Banquo wrote:
I'm a tad confused, the TH should have been stopped from doing that by the ref, surely? How does a loosehead prevent him coming in at 45 degrees- genuine question, cos I can't see how that would work, mechanically....speaking as a 13
You almost never see scrums being pinged properly. Unless you've actually played in the front row you can't understand the forces at work. TH has more force going throuh him than LH, that's just the geometry of it. You're right, a LH can't stop a TH boring in, nothing he can do about it. A TH in trouble has to push straight just to hopefully stand his ground. The moment he goes in he's going backwards.I refer back to the Furlong-Kitshoff contest here, how many times did you see that side of the scrum go in? A TH who knows he is winning can start to push his luck and "get away" with other stuff like putting the hooker off his strike. He knows he's going forward and that a ref will reward him. Most ofmthe SA scrums were rock steady, several of the Lions ones were a mess or in trouble.
Hurrah! Thing is, if I can see it, why can't the ref/TJ?
(in my later career I played hooker in 7's. That's not quite the same is it )
More front row forwards should become referees.
We'd need a replacement ref after 60 minutes though....
Thing is, with a rush defence as keen as the SA's is, a chip over the top or a grubber through the midfield is exactly how you keep them honest and think twice about rushing up. Not once did anyone try this. Lions have caught the no plan 'B' disease from England in it's entirety.
Gloskarlos wrote:Thing is, with a rush defence as keen as the SA's is, a chip over the top or a grubber through the midfield is exactly how you keep them honest and think twice about rushing up. Not once did anyone try this. Lions have caught the no plan 'B' disease from England in it's entirety.
I think they did do a couple as it happens. There was definitely one after a pen advantage?
Gloskarlos wrote:Thing is, with a rush defence as keen as the SA's is, a chip over the top or a grubber through the midfield is exactly how you keep them honest and think twice about rushing up. Not once did anyone try this. Lions have caught the no plan 'B' disease from England in it's entirety.
To be fair, Biggar tried at least two chips over the top in midfield which came to nothing.
Both teams are obsessed by kick and chase as the one and only tactic and have forgotten the old adage that if you hold on to possession the opposition can't score.
If you are looking for variation in attack, Russell is probably the only experienced FH on tour with the necessary skills. Marcus Smith has them too but Gatland will not risk him in a test. Almost certain that neither will feature in the final game.
If they did then I missed them completely, it's possible I suppose, I did need a toilet break at one stage! I was saying the same to the guys I was watching it with, and nobody chirped in with an 'oh look there's one'
There was no return from any of the box kick/up and under stodge that became incessant. so if Biggar did try one or two they were probably as poorly executed so he reverted to the tried and tested.
I will accept he wasn't getting the quickest ball to deal with from his 9.
Gloskarlos wrote:Thing is, with a rush defence as keen as the SA's is, a chip over the top or a grubber through the midfield is exactly how you keep them honest and think twice about rushing up. Not once did anyone try this. Lions have caught the no plan 'B' disease from England in it's entirety.
To be fair, Biggar tried at least two chips over the top in midfield which came to nothing.
Both teams are obsessed by kick and chase as the one and only tactic and have forgotten the old adage that if you hold on to possession the opposition can't score.
If you are looking for variation in attack, Russell is probably the only experienced FH on tour with the necessary skills. Marcus Smith has them too but Gatland will not risk him in a test. Almost certain that neither will feature in the final game.
They can however batter the crap out of your ball carriers, the reason the kick game is so prevalent is the strength of SA's defence and the need to get their big forwards running up and down the park to keep onside, this should yield a fitness advantage in the final quarter unless the ref keeps stopping the game every 5 minutes like he did on Saturday, this is why both Gatland and AWJ highlighted this after the defeat.
Yeah he tried a couple but they were pretty well covered.
Russell is the only one who really has the skill/vision to put these kicks in to space on the fly, but not much else about his game fits the way they’re trying to play.
Mikey Brown wrote:Yeah he tried a couple but they were pretty well covered.
Russell is the only one who really has the skill/vision to put these kicks in to space on the fly, but not much else about his game fits the way they’re trying to play.
SA flirting with the offside line to say the least.
Gloskarlos wrote:Thing is, with a rush defence as keen as the SA's is, a chip over the top or a grubber through the midfield is exactly how you keep them honest and think twice about rushing up. Not once did anyone try this. Lions have caught the no plan 'B' disease from England in it's entirety.
To be fair, Biggar tried at least two chips over the top in midfield which came to nothing.
Both teams are obsessed by kick and chase as the one and only tactic and have forgotten the old adage that if you hold on to possession the opposition can't score.
If you are looking for variation in attack, Russell is probably the only experienced FH on tour with the necessary skills. Marcus Smith has them too but Gatland will not risk him in a test. Almost certain that neither will feature in the final game.
They can however batter the crap out of your ball carriers, the reason the kick game is so prevalent is the strength of SA's defence and the need to get their big forwards running up and down the park to keep onside, this should yield a fitness advantage in the final quarter unless the ref keeps stopping the game every 5 minutes like he did on Saturday, this is why both Gatland and AWJ highlighted this after the defeat.
The most passive attacking strategy EVA. Now I can see how the Chiefs magically started winning when Gatland left for the Lions sabbatical.
Oh, they're actually considering acting some point this year? They'd taken so bloody long that I'd genuinely thought they weren't going to do anything. No doubt this putative disciplinary panel won't actually convene during the series.
Nice to see that the South African campaign of drawing a false equivalence between Gatland questioning whether it's a good idea to have a non-neutral TMO and Erasmus spending over an hour publically bitching about decisions that went against them in the first test is bearing fruit with "both teams have commented on the selection and/or performance of match officials."
Oh, they're actually considering acting some point this year? They'd taken so bloody long that I'd genuinely thought they weren't going to do anything. No doubt this putative disciplinary panel won't actually convene during the series.
Nice to see that the South African campaign of drawing a false equivalence between Gatland questioning whether it's a good idea to have a non-neutral TMO and Erasmus spending over an hour publically bitching about decisions that went against them in the first test is bearing fruit with "both teams have commented on the selection and/or performance of match officials."
Oh, they're actually considering acting some point this year? They'd taken so bloody long that I'd genuinely thought they weren't going to do anything. No doubt this putative disciplinary panel won't actually convene during the series.
Nice to see that the South African campaign of drawing a false equivalence between Gatland questioning whether it's a good idea to have a non-neutral TMO and Erasmus spending over an hour publically bitching about decisions that went against them in the first test is bearing fruit with "both teams have commented on the selection and/or performance of match officials."
Puja
You'd think World Rugby would want to come down very hard and very fast on Erasmus's actions and make a clear distinction. Maybe Gatland will make his own video this week - it seems like an effective strategy.
British and Irish Lions: Williams; Adams, Henshaw, Aki, Van der Merwe; Biggar, Price; Jones, Owens, Furlong, Itoje, A Wyn Jones (c), Lawes, Curry, Conan
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