I have read a lot of blogs, thought pieces and newspaper
items about what we learnt about the Lions after the first test.
This is what I learnt:
That the referee was a complete dicksplash who wanted to listen to the sound of his own whistle or voice rather than concern himself with the triviality of say…a spectacle which millions of people cared about and a point in history in the sport of Rugby Union.
Eating 4 packs of jaffa cakes because they are easier to eat there and then rather than getting up from the sofa and making toast will make you violently sick.
Just because you are a raging alky does not mean you can’t come off the bench and play like a legend.
That in the end being an alky will affect your ability especially kicking.
That if you have a front row that is out performing the oppositions front row don’t take them all off with lots of time remaining and replace them with ones who under perform.
Don’t fuck around with Jonathan Davies’ knee.
Don't engage in banter with Scottish tramps
The Lions were lucky as fuck to win that test match and that we beat a team who played a forward in the centre, who weren’t meant to be able to scrummage and who even brought on someone who’s been in rehab in the second half.
I grunt when I bend over to tie my shoelaces.
Above: hat tip for Dai lailama but I would have put 'pull my finger'
That’s it from me – so gutted that Paul O Connell is out –
he got through some work on Saturday. There was a lot of homework done on angry
Mike Phillips and I think we need some ball winners on the floor – Croft is a
great player but he is only that way when we have the ball – we have to win it
first and Warburton cant do it all especially now POC is not there. Melbourne tomorrow– lets
not try and fuck this up eh??
Ok the fluff is out the way. The wheat has been cut from the
chaff, the……the…….thing…..you know..the thing has been separated from
the….um……..stuff and something something something. What I am trying to say is
that this Saturday is the beginning of the real thing or as people from some
parts of the Amman
valley say – the full shumonkee.
Above: FIGHT!
Play has been great so far not withstanding the last game
which was shit. However they only lost by 2 with some of a team that had had
about 24 hours together to gel – even less time then a Barbarian side or of
someone who has turned up with his boots and asked to make up a 14th
man for the away team. Kudos must go to Rory Best who was almost Welshman-like
in his lineout throwing. Some people thought it was a joke to call up retired diminutive
wizard Shane Williams, I didn’t, I loved it and it got people talking about the
Lions. We had a lot of comments before the tour that Barrett and Twelvetrees
were unlucky not to be going from the start and we can’t judge them on that
performance and I think that the dirt trackers will need them, hell knowing
Twelvetrees he’ll possibly looking for a test spot by the third. There were
players pushing for test spots like Falatau and some from the bench that really
should have calmed things down and showed some leadership but in the end its
time to shrug shoulders and prepare for the main test.
Test side was picked in the early hours of this morning and I
think that the only shocks were in the front row where Youngs replaced Hibbard
and Vunipola was ousted by Corbisiero. People have been touting the Heaslip,
Croft and Warburton partnership for a while now but if they had have chosen a
back row consisting of O Brien, Falatau, Lydiate or Tipiric would we have been
too gutted? The worry here is that Heaslip and Croft are great players but they
aren’t the best at contesting the breakdown and we can’t just rely on Warburton
for this – scared? Yeah I am a bit.
Above: Poor Cuthbert was so out of position during this move in training that they found him on the team bus
Cuthbert is the biggest concern even though he is one of the
most dangerous attacking players on the planet. I can imagine that there will
be people in the stadium selling beer and burgers with a finer defending
ability. If he is targeted and targeted well, we should be in for a lot of
trouble but thank Thor’s love eggs that we have someone great on the bench to
come on and……what? Maitland? Eh? I don’t know, while of course the guy is
talented and he does play wing and fullback but a Lions cap…….?
Other than Harold Bishop doing something with Charlene and
Mrs Mangells dog the story coming out of the Aussie camp is new players
especially Israel Foloa who seems to have found his way into the Wallabies side
via Aussie Rules and that other rugby game which is played within an 8 mile
radius in the north and of course down in Australia. The Aussies will be up for
this, exciting fast pack with class backs – they even have the uber talented
but uglier rugby player than Wayne Proctor and Mike Tindall, Kurtley Beale on
the bench.
Above: Kurtley Beale turns up for training today
I remember the first Lions game I ever saw was the first test
against the Australians in 1989 in a house in Goodwick, it was a strange
sensation cheering on people like Moore, Richards, Underwood and Andrew, people
I had wanted unfortunate minor accidents to happen to in previous seasons, playing
alongside players I loved like Robert Jones and Ieuan Evans (I don’t want to
talk about Mike Hall….). The result was a bumming of almost Elton John
proportions but the Lions team came back, fought tooth and nail and made
history. It is up to this Lions team to decide where they will be entered in
the annals of rugby history but we know they have the talent to be the first
team to win a Lions series in Australia
for twenty four years and the first one to win a series against any team since
1997.
