Clearly the views of a one-eyed Englishman.
Wales definitely had a poor AI series, but built steadily during the 6N. Admittedly their record against Australia isn't great.
Robshaw is a decent player and a good captain, but he's a victim of being a utility back-rower, not a specialist (Brian Moore's words, not mine). I believe the same could be argued of Ryan Jones.
Robshaw is NOT awesome. Richie McCaw is awesome. David Pocock is awesome. Robshaw is not in that class.
The bottom line here though, is this is all nonsense.
This is a Lions team. It represents the UK - not England v Wales v Scotland v Ireland.
Just get behind the squad.
Would you say the English performance against Italy was good? As the 6 Nations progressed two teams performances went south, ie, Ireland and England. I thought the slam would be going Englands way. Everyone likes to see their national team win and I was farely convinced and quite vitrionic after Wales' defeat at the hands of Ireland. But Wales ground out results and got better.
I like my rugby, I watched every game in the 6 Nations. I definately enjoy the games where Wales are not involved and after the first weekend I thought like many others that we were in for a treat. We were not. But as for England's performances they most certainly did become very poor. The Italian game had the English troubled and at the end of it I was licking my lips with anticipation of the game in Cardiff.
Was it harder for Wales to come back from a poor Autumn and defeat to Ireland or was it easier for England to drop off towards the end of the tournament. It wasn't just the hammering that England endured in Cardiff but the writing was on the wall with a below par performance against Italy.
The Lion's squad has been picked, I'm now and always have been 100% behind it and wish them luck downunder. I don't think Gatland has been influenced by his Welsh connection, he is, after all a Kiwi and no Kiwi wants to lose anything against the Wallabies.
England produced a very good performance against scotland and good one against ireland in very difficult conditions.Admittedly the game against italy was poor and should have served as awarding .Nevertheless when one takes into account the plusses from the 6N plus an outstanding victory against the ABs( when did Wales last beat them? Oh in 1971, with the help of English ,Irish and Scottish players) then its obvious the English representation is not what it should be .In my book it should have been on a par with Wales
So, according to the form books, and you, England should have stuffed Wales in Cardiff and run away with the RBS 6 Nations Slam. Wales were in a dire situation, an awful autumn and a number of first choice players out through injury. Yet England only managed to score 3 points. That's not the score you would expect from 'one of the best teams in the world' and every excuse has been produced since.
The referee hated England. The roof was shut and those bloody Taffies made too much noise. The Lions selectors have picked a squad on performances during the 6 Nations, not the autumn internationals and only a few are there because of their reputations. You keep on harping back and 'nah nah nah, when did you beat the All Blacks' and it makes you look like a really sour pussed Sais.
I think every Welshman on here congratulated England on their win over the All Blacks, yet after our hammering of the English there has been nothing but moan moan moan.
its coming from all over the place not just the Mail .The fact that this is the very first time england have ever raises an issue like this speaks volumes.How much did the WRFU pay Walsh?
Whenever I have watched a rugby match between England and Wales and where the latter felt very confident of a win ,the reactions and general behaviour have been the same, except yesterday's was by a long way the most over the top, with all the ridiculous pre match razzmatazz ,excessive noise during the game itself and completely ungracious comments from certain quarters after the game(Jiffy excluded).JPR was particularly obnoxious but then we have kind of gotten used to accept his oafish comments over the years .We realise, of course, that they come from having a chronic inferiority complex.
you lost against ireland in the first match, so no slam .That was last season.Your team also got mullared during the autumn internationals so they are not as good as you think they are, but thats a different issue
Recognise any of these comments LGS. Bad loser or what?
i didnt say that. I simply said that based on the last 6 months Wales record isnot better than England's in fact its worse ,but Gatland made his English /Welsh choices based onthe last match , which in my view is wrong.A lot cam happen from one match to the next.I am glad he has included Heaslip and Bowe and not been swayed by their respective lack of form or fitness
There are number of players who would no doubt feel hard done by, Robshaw is one and so is Best.I would even include James Hook as Roberts is the only specialist 12 and he's is more of a crash ball merchant( meat and drink to an Aussie) Hook would have offered something different but as he said himself he isused to being snubbed , in other words Gatland does not fancy him.
Hook's looking good for the Barbarians, I believe.
Although Roberts mostly plays 12, on the last Lions tour he played 13 with BOD at 12 and that proved to bevery effective.
Also, the last few games he's played, they've been using him as a dummy-runner to take defenders out of the game.
Plenty of options.
that may well prove the answer because BOD has the guile which none of the other centres possess.If he should get injured then Gatland may look at Hogg who is versatile and of the 3 FBs has more about him going forward.Otherwise Gatland will have swallow his pride and call up Hook whom i think he has treated shoddily in the last.Another option would be Manu at 13, Bod 12.
Ano
ther thing I wish Gatland had kept his mouth shut re Warbuton being one of the few players who has the ear of the refs.Could well backfire now
With the exception of 2003 the excellent England team of that year winning both the RWC and Grand Slam England, with their greater strength in depth and number of players has failed in the 6 Nations. Wales, a much smaller nation in population have done much better with a comparatively small number of players have got the better record.
England Championships 3 (1 Grand Slam), 2 Triple Crowns.
Wales Championships 4 (3 Grand Slams), 3 Triple Crowns.
As far as the 6 Nations is concerned Wales, at the moment, have the bragging rights.data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
strong Baabaas team for the match this weekend.5 Kiwis, 2 SaffersOne Frenchman 2 Englishmen ,1 Welshman,2 Americans and 2 italians.Should be very interesting
J Payne (Ulster); J Rokocoko (Bayonne), E Daly (Wasps), C Laulala (Munster), T Ngwenya (Biarritz/USA); N Evans (Harlequins), D Yachvili (Biarritz/France); P James (Bath/Wales), S Brits (Saracens/South Africa), Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy); M Wentzel (Wasps), D Mumm (Exeter);
S Manoa (Northampton/USA), S Parisse (Stade Francais/Italy), S Jones (Wasps).
Replacements: D Jones (Ospreys), L Ghiraldini (Treviso/Italy), A Lo Cicero (Racing Metro/Italy), J Hamilton (Montpellier/Scotland), K Fotuali'i (Northampton/Samoa), J Hook (Perpignan/Wales), M Tindall (Gloucester)
~Lions team
Starting XV: S Hogg (Scotland); A Cuthbert (Wales), J Davies (Wales), J Roberts (Wales), S Maitland (Scotland); O Farrell (England), M Phillips (Wales); M Vunipola (England), R Hibbard (Wales), A Jones (Wales), R Gray (Scotland), P O'Connell (Ireland, capt), D Lydiate (Wales), J Tipuric (Wales), T Faletau (Wales).
Replacements: T Youngs (England), C Healy (Ireland), M Stevens (England), A W Jones (Wales), J Heaslip (Ireland), C Murray (Ireland), J Sexton (Ireland), G North (Wales)
Unlucky for Warburton as he is injured but i always felt O'Connell was the right man for the captains role