O’Connell trumps O’Driscoll
21 Apr 2009
Ireland’s Paul O’Connell has been confirmed as captain of the British & Irish Lions 37-man squad to tour South Africa.
Coach Ian McGeechan named an extended squad as a large number of the players could be involved in the European Cup final on 23 May, a day before they fly out. Ireland are best represented with 14 players, Wales with 13, while there are eight Englishman and just two Scots.
O’Connell follows in the footsteps of Martin Johnson 12 years ago as McGeechan has opted for a lock as well as a player who doesn’t lead their own country. Brian O’Driscoll captains Ireland and is the only leader of the home nation teams selected as Ryan Jones, Mike Blair and Steve Borthwick have all been omitted.
‘Paul O’Connell has shown over his career that he is a natural leader both on and off the field,’ said McGeechan.
‘He leads from the front on the field and as a quality international has the respect of his fellow players all over the world. As a member of the 2005 tour to New Zealand he played in five matches including three Tests so knows all about the ethos and challenges of Lions tours,’ he said.
There is also no place for Jonny Wilkinson, Danny Cipriani or Gavin Henson, who could have been surprise inclusions but lack of game-time and form has counted against them.
Players who weren’t expected to be members of the touring party include Irish utility back Keith Earls, English wing Ugo Monye, Irish loose-forward Alan Quinlan (who is one of four loosies from the country), as well as 36-year-old English lock Simon Shaw.
Selections such as Shaw’s indicate that McGeechan has clearly opted for a massive pack to take on the Springboks up-front, as well as the coach favouring experience as Shaw was the only player who toured South Africa with the Lions in 1997.
‘I look forward to working with Paul and the entire squad over the coming months as we strive to develop a side that can add a successful chapter in the long history of the Lions,’ said McGeechan.
Lions Squad –
Backs: Lee Byrne, Rob Kearney, Shane Williams, Leigh Halfpenney, Ugo Monye, Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Brian O’Driscoll, Keith Earls, Riki Flutey, Ronan O’Gara, Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips, Harry Ellis, Tomas O’Leary
Forwards: Jamie Heaslip, Andy Powell, David Wallace, Stephen Ferris, Alan Quinlan, Joe Worsley, Martyn Williams, Alun-Wyn Jones, Paul O’Connell (c), Donncha O’Callaghan, Simon Shaw, Nathan Hines, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Andrew Sheridan, Phil Vickery, Euan Murray, Jerry Flannery, Lee Mears, Matthew Rees.
322 Comments
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21 Apr 2009, 17:09 pm
#288 Pietman: Lang en maar is die “in look” maar ek dink Andries is beslis beter as n haker in n mini skirt. Hy het tog te pragtige paar beentjies aan hom. Veral as hy skeer.
21 Apr 2009, 17:15 pm
again NO DELON ARMITAGE ???????? he’s one of the best fullbacks in the home nations right now .lle byrne is very very predictable “catch ball kick!” at least armitage runs hard .
then theres 10 12 channel of o gara and flutey .the laws of physics will tell u 101 kg of th 6″ 3 fran steyn or 101 kg 6 ” 2 of JDv will hammer the little flutey and equally small o gara!
21 Apr 2009, 17:35 pm
#296 mbaxman93:
An interesting concept this is of yours:- Big = Better.
Especially at 10 & 12.
Dan Carter and Matt Giteau are hardly Giants and theyre both quite handy.
21 Apr 2009, 17:55 pm
#296 mbaxman93: Armitage is work in progress, Byrne has worried the ‘Boks both times he has played against them recently. His return running has often split them, under -estimate him at your peril….
Flutey will never start, BOD has that position. Flutey = utility back.
21 Apr 2009, 17:58 pm
#298 Hambafrika:
Yes, I like Byrne. Big fella, runs lovely lines. Armitage just not quite there yet.
Flutey and BOD both start at 12 & 13. And they’ll be a handful.
21 Apr 2009, 18:09 pm
yes, poor decision to leave Armitage out but Byrne is only half fit so I’d say it won’t be long before Armitage is called out as a replacement.
21 Apr 2009, 18:10 pm
Have to say pretty close, but Blair & Ryan Jones are a surprise to me. I would have had both as starters actually.
going to be good.
How many from above miss the final cut?
21 Apr 2009, 18:10 pm
#293 BlackPanther: Thanks once again for your input BP.
Don’t think that PdV has any management nous. NOTHING. Thats my opinion.
We should beat them 3/0 my feeling it will be 3/1. If we beat them in Durban we should take all 3. Someone above said they are going to do altitude training in May. Not sure where but will probably be here. I know from been born and brought up in Joburg you need a good few months of altitude training not just a few weeks. He is still on the right track making them train there. Remember Mac the Sharks coach used to take oxygen bottle and have it on the side of the field…hehe. For Natal those days. Not sure if it was legal to do that but it must have helped a lot. We won a lot with Mac in the CC.
21 Apr 2009, 18:13 pm
#299 BlackPanther: Flutey wouldn’t make the All Black C team.
Crash bang. Steyn will eat him for breakfast.
21 Apr 2009, 18:14 pm
#302 Puma: Zoomer math? 3/1 with only 3 games?
21 Apr 2009, 18:21 pm
#304 SodaJoe: hehehe. Tired. My brain is asleep..LOL.
#302 Puma: Meant 2/1
21 Apr 2009, 18:23 pm
#303 SodaJoe:
Wouldnt ?
Couldnt !
thats why he moved to England. Kiwi journeyman, England star.
Steyn wont get a chance. JdV surely starts at no12.
21 Apr 2009, 18:33 pm
#299 BlackPanther: Roberts runs very strongly too…….. Have you seen Fluteys arms!!
21 Apr 2009, 18:44 pm
#306 BlackPanther: Maybe JdV will start. An obviously very good player. I would be happy.
Jean will also blikmsem Flutey. Hardly impressive.
But I like Steyn at 12 more than Jean (which is a turnaround on my part). I think his stint at 10 will help his distribution at 12, and he is an unsurpassed tackler.
Jean is much more creative.
But Adi & Steyn were really gelling with Ruan Pienaar at 10.
Steyn and Jacque Fourie would scare Nonu, and probably any one else on the planet. Fk – there would be nothing but dust and blood on the ground.
21 Apr 2009, 18:47 pm
#307 Hambafrika:
Yep, Roberts is 1 of those guys that you need to ‘straighten lines’. I like him, but is also a bit limited.
Truly, whatever size a Maori may or may not look, this is no way of measuring the mongrel in the dog. And Flutey was constantly in trouble before he left NZ for being in fights. Famously broke his knuckle/finger and then lied to North Harbour officials about how he broke it. Flutey wont take a back step to ANYONE. Not many Maoris do.
21 Apr 2009, 18:54 pm
#308 SodaJoe:
I still prefer JdV to Steyn. Yes, Steyn is possibly more powerful. But JdV has an infinitely better head on his shoulders, whether that be thru experience or cerebrally. To me, Steyn often makes bad decisions or gets isolated. He is naturally selfish. No bad thing and, without doubt, he will be 1 of the best, if not THE best, in another 2-3yrs at this level. Steyn vs McAlister will be great battles in future ABs vs Boks Tests, both incredible young players.
For me, JdVs time has arrived and he plays with poise now on most ocassions. He also takes the right options invariably, which is absolutely key as a distributor. Conrad Smith is the same type of player outside Nonu – not the quickest, not the most powerful, yet knows when to pass or retain possession, and when he passes it is entirely made for the end result. This also describes JdV. Besides, he was a standout for the Boks TriN ’08, which considering they took the Wooden Spoon again, tells me that he is a leader on the field and, therefore, an absolute MUST.
Steyn ? Perfect bencher ! (like Nonu)
21 Apr 2009, 19:41 pm
With monsters like Phil Vickery operating at scrum time, I see the the Boks struggling a bit at the set piece. Players like ‘Tree Cutter’ Woresley could put Spies on the back foot all tour.
Such a pity Gavin Henson was injured. He’s the sort of bloke who can single handedly win games. He would have dictated the game beautifully on the hard surfaces, and probably taken the Boks out of the series.
21 Apr 2009, 20:40 pm
Interesting that they pick only two recognised #10s. Maybe they plan to see if Wilko gets fit & bring him out as a sub?
21 Apr 2009, 20:50 pm
This team is going to kick ***, if we go in with the staid old class of 2007 we going to get f’ckd
Drop Smit and Butch and switch loosies around and pick the right fly half. You go in with Smit at prop and Butch at FH and no fetcher at 6, better forget it, 1974 and ’97 all over again.
MCGeech has picked his strongest in form squad and he will pick his starting line up just before the first test, he will go in with only those 100% on song and I hope to god we going to do the same else it could get seriously embarrassing.
21 Apr 2009, 22:06 pm
On SA rugby they had a post for picking your runon bok team and the results were pretty interesting. I just went through the lot – yep I know – but anyway here´s the results:
Now I´ve tallied this all up and there are some surprising results here:
1) These players are almost unanimously seen as the top players for their positions: 1 Beast 2 Smit 4 Bakkies 5 Matfield 9 Fourie du Preez 12 Jean de Villiers 13 Jacques Fourie and 14 JPP
with most votes going to Bakkies, De Villiers and JPP.
2) Its fairly close but SA is backing homeboy Jannie du Plessis at tighthead prop. Most votes overall go to CJ with 19 (inlcuding sub votes) and BJ just behind with 15.
3) Although everyones complaining about Schalk people seem to scared to dabble here and like a mantra mumble Burger, Smith, Spies. I agree except for Burger. I think people have this blind faith that he is the indestructible wrecking ball – which he certainly hasnt been. (if u want wrecking ball look at Jean Deysel who got pitifully few votes here) I reckon people are simply to scared to leave Burger out when in fact everyone knows our man who is going to cause destruction is Brussouw. He came damn close Burger 26 Brussouw 22.
4) Smith is seen as the reliable seven which he is
5) Spies wins the 8 man battle hands down with Kanko Spies 32 Kanko 21 – You said it and there it is. Kanko is seen as our number two loosie on the bench though, after Brussouw 22
6)Butch James is our preferred flyhalf with 27 votes above the unknown of Pienaar. Pienaar makes a strong presence on the bench however
7)Habana is still seen as our best bet at 11 Nokwe and Mentz tied on 8 votes apiece.
8) Terblanche gets the nod from the voters at 25 votes with Jantjes nowhere to be seen.
9) Obvious replacement hooker is Bismarck with 37 votes
10)at lock it seems Rossouw is preferred over Becker. I reckon PDV will probably play Becker and I dont think we´ll lose anything either way. Theyre both solid
11)Kockott has the firm support of the masses as backup Scrumhalf with 17 votes
12)As mentioned Pienaar gets the nod on the bench as replacement flyhalf and utility back
13) Frans Steyn (26) pips Jacobs (16) and Olivier (20) for final back spot due to his versatility and many feeling he should play fullback.
So here´s the team based on votes above: numbers next to names are votes for:
1) Beast 34
2) Smit 35
3) Jannie DuP 15
4) Bakkies 43
5) Matfield 39
6) Burger 26
7) Smith 32
8) Spies 32
9) Du Preez 39
10)James 27
11)Habana 24
12)DeVilliers 41
13)Fourie 35
14)JPP 42
15)Terblanche 25
16) CJ 19/ BJ 13/ Steenkamp 11
17) Bismarck 37
18) Rossouw 23/ Bekker 13
19) Brussouw 22/ Kankowski 21
20) Kockott 17
21) Pienaar 36
22) F Steyn 26
21 Apr 2009, 22:31 pm
finding it hard to believe they are relying on O’Gara and S.Jones as Lions #10s. O’Gara is not a good tourist. he is good at home, but struggles abroad. Jones is as unconsistant.
perhaps flutey is the other 10 option. in that case the boks can dig up some old super rugby and npc footage and see what to do to shut his game down….or you could just taunt him a bit. apparently maoris dont take a step back
22 Apr 2009, 11:07 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHc2YwdgIog
Turn your speakers on…
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