I was hopeful going into the first test. I still contend that Lions team would have beaten anyone else in World Rugby. What I then saw was an absolute master-class by the ABs. I don’t see who the Lions could have picked that would have made enough of a difference. We can’t blame it all on Kruis after all.
I thought the ABs were much, much more threatening in attack - but even then, there were unnecessary mistakes (a Lions pack being put into reverse the way they were for the second AB try?) - and really, the Lions just weren’t physical enough, which is something they’re certainly capable of putting right…
They’ve got a real chance on Saturday, if the forwards front up - and I’d be surprised if they didn’t, with AWJ in last start territory, and Warburton wanting to put a marker down, and Itoje with stuff to prove…
I also thought that the Lions kept the ABs centres quiet. What is scary about New Zealand rugby, this happened in the U20s championship too, is that a hooked can pop up on the wing and be just as effective (affective? Dim clem p’run) as a winger!
They do have much better overall handling skills… I think another big part of it is just the game awareness, and the willingness to take a half-chance… I can’t remember the last time I saw an AB get isolated because no-one else realised he might be going to attack…
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Can’t really comment on specifics this early, I’m just over the moon!!! I had to listen to the game so I’m looking forward to highlights.
I did see a clip of the red card. Good call. Player safety and that had none of it! The statistics for that red card are ridiculous. Only the 3rd AB red card, first at home, first since 1967 and first time they’ve lost a game after losing a player.
Penalty count was disappointing but the response was great! Really invigorating!
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Agreed, but I wish we had done better against 14! However, joy in my heart!
p.s. lovely to see flags! Little Gowerton! Poola! All of those dreigiau!
to @AnthonyCusack Agree totally about the penalty count! We were very lucky BB wasn’t at the top of his form or the ABs would have been out of sight!!!
Although one of his misses, was it his last? They’d made about 35m, had crossed the line but didn’t score, surely that should have been advantage over?
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I agree, but it seems increasingly these days that if a penaltyi is in a reasonably kickable position the referee will keep the advantage going till he/she has to award the kick. In fact only a try is an advantage over a penalty kick in a kickable position - which in some ways is logical.
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I think the draw was fair! Too many errors on both sides for a victory to be fair on either! Farrell’s handling wasn’t brilliant. These Lions are not as good as '71. I know it’s a different game, but I truly think the 71 guys were kings and these are not!
I feel, respectfully, the times we agree on rugby may be limited 
The mysticism of the All Blacks appears to have waned slightly. If only ROG hadn’t had his moment of madness we’d be looking at 3 unbeaten Lions tours on a trot. Gives strength to the argument to maintain the project.
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Life would be very boring if we all agreed about everything! 
Also, I know my views are coloured by knowing that any Lions side that beats the All Blacks will be seen as equal to my heroes of 1971, and I didn’t… well I didn’t see them in '71, it was on the radio at 02.00 a.m., but I didn’t see, this morning, what seemed to me their equal!! 
They also didn’t win, but they have done something that needs to be seen in the context it deserves. That series draw is incredible and to take anything from New Zealand at home is a feat that will always be an exception and never a rule. They are a different beast. 23 years since losing or drawing at Eden Park. No other country has a record like that in their primary stadium. You’d be hard pressed to find that record in any sport.
The 71 Lions weren’t infallible either. They were over confident in the second test and were soundly taught a lesson.
I thought you said the AB’s have waned slightly. I agree they did make mistakes. I suspect they always did, just not as many as most sides. Also, they never, ever give up! They play to the last second! The Lions did that today - and needed to!
I said the mystique has after this result. But it’s a nuance. I’m not saying they’re suddenly rubbish.
Odd game to finish with. Massive levels of tension, but unusually high levels of mistakes from the ABs (who on usual form would have put it to bed in the first half, and would have done so even with the mistakes if it hadn’t been for JD) - and the Lions had two or three real opportunities in the final quarter which they absolutely butchered. The Lions of 2013 would have taken them.
I don’t think Liam Williams ahead of Halfpenny worked, I thought Farrell was mostly shocking, that lad Watson on the wing was utterly anonymous (apart from when he was running backwards), and that fringe English prop should never have been there (bloody pity that Samson Lee has had a bad run with injuries of late, and I wish WP Nel had been there). I think Jamie George was lucky not to be subbed a fair bit earlier - he had a few dodgy throws, one of which gave them a try, and Owens has good darts. Set piece wasn’t what it should have been, overall.
Tadhg Furlong impressed me, and Conor Murray did well - I can live with his kicking getting him the slight edge ahead of Rhys Webb, although I think Webb has been unlucky not to get more game time. I thought Te’o played well throughout, and would much rather have kept him at 12. Maro Itoje is a lovely player, fair play to him.
The real story here is that these All Blacks are in a rebuilding stage, and while they can play some beautiful stuff, they also make mistakes if they’re put under pressure.
If Wales can put them under pressure in November, we’ll have a genuine chance. Here’s hoping Samson Lee is back at full fitness by then. There’s no way a full strength Wales side loses all that much ground to this Lions team, and I’d be disappointed if Wales made the kind of mistakes the Lions made in attack early in the last quarter (disappointed but not surprised, unfortunately - one thing this Wales team isn’t yet is clinical enough).
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I am openmouthed! 
with surprise! We agree about so much! Farrell, Halfpenny, Watson, Jamie George and the ABs rebuilding. I do sincerely hope you are right about November! If Wales can beat the All Blacks,
I shall die happy!! mm… thinks, “If I try to dance like that, I will die happy!” 
The Irish boys played well! Fair play. Furlong was brilliant all tour. Farell was poor, fortunately his boot wasn’t. JD has been getting some sprint coaching or something. His pace has been excellent. Very impressed with him.
Rebuilding is interesting, 23 of 33 players have over 20 caps. 15 of them have over 40. So, they’re pretty experienced.
They were uncharacteristically unpolished. Credit to the Lions for rattling them. They are beatable. Wales have some positions to address though.
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In the NZ context, that’s definitely rebuilding. Having to bring in a couple of backs with so little Test experience in the deciding game against the Lions is a pretty unusual situation for them - compare Saturday’s team to their World Cup squad and you see the major shift is wholesale change to their backs. Their forwards mean they’re always going to be at the races, but the comparative lack of experience in the backs is what has blunted their killing edge ever so slightly…
I think JD may have lightened up slightly - he’s always had a serious turn of pace on the outside, but I think he may have bulked up a bit too much over the last couple of years… it’d be interesting to know…
If the Wales props do okay (which is why I’ve got my fingers crossed for Lee) we’re not far off Lions standard across the rest of the park - I’d see a back three of Halfpenny, North, Williams as better than Williams Watson Daly, I like Webb/Biggar against Murray/Sexton, Moriarty was unlucky to pick up an injury… etc…
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i was looking at JD and thinking how things have changed, I don’t know what John Dawes weighed, but I don’t think it was even close to today’s centres. Comments?
Moriarty was very unlucky. I suspect he would have really pushed Stander. Doubt he’d have made a start. Be interesting to see how Gatland plays the back row in the Autumn. Faleutau was superb, so he’s now got an enviable selection headache
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