Lions Vs Reds

[Mr Mwenda]

Chessum on the hoof is a fine sight.

Beginning to look like internationals v club players more now.

[Galfon]

Great try - slick passing on the edge.
Morgan.
12 - 35., 57 min.
Should be able to relax a bit and just play..

[Mr Mwenda]

Nice line, Morgan. Motoring now.

[Banquo]

Decent half back change

[Banquo]

Great stuff now. Like the tempo.

[Mr Mwenda]

Freeman is everywhere now.

[Galfon]

Freeman coming off his wing and looking for work..gains reward
12 - 42 , 61 min.
Smith looking calm/ controlled with pack dominance now.

[Galfon]

Daly's pranged his wrist / arm in fluffed tackle..

[Galfon]

Superb Maro defence
then length of field by Jones !
12 - 47, 66 min.

[Galfon]

Smith preferring to kick a bit..

[Lizard]

Honestly thought the Reds would have a bit more in them than this.

[Mr Mwenda]

What's going on with the scrums now?

[Galfon]

Icing on the cake..
Ringrose in corner
12 - 52 FT
Bit flat in last 15 min.
Odd scrum calls by ref, but Itoje & Morgan very prominent in 2nd half... class is permanent.
Another top power-show by Freeman.

[Numbers]

Jac Morgan Man of the Match, I thought the Reds would be better opposition tho I haven't seen the match as yet.

[Spiffy]

What's going on with the scrums now?

Not clear.But the ref does seem to be hard on the Lions front row.
Good performances all round with Itoje particularly impressive.
Duhan VDM is a horse with ball in hand, but more of a donkey in defence.

[francoisfou]

Duhan VDM is a horse with ball in hand, but more of a donkey in defence.

… or a mare?

[Mr Mwenda]

Duhan VDM is a horse with ball in hand, but more of a donkey in defence.

… or a mare?

He's a funny one isn't he? So good at some things but then poor at others. It doesn't help that he seems very much a confidence player. I fear he will only make the test team if they know they can get the best out of his broken field running and finishing.

[Cameo]

I thought that was their best, most coherent performance, and I thought that after 17 minutes when they were still down.

Weird though the number of individual mistakes. To me that was all that was holding them back. Started with Freeman taking high ball then immediately losing it in contact, but most of them were in the pack. Both starting props had some bad missed tackles. Tom Curry missed at least two glaring one and also had another random drop. Morgan had a good carry then was stripped, and also missed a bad tackle.

Worked out well in the end playing Russell. Played 50 mins and is absolutely purring. Maybe give him a rest on the weekend though.

Morgan the first Lion to really get on top at the breakdown. I'm a fan anyway, but he'd be my starting 7.

Think wing selection will be the most controversial as everyone sees/wants different things. Freeman very involved today, but I wasn't as impressed as some. VDM always looks a bit lost (though I think that is partly just how he looks/runs), but dynamite given a bit of space, and I think that is so valuable. Personally I still mourne the absence of Darcy Graham, but that ship may have sailed. Even if Daly is out, which I hope he isn't, Tom Jordan is probably the obvious utility option.

[jngf]

I thought that was their best, most coherent performance, and I thought that after 17 minutes when they were still down.

Weird though the number of individual mistakes. To me that was all that was holding them back. Started with Freeman taking high ball then immediately losing it in contact, but most of them were in the pack. Both starting props had some bad missed tackles. Tom Curry missed at least two glaring one and also had another random drop. Morgan had a good carry then was stripped, and also missed a bad tackle.

Worked out well in the end playing Russell. Played 50 mins and is absolutely purring. Maybe give him a rest on the weekend though.

Morgan the first Lion to really get on top at the breakdown. I'm a fan anyway, but he'd be my starting 7.

Think wing selection will be the most controversial as everyone sees/wants different things. Freeman very involved today, but I wasn't as impressed as some. VDM always looks a bit lost (though I think that is partly just how he looks/runs), but dynamite given a bit of space, and I think that is so valuable. Personally I still mourne the absence of Darcy Graham, but that ship may have sailed. Even if Daly is out, which I hope he isn't, Tom Jordan is probably the obvious utility option.

Agree Morgan may deservedly get that test 7 shirt on form. VdF needs a big next game.

No.8 wide open - the match commentators were alluding to Conan having Billy Vunipola like qualities but they must be seeing something I’ve completely missed He’s a fairly big and quick back row but not by any yardstick a tight wrecking ball leviathon carrier imo p.s Farrell Snr - neither is Ben Earl

[Oakboy]

Selection remains open. I'd be surprised if today's 4, 9, 10, 21 and 22 did not wear those shirts for the first test but beyond that, who knows. I doubt that Farrell does yet.

[Which Tyler]

Completely forgot this was on.
Not that I've been able to watch anyway, but hey

[Which Tyler]

Aki and Jones not having a great day so far.

Daly enjoying Russell’s distribution though I’d say.

Yes. Think need to settle on centre combos quickly- playing this kind of game with unfamiliar combos is certainly ballsy.

Surely, going with a national combination makes that moot.
And from what I have seen (aka, not this morning) Tuipulotu is far ahead of Aki, whilst Ringrose and Jones are pretty much evens (though that sounds like it might have changed today).

So go with the Scottish midfield, to add to the Scottish 10 who's far ahead of his rivals, and Scottish 15 who's in poll position unless/until Keenan can make a convincing case for themselves instead (Daly didn't harm his prospects at the weekend - but is more fighting for the 23 shirt)

[Mikey Brown]

Aki and Jones not having a great day so far.

Daly enjoying Russell’s distribution though I’d say.

Yes. Think need to settle on centre combos quickly- playing this kind of game with unfamiliar combos is certainly ballsy.

Surely, going with a national combination makes that moot.
And from what I have seen (aka, not this morning) Tuipulotu is far ahead of Aki, whilst Ringrose and Jones are pretty much evens (though that sounds like it might have changed today).

So go with the Scottish midfield, to add to the Scottish 10 who's far ahead of his rivals, and Scottish 15 who's in poll position unless/until Keenan can make a convincing case for themselves instead (Daly didn't harm his prospects at the weekend - but is more fighting for the 23 shirt)

Aki had a much better second half when he just ran it straight a bit more. A couple of errors from Jones but they very much felt like timing/angles being off. Aki found himself outside Jones a couple of times, for whatever reason, and didn’t seem to get himself in a good position.

But yeah, the national pairings still look more natural and the presence of Russell might swing that a bit in Huwipulotu’s favour.

Daly looks like the form 15 but have to see what the deal is with that wrist injury.

[BaldiePete]

Daly looks like the form 15 but have to see what the deal is with that wrist injury.

True, but Kinghorn and Keenan haven’t played yet. If Daly is out then that’s a problem since Keenan and Kinghorn will be undercooked for test selection. Probably less so for Kinghorn since he’s been playing for Toulouse but it’s not ideal given that he’s only just got to Australia.

[Puja]

I thought that was their best, most coherent performance, and I thought that after 17 minutes when they were still down.

Weird though the number of individual mistakes. To me that was all that was holding them back. Started with Freeman taking high ball then immediately losing it in contact, but most of them were in the pack. Both starting props had some bad missed tackles. Tom Curry missed at least two glaring one and also had another random drop. Morgan had a good carry then was stripped, and also missed a bad tackle.

Worked out well in the end playing Russell. Played 50 mins and is absolutely purring. Maybe give him a rest on the weekend though.

Morgan the first Lion to really get on top at the breakdown. I'm a fan anyway, but he'd be my starting 7.

Think wing selection will be the most controversial as everyone sees/wants different things. Freeman very involved today, but I wasn't as impressed as some. VDM always looks a bit lost (though I think that is partly just how he looks/runs), but dynamite given a bit of space, and I think that is so valuable. Personally I still mourne the absence of Darcy Graham, but that ship may have sailed. Even if Daly is out, which I hope he isn't, Tom Jordan is probably the obvious utility option.

Agreed, although the refs so far have seemed very anti-jackal. There were three occasions where Itoje locked in on the ball for a good 2-3 seconds and the ref just ignored him until he was eventually cleaned out. If that's going to be the trend throughout, then it might be worth picking Chessum/Beirne at 6 to up the power/lineout, and just abandoning competition at the breakdown altogether. I'd still probably pick Morgan in that situation, but it does change what's valuable.

Puja