So it may very well come down to this game in good old Melbourne, the sporting capital of Australia. For once Aussie Rules and Richmond won't be the centre of attention when it comes to sport in Victoria's capital, with Docklands and the Etihad hosting the game of the weekend, and what could be the decisive game in this series.
 |
| Blame the Asics. |
The winner of this game will win the series albeit at different times. The Lions are 1-0 up after Kurtley Beale failed to put on the right type of boots for the overused Suncorp Stadium surface and allowed the Lions to escape with a narrow 23-21 win against a Wallabies side forced to play their openside flanker at inside centre.
The Wallabies will be hoping their bad luck with backs was left behind in Queensland as they do not have many options left while the Lions have options galore, including a shock return for Tommy Bowe who fractured his hand only weeks before - Ireland's quality utility back slots straight into the starting team along with a very Welsh looking forward pack.
It is imperative that the Lions come out guns blazing to win this game and I think they will - the 1st test was always going to be a bit of a lottery for both sides and the Lions will feel that perhaps lady luck is on their side this year.
 |
| Last time the Lions won a series in 1997 |
I hope so as a Lions series win - which will be the first since Guscott's Lions beat world champions South Africa in 1997 - will be a good thing for world rugby. World rugby needs to be different from football and teams like the Barbarians and Lions need to be embraced and kept alive like the kereru and kiwi. A strong and victorious Lions side will ensure the Lions' relevance and long term survival in this day of age of professional rugby where concerns over the amount of games players play grow ever stronger.
A Lions series win would also be a fitting finale for a generation of players set to bow out after this tour - Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell deserve to have a Lions series win to add to their CV of Grand Slam, Heineken Cup victories and the pressure must be on BOD to ensure that his ginger haired mate's work in the 1st test doesn't go unrewarded - O'Connell's tour ended after sustaining a fractured hand in that epic game.
The Wallabies will be desperate for a win - Dingo Deans will certainly be desperate for one to resuscitate his Wallaby coaching career but the odds may very well be stacked against him. The Wallabies are world beaters when they are at full strength but when they're not, they are the most vulnerable side in world rugby as seen with shock defeats to Scotland and Samoa and big defeats to England and France in recent times.
One glimmer of hope is the performance by the tight forwards at the end of the 1st test in Brisbane - it was quite possibly the best display of scrummaging ever by a side in green and gold but the pack will need to do that for a full 80 minutes against a Lions pack who would have learnt not to take this supposedly weak Wallabies pack for granted.
My tip? Lions by 5 - it will be close again.
Teams for the 2nd test -
British and Irish Lions: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Tommy Bowe (Ireland) Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland), Jonathan Davies (Wales), George North (Wales), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Ben Youngs (England); Jamie Heaslip (Ireland), Sam Warburton (captain, Wales), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Geoff Parling (England) Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales), Tom Youngs (England), Mako Vunipola (England),
Reserves: Richard Hibbard (Wales), Ryan Grant (Scotland), Dan Cole (England), Tom Croft (England), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Conor Murray (Ireland), Owen Farrell (England), Alex Cuthbert (Wales).
Australia - Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Lealiifano, Joe Tomane, James O'Connor, Will Genia, Wycliff Palu, Michael Hooper, Ben Mowen, James Horwill, Kane Douglas, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson
Replacements: Saia Faingaa, James Slipper, Sekope Kepu, Rob Simmons, Liam Gill, Nick Phipps, Rob Horne, Jesse Mogg
jon was good player
ReplyDeletejon was good player
ReplyDelete