Lions tour to Oz

Well your first Gatland ball squad is looking good. Your "Lets play" is 5 players impossible

And it's wrong to hope for injuries I've been told

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/8681619/barnes-questions-wilkinson-omission

Roob - take a look at that. I happen to agree with Barnesy on everything he said there. (That isn't often, with many people about Barnes)

Especially the bit on Robshaw

Aussie Squad: Ben Alexander, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Nick Cummins, Dave Dennis, Saia Faingaa, Israel Folau, Will Genia, Liam Gill, Scott Higginbotham, Michael Hooper, Rob Horne, James Horwill, Digby Ioane, Sekope Kepu, Christian Lealiifano, Stephen Moore, Ben Mowen, Jame O'Connor, Wycliff Palu, Benn Robinson, Rob Simmons, James Slipper, Sitaleki Timani, Joe Tomane.


Clean slate for Quade Cooper my arse, even after Genia has publicly stated he's the 10 he wants to play with. Seems also Dingo sees this as in part a development tour as he's also not naming the departing Drew Mitchell

It's exactly what me and you talked about with Dingo Quindecagon, he was never giving Cooper that chance, too spiteful after Cooper went public in September. Cooper's controversial, and debatably a bad influence, but hes a very very gifted 10.

Personally I was looking at a nervous 2-1 win if the right Aussie side was picked. But with no Cooper, Smith or Mogg, add a drunk beale to the receipt and Pocock crocked, then 2-1 to the Lions against a Lions Lite Australia Side effectively is what I'm looking at.

Alot more confident due to Deans' announcement, despite Folau getting picked.

*He's not named Drew Mitchell, but HAS named Digby Ioane.

Perhaps he really does think that's the best side to pick,

It's still a bloody good side he can put together. But I'm sure the Lions are happy there's no Cooper or Mogg. And just on Cooper if he wasn't going to pick him, and in a way that's fair enough, why not just say so, what's the point in saying there's a clean slate then not picking the lad playing the best at 10?

So he'll pick something like

Robinson
Moore
Alexander
Timani
Horwill
Higginbotham
Hooper
Palu
Genia
JOC
Ioane
Barnes
AAC
Tomane
Folau

Or Folau on the Our Glorious Leader, Lealiffano at 12 and Barnes at 15 with Tomane missing out. Also possible Gill and Dennis could start with Hooper missing out, Higginbotham moving to 8 and Palu missing out.

22577 for anyone doing fantasy again

Lions vs Baabaas

Lions
15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)

14. Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
13. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets/Wales)
12. Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
11. Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)

10. Owen Farrell (Saracens/England)
9. Mike Phillips (Bayonne/Wales)

1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens/England)
2. Richard Hibbard (Ospreys/Wales)
3. Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales)
4. Richie Gray (Scotland)
5. Paul O’Connell (Munster/Ireland, captain)
6. Dan Lydiate (Dragons/Wales)
7. Justin Tuperic (Ospreys/Wales)
8. Toby Faletau (Dragons/Wales)

Replacements
16. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers/England)
17. Cian Healy (Leinster/Ireland)
18. Matt Stevens (Saracens/England)
19. Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys/wales)
20. Jamie Heaslip (Leinster/Ireland)
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Ireland)
22. Johnny Sexton (Leinster/Ireland)
23. George North (Scarlets/Wales)

Baabaas
15 Jared Payne
14 Joe Rokocoko
13 Elliot Daly
12 Casey Laulala
11 Takudzwa Ngwenya
10 Nick Evans
9 Dimitri Yachvili
1 Paul James
2 Schalk Brits
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Marco Wentzel
5 Dean Mumm
6 Samu Manoa
7 Sam Jones
8 Sergio Parisse (captain)
Replacements:
16 Leonardo Ghiraldini
17 Duncan Jones
18 Andrea Lo Cicero
19 Jim Hamilton
20 Imanol Harinordoquy
21 Kahn Fotuali'i
22 James Hook
23 Mike Tindall


Come on you baabaas!

Blimey, Sam Jones will need to be busy. Hopefully Mumm can help him out a little, he'll need to and even then blimey.

Earlier Radio 4 said only one English player earlier in Farrell, which surprised me as I was expecting to see Mako named, and it turns out it's the Beeb up to their usual standard of sport's reporting.

Still for showing the Argie matches I'll forgive them.

so just to rub it in, in 4 hours I board the plane to HK to watch the match. ....

Should be just a little more humid than home. Have a great time

The milk is not the same over there.

Sloth milk I think

It's dogs milk. Lasts forever does dogs milk.

Really Holly?

Oh yeah, no bugger will drink it.

Primordial milk

Hey I drink that . Usually drink the nestle UHT stuff though. If you do stay long enough you should have a dong oh wa tin ,it's cold ovaltine, in a 大家樂 (Cafe De Coral) but added condenesed milk which makes it taste oh so good.

Not heard if Higginbotham has had his scan done yet. This is on the back of what seemed a quick partial shoulder dislocation in the last game. Got to think even if he's passed fit I know which shoulder I'd run at if I was Faletau, Roberts, Tuilagi

Another huge blow for the Aussies this one.

healy going home due to ankle injury he was cleared of the biting and grant is being brought out for jenkins apparently i presume that means corbiesero is in the squad and grants the cover

and yet the announcement said Grant was being called up for Healey, so who knows

either way shame for Healey, my choice to start with Grant being overlooked until now

Picnic wrote:and yet the announcement said Grant was being called up for Healey, so who knows

either way shame for Healey, my choice to start with Grant being overlooked until now

ya the way they have said it sounds like corbiesero is cover for jenkins and grant is gone straight into the squad. whos on the bench for tomorrow?

Corbs I assume with Mako starting, last men standing not on a plane

Next team is just odd, partly that many players are getting little rest. But mostly that Hogg is named at 10 and there's no 10 on the bench.

If only it was possible to see that touring with 2 10s was a damn stupid idea. I assume at this point either Biggar or Flood are packing their bags