?  Not of interest to me as a pre-match play especially given Australia's call to win the game last week rather than take 3.  I can't see why they would do any different this week as obviously don't fancy a drawn series.  I am however fairly sure the Lions would play for levels, but low 20s is a low price if only one team wants to play the 3rd man.

RM - its an interesting point about leadership. I also thought the Aussies seemed much more 'supportive' of each other than the Lions when the going was tough.

I remember thinking exactly the same thing about on-the-pitch motivation when Wales were on that nasty (7 or 8 games?) losing streak and then Ryan Jones took over as captain from Warburton.

Watching RJ running around the pitch like a yapping puppy, constantly applauding his team-mates, smiling, patting people on the back and generally infecting people with his enthusiasm, was a very big contrast to the pessimism that seemed to infect the team under Warburton. SW has a lot of strengths, leading by example, being 'mates with the ref' (if you believe in such a thing) etc, but this kind of infectious, energetic, relentlessly positive leadership doesn't seem to be one of them.

And as we know, RJs infectious enthusiasm coincided with Wales form completely turning around...

BOD has done his job adequately enough in defence and it's fair to say that the team hasn't been sent out to play in a way which would best utilise a running backs game which may have helped him but I've seen precious little evidence of him acting as a true leader at any stage on this tour and certainly not in the first two tests. All this hogwash about him raising his game for one last hurrah is just that. Had he been capable it would have already happened in the first two tests.

To be fair to BOD, he has been marking one of the most difficult players to tackle & from eating up the yards after breaking the gain line, that has ever worn a rugby shirt, & he has kept him very quiet.

CC yes of course we may get the draw by default, but at 20/1 for a pre match play for me it has to be a special match which usually involves something akin to bad weather at the Rec, two French teams playing a knockout cup match or Canada v Japan at a RWC

I think it's wise to back the draw if only for a safety play ........ if it's 19-16 with 5 minutes to go I wouldn't want to be a few hundred down on the draw.