British and Irish Lions

[kaymar]

So, after yesterday's superb performance for Toulon, if you were Warren Gatland, would you pick Jonny Wilkinson?

[Susan1]

Yes absolutely ~ team announcement today

Can't wait wish I could afford to do the tour

[paultheeagle]

Squad has been announced...No Jonny Wilkinson in the squad.

[Delboy]

Squad has been announced...No Jonny Wilkinson in the squad.

Have just read that he turned down an invite to join the squad.

"
Jonny Wilkinson has dramatically turned down an invitation to join this summer's British and Irish Lions tour, sparing Australia a reunion with their old nemesis. Warren Gatland, the Lions head coach, rang the World Cup-winning fly-half on Monday to offer him the chance of joining the squad, but Wilkinson told him he will not be available to fly out on 27 May because of his commitments with Toulon and because he is also uncertain about his state of fitness.

There remains the faint possibility of Wilkinson being invited to join the tour as an injury replacement but Gatland revealed the former England outside-half was considering having an operation which would rule him out of contention.

"I asked Jonny if he could tour and he said he wasn't available. I wouldn't have made the phone call if it wasn't to offer him a place on the tour," said Gatland, after unveiling a 37-man squad. "He appreciated the call but he said he was struggling with his body and was managing himself week to week."

[kaymar]

Hmmmm! I'm not sure that I totally believe Gatland's version, or at least the media version of what Gatland said.

I can well understand that JW would say that he had a commitment to Toulon which he was obliged to fulfil before he could consider joining the Lions Tour - that's the way he is. He could still have been selected in the knowledge that he would miss the first 10 days until the Toulon season ended. That would, however, have brought the inevitable accusations of favouritism so Gatland chose the easier option. Can't blame him but I'm not sure he has been totally honest about it.

Still, it's a long tour and we may well see JW in action again before the end of it - I certainly hope so, he is still a superb player with a great attitude and genuine modesty - attributes which are becoming more and more rare in modern sport.

[Delboy]

Hmmmm! I'm not sure that I totally believe Gatland's version, or at least the media version of what Gatland said.
.

I saw an interview with Gatland on TV, and he said the same as what the media have reported.

"I asked Jonny if he could tour and he said he wasn't available. I wouldn't have made the phone call if it wasn't to offer him a place on the tour,"

[qbman1]

He could still make the tour later on. What with injuries and late withdrawals, every Lions tour ends up with a few players in the Test team who were not even selected for the oiginal squad

[kaymar]

He could still make the tour later on. What with injuries and late withdrawals, every Lions tour ends up with a few players in the Test team who were not even selected for the oiginal squad

Yes, qbman, he will almost certainly be available once his Toulon season ends and they have left a place open for him. I just believe that Gatland could have made it a little more clear that JW was not prepared to let Toulon down by saying he was available immediately, rather than giving the impression that he had declined the invitation all together.

As you may gather, I am a massive Wilkinson fan - I suspect that there is not/ has ever been a more honest, principled rugby player.

[Delboy]

Well done the British & Irish Lyons.

Lions thrash Australia to win series

The British and Irish Lions secure a first series win in 16 years with a dominant 41-16 victory over Australia in Sydney.

Man-of-the-match Halfpenny landed seven from eight kicks to finish with 21 points.
That was a new individual record for a Lion in a Test, overtaking the previous mark of 20 points shared by Jonny Wilkinson (in 2005 against Argentina) and Stephen Jones (in 2009 against South Africa).
It also took Halfpenny past Neil Jenkins's previous series record of 41 points for the Lions, the Welsh full-back finishing with 49.


41points, surpassing their previous highest tally of 31 - in 1966 - against Australia.

[Not so ancient mariner]

Yes, it's always nice to see the Aussies taken down a peg or two.

[Kendhni]

Not really been following this but there was a report on the radio the other day that asked if the Lions were really getting much out of this tour because their opponents were putting up very much 'second' teams against them so it was not a good indicator of performance ... I have no idea if this is true or not.

[Admiral of the Humber]

The Lions have won the Test series against Australia.

That really is all they needed to get out of this tour.

End of. Period. History.

Regards
Rob aka AOTH

[Delboy]

The Lions have won the Test series against Australia.

That really is all they needed to get out of this tour.

End of. Period. History.

Regards
Rob aka AOTH

AOTH

Totally agree.

I understand half penny is now going to be made a full penny.

It's the same with cricket, the only thing that matters is we beat the Australians in the Ashes series.

[kaymar]

It was always good to have the fall-back position of "well, what do you expect with a team containing 10 Welshman chosen by a Kiwi" but, now that they have won so well, we can celebrate the Aussies getting stuffed by the excellent British and Irish Lions. A superb display from 1 to 15, although I think the man of the match award should have gone to the French ref for his very British interpretation of the Laws of forward play

[sumdumbloke]

It was always good to have the fall-back position of "well, what do you expect with a team containing 10 Welshman chosen by a Kiwi" but, now that they have won so well, we can celebrate the Aussies getting stuffed by the excellent British and Irish Lions. A superb display from 1 to 15, although I think the man of the match award should have gone to the French ref for his very British interpretation of the Laws of forward play

I can agree with almost every word, Kaymar, except the bit about Poite, the ref. His interpretation of scrum laws reflect the French attitude, which is that the team on top in the scrum get the breaks. (and the top man in the scrum was an Englishman, but we'll not make too much of that...)

I have watched the game 3 times now (twice yesterday and again this morning) and watched bits again of the first and second tests. It all comes down to the refs. In the first 2 games, the refs were Southern Hemisphere guys who treat the scrum as a simple restart, and when it goes wrong ping alternate sides until everyone gets fed up.

Poite (the French ref yesterday) knows the scrum is much more than a restart, and let it un it's course. The results is 4 tries when last week we'd still be trying to cross the line on Tuesday.

And Ken... The point about 2nd class teams was in the provincial games. The shackle draggers kept all the internationals away from the provincial games, so that they were all fresh and motivated for the internationals. The Australia team the Lions beat was the very best that Aus could produce.

[Kendhni]

And Ken... The point about 2nd class teams was in the provincial games. The shackle draggers kept all the internationals away from the provincial games, so that they were all fresh and motivated for the internationals. The Australia team the Lions beat was the very best that Aus could produce.

Thanks for that .. and good to hear.