scrubbedexpat141

So, come on then you lot....what did you think?

Suggested topics:

Israel Folau(sp) - not a shit debut?
Officiating at the breakdown....any good?
Lucky win?

csdf

Yes, a lucky win, but overall it was a fairly well-matched game and either side played well enough to win it. It's hard to be objective about the refereeing, but it did seem to me that some decisions were bizarrely one-sided.

Theseus

Doesn't a decision, by definition, have to be one side or the other. Otherwise its more of a deliberation.


Pedants revolt!

mentalist

We were extremely lucky. Unless we work harder and tackle better, we will lose the next two games. Their scrumhalf (Genya?) was immense. Without a shadow of doubt, the Wallabies didn't deserve to lose. If they had another 5 minutes playing time, the result would have been different.

The Dean

Garbage - the Lions dominated for an hour and were completely stiffed by Pollock's reffing, particularly in the 1st half. The calls against O'Driscoll at the breakdown were ludicrous - and led to him backing off from the physical stuff later to avoid giving away penalties.

Where the Lions (or rather, Gatland) got it wrong was bringing on subs to replace outstanding players before the margin was big enough to ensure victory - that could have cost the Lions the game, rather than any perceived Aussie superiority.

True, Genia won the scrum-half battle, but then again he is probably the most complete player in the world, so he should (Phillips by contrast was lacklustre - see his gentle jog back while Genia was sprinting through to set up Folau's first try). And that first try originated from a penalty that shouldn't have been given to Aus anyway.

The Lions will be ready next time. I suspect we saw the best of Aus yesterday, but the Lions have more in the tank than that.

[PS - can someone, preferably the IRB, clarify the forward pass law please? 'It came out of the hands backwards' said the TMO on the referral for Folau's 2nd try.......... what?? It went forward, albeit only slightly. End of. Or am I missing something?]

csdf

I agree - the law must be about the direction the ball travels, not the direction it left the player's hands. Otherwise you could face your own goal posts and through it "backwards" towards the opposing half.

mentalist

I don't agree with Deano that we totally dominated for an hour. If they had kicked their goals, the Aussies would have been well in front before the last 20 minutes when they did genuinely dominate. Given the Aussie injuries, the Lions should have wrapped it up before then. Mind you I thought we were unlucky not be awarded that try. Funny that whenever the biased Aussie commentator made a decision (eg. the non-try and forward pass), the referee consulted the TV umpire and invariably came up with the same decision.

scrubbedexpat141

Mike Phillips needs to step up a gear.

Scrummaging for the penalty in the last minute or two (the first of the missed ones, I think) was heart-breaking. The response from the Aussie players for their front row said it all.

In the next test we need POC, BOD, Jones, Croft etc to step up and 'do a Simon Shaw'...show some heart, some guts and pride to be a Lions player.

We also need to ****ing hit Folau and hit him hard, early. Letting him get any form of running speed is going to be damaging.

Negativity aside, what a footballer North looks like he could be. Not sure if commentators discussed it, but he clearly held back five yards from being under that high ball, so that as it was coming down, he was moving forwards. He didn't break stride and took the ball with some momentum. His try gave me goosebumps.

The Dean

O'Connell out of the tour............. massive disappointment - the guy is immense.

NorthernLad

Slightly off-topic...but England are rugby world champions

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/23010922

scrubbedexpat141

Gutted.

The Dean

......... and the ref in that one nearly destroyed them too......... England have been very good at this age group for several years - the senior team that just won 2-0 in Argentina contained a number of the junior squad from 2-3 years ago.

The Dean

The kicks are irrelevant - with better reffing, the Aussies would not have been awarded those penalties in the first place.

And further to my previous post: SH reffing is bizarre - and the idiot (Fraser, NZ) who killed our Under-20 boys v South Africa at the Junior World Cup last week almost ruined it for them again in yesterday's final v Wales. Happily, England's kids are made of tough stuff and came back from 15-3 down to score 20 points without reply and take the Cup.........

britexpat76

They put the football youths to shame.

NorthernLad

Everyone uses the 'lucky' tag...why were we lucky? Australia threw away points with shit kicking. The Lions scored more points than them, hence they won.

If there was another five minutes played the Lions may have scored again.

It was a fantastic game, worthy of a Lions test - can you not just enjoy the result?