British & Irish Lions 2025

MillionMilesAway said:
Strange looking team for the midweek game. I don't know who 4 of the subs are!

Ringrose on the bench with Aki not selected - does that point to picking the Irish pair at centre for Saturday or is he going to stick with the Scots?

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of fun and engagement on this tour - not helped by the long travelling distance in Australia, but not much reporting of engaging with the locals. I've already commented on the nitpicking over a player for Tuesday's scratch opponents.
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Australia is the worst tour out of the three, always has been.
I'd love us to tour France, it would be epic & would keep the money in the northern hemisphere haha
 
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bluemoon32 said:
Daddy looking after his little boy and giving him the captaincy, not a good look
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Go on BM32 I'll take the bait. A certain current captain of the Welsh national team is not given that honour after the first test is a slap in the face for Morgan.
This is not about Curry or Morgan and who the coach wants I get that and the usual suspects who pop up on the six nations thread know I'm a fan of Tom Curry, but Morgan was the form flanker going into the first test.
Now Owen who couldn't get selected is made captain ffs. Bet Tomos is glad he's back in Wales.
 
I think Morgan deserves a run out for the Lions in a Test Match but the main reason he hasn’t been selected is probably due to Wales losing 18 games in a row.

Farrell is captaining the reserves but creates more headlines than the first team due to the bitterness of some fans and pundits. Warburton let himself down badly leading the campaign to get Farrell banned from the group stages of the World Cup. I thought a lot better off him and the BBC presenters and pundits who were pivotal in starting the anti Farrell campaign.

Switching sports but when there was a similar campaign against Emma Radacanu by has been pundits, there was a backlash and the pundits were shown the door. Yes Farrell is far from blameless but I really think it’s time for the BBC to get rid of Warburton and others as their pundits. They have a disregard for players’ mental health.

Listening to Shanklyn, Henson and Alun WJ this week. They would make more interesting pundits.
 
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big gaz said:
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Go on BM32 I'll take the bait. A certain current captain of the Welsh national team is not given that honour after the first test is a slap in the face for Morgan.
This is not about Curry or Morgan and who the coach wants I get that and the usual suspects who pop up on the six nations thread know I'm a fan of Tom Curry, but Morgan was the form flanker going into the first test.
Now Owen who couldn't get selected is made captain ffs. Bet Tomos is glad he's back in Wales.
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Curry is a fine player, someone i rate highly & he certainly won't let the Lions down......but, Morgan is the better player & has shown that on this tour.
Lions will walk this tour & win it 3-0, that's more about how utterly shit Australia are, rather than how good Farrell's Lions are.
I don't blame anyone for the lack of Welsh players, well, apart from the fucking WRU but i don't agree with Farrell's treatment of Jac, he might as well have not gone as Farrell already knew he was going to pick Curry.
Picking his fucking Son as the captain today is shameful shit
 
bluemoon32 said:
Curry is a fine player, someone i rate highly & he certainly won't let the Lions down......but, Morgan is the better player & has shown that on this tour.
Lions will walk this tour & win it 3-0, that's more about how utterly shit Australia are, rather than how good Farrell's Lions are.
I don't blame anyone for the lack of Welsh players, well, apart from the fucking WRU but i don't agree with Farrell's treatment of Jac, he might as well have not gone as Farrell already knew he was going to pick Curry.
Picking his fucking Son as the captain today is shameful shit
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I watched the highlights of the latest game. Hard to tell but it looked like the Lions made hard work of it.
 
KS55 said:
I watched the highlights of the latest game. Hard to tell but it looked like the Lions made hard work of it.
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In fairness I thought the Lions should have had scored at least two more tries in the first half, then the Pasifiaka boys find their feet and made it a hard slog for the Lions.
For the Lions come weekend make use of all the ball we get (be clinical ) and cut out the silly fucking penalties.
 
big gaz said:
In fairness I thought the Lions should have had scored at least two more tries in the first half, then the Pasifiaka boys find their feet and made it a hard slog for the Lions.
For the Lions come weekend make use of all the ball we get (be clinical ) and cut out the silly fucking penalties.
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They should have been well clear, the forward pass to vdM was criminal. I thought the first yellow card was a bit harsh as Graham seemed (to me) to step into him.

I'm not sure any of them really stood out - Ringrose maybe. The Scottish lock too.
And of course Smith gets a bang on the head - if that's concussion, he's out of the test side, and the team will have to pick a goalkicker on the bench - it won't be Fin Smith.
 
MillionMilesAway said:
They should have been well clear, the forward pass to vdM was criminal. I thought the first yellow card was a bit harsh as Graham seemed (to me) to step into him.

I'm not sure any of them really stood out - Ringrose maybe. The Scottish lock too.
And of course Smith gets a bang on the head - if that's concussion, he's out of the test side, and the team will have to pick a goalkicker on the bench - it won't be Fin Smith.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if Farrell replaces Smith and Ringrose replaces Aki on the bench. Personally im a big fan of Owen Farrell, he’s an excellent player and achieved everything in the game. His skill and leadership is a big plus despite the media/bandwagon rugby fan narrative.

Lack of full back cover that way but Marcus is not a full back he’s just been out there to facilitate other players for England. I believe Ringrose will be more likely to make the 23 so for Kinghorn to make the bench it means dropping the 12 or 13 from the previous game. But Kinghorn for Keenan is still possible.

All depends on McCarthy. Either Berne plays lock and Chessum plays 6 or the other way around, either way it will be both of them playing. I haven’t heard much about Curry being injured, he’s a warrior. Morgan to replace Earl is an option.

I thought White played well today but a full 80 means Mitchell is keeping the bench spot.
 
bell_mcfc said:
Wouldn’t be surprised if Farrell replaces Smith and Ringrose replaces Aki on the bench. Personally im a big fan of Owen Farrell, he’s an excellent player and achieved everything in the game. His skill and leadership is a big plus despite the media/bandwagon rugby fan narrative.

Lack of full back cover that way but Marcus is not a full back he’s just been out there to facilitate other players for England. I believe Ringrose will be more likely to make the 23 so for Kinghorn to make the bench it means dropping the 12 or 13 from the previous game. But Kinghorn for Keenan is still possible.

All depends on McCarthy. Either Berne plays lock and Chessum plays 6 or the other way around, either way it will be both of them playing. I haven’t heard much about Curry being injured, he’s a warrior. Morgan to replace Earl is an option.

I thought White played well today but a full 80 means Mitchell is keeping the bench spot.
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White's been good every match, but yes, it'll be Mitchell.

I suppose the back row cover may depend on which Aussies come back into their team - do they need to contest anything better? If McCarthy is out, there's a space on the bench.

Difficult to see a cause to change the centres, so Ringrose/Farrell on the bench is a possibility. I like Aki, but Ringrose offers more options; I certainly expect him to play in the 3rd test if he's not on the pitch on Saturday.

Agreed that Smith is not a great fullback in defensive situations. I know injuries happen, but why put him on? Apart from him, only Earl played part of each match. If Smith passes the protocols, then presumably he'll be on the bench.
 
MillionMilesAway said:
They should have been well clear, the forward pass to vdM was criminal. I thought the first yellow card was a bit harsh as Graham seemed (to me) to step into him.

I'm not sure any of them really stood out - Ringrose maybe. The Scottish lock too.
And of course Smith gets a bang on the head - if that's concussion, he's out of the test side, and the team will have to pick a goalkicker on the bench - it won't be Fin Smith.
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;-)
 
I wasn’t far off at all, some more injuries it seems.

Ringrose named as starting 13 instead of Jones but pulled because he’s showing concussion signs again.

Tuipulotu With a tight hamstring opened the doors, along with Smith taking a head injury in the last game, for Farrell on the bench.

Morgan for Earl. Kinghorn on the bench to cover Wing and Full back.

All looks good to me.
 
Garry Ringrose has done right for himself. He has played well on tour. Will more than likely play the 3rd test if he is fit. If the Lions win at the weekend I think the midweek team is good enough to beat this Aussie team. It's just the tour and who the Lions tour against might need to change. You would go to Argentina instead of Australia in the future. I just hope the Australia gets a team together in time for the World Cup they host.
 
Aussies tipping Owen Farrell as a future Lions’ Coach
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Absolutely no atmosphere at this stadium whatsoever, making the game seem boring.
 
A bit of a.poor.indisciplined performance this, Australia looks like they are going to score every time they go forward.
 
Game on now.

Tries have been extremely easy to score in this game. Very poor defending from both teams.
 
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