Lions XV for 2nd test in Wellington
aargghhh.. this is what happens when u are away from home and not using ur own computer... yeesh.. unexpectedly lost the whole blog that i had written yesterday.. well to be expected..
Sydney's such a different place to New Zealand.. far more vibrant in a different way.. there is definitely a much broader range of shops and cultures than in New Zealand.. from Kinokuniya to Oporto - Portuguese food chain - you can tell ya the sheep in the big city.. and they're p crazy abt their sport too.. esp when their Australians are in it.. in fact, coz the main networks, ABC, 7, 9 and Ten only get half-an-hour for their news slots, they only show news when Hewitt, Bogut or Ponting are in it.. end of story.. for example, State of Origin 3 has gotten far more press than the Wallabies test even though it's still under a week away.. all partly coz of the trouble them Roosters got into over the weekend against Paramatta..
imagine the day when Umaga, McCaw or any other All Black face the juidiciary in one night.. well Wednesday night was like that for the Roosters with Hindmarsh, Ryan Cross and Brit, Adrian Morley all in the book, with only Hindmarsh escaping - to the release of the Blues.. on Umaga, i think he's doing the right thing.. if he knows he did nothing wrong, then he shouldn't apologise just because the media want him too.. he has to be the man here..
so to the Lions XV for this Saturday:
Gethin Jenkins, Steve Thompson, Julian White, Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, Simon Easterby, Lewis Moody, Ryan Jones, Dwayne Peel, Jonny Wilkinson, Shane Williams, Gavin Henson, Gareth Thomas(captain), Jason Robinson, Josh Lewsey
SUBS: Shane Byrne, Graham Rowntree, Martin Corry, Martyn Williams, Matt Dawson, Stephen Jones, Shane Horgan
a p good selection in my book.. SCW finally has the sense to admit he was wrong in picking reputation over present form and it shows with the Welsh Grand Slammers and Easterby and O'Callaghan who have been p good so far on tour.. Martyn Williams has a chance to prove why he is the 6 Nations Player of the Tournament from the bench, but it may be hard against what on paper is a p good loose trio.. with Jonny moved into first-five, we... still have only one proper midfielder, but Thomas should be able to fit into that center role, with his defence and is a great choice as captain.. the only question is why are there no other specialist midfielders, i.e. D'Arcy, Greenwood, Smith in there? if Henson got injured like O'Driscoll, it'd be p much the same situation as of last weekend, albeit less dire coz u only have one first-five instead of two who had little impression on the game..
wonder abt that front row.. Thompson's not a bad scrummager but his lineout throwing wasn't much better than Shane Byrne's who i'm surprised is still in the reckoning.. apparently Bulloch may be injured which is why.. but clearly Hayman and Woodcock had to wood over Jenkins and White, both p good scrummagers as well.. should he have brought on a v powerful prop in Sheridan instead of a hooker who is solid at scrum time, but not so at the important lineouts? remains to be seen..
on another note, Ma'a Nonu has been named on the bench.. now he's a super sub for me.. can play in midfield and on the wings.. and is always gonna make an impact on the field.. as i mentioned earlier, the All Blacks have had changes, which are positive no doubt.. they're still favourites but i think this weekend's game should be much tougher, with the Welshmen keen to show why they won the Grand Slam..
finally, Sydney's got an awesome sports shop called Mick Simmons in the middle of George Street just before the posh Queen Victoria Building.. it's awesome.. it's range of league, AFL and union gear is just so big , it's eye popping.. and it's got the 2003 World Cup gear at half price atm.. might get a Welsh jersey coz part of my heart came from a dragon - most of it's 100% Pure New Zealand.. want to get back to the Australia v Bangladesh game which can u believe it is on terrestial TV.. what a great law and i guess that's why it's so much easier for Australians to produce top quality sportsmen, when all of them have the chance to watch Wimbledon or any other top sporting event without having to subscribe to cable.. but i guess different countries, different cultures, and Australians do prefer to reach out.. kinda like Americans, whereas New Zealand is a bit more inclusive, while Britain is more old-fashioned, traditional and hierachial.. none bad, but just a different way of doing it..
which brings me to this quote which Michael Laws, mayor of Wanganui but more well-known as one of New Zealand's voices, said after the Lions got hammered in the hail in Christchurch:
The Lions.. it's like Germany, Spain, Italy and France combining..oh yeah they do.. the EU.. right and we know that doesn't work..
Sydney's such a different place to New Zealand.. far more vibrant in a different way.. there is definitely a much broader range of shops and cultures than in New Zealand.. from Kinokuniya to Oporto - Portuguese food chain - you can tell ya the sheep in the big city.. and they're p crazy abt their sport too.. esp when their Australians are in it.. in fact, coz the main networks, ABC, 7, 9 and Ten only get half-an-hour for their news slots, they only show news when Hewitt, Bogut or Ponting are in it.. end of story.. for example, State of Origin 3 has gotten far more press than the Wallabies test even though it's still under a week away.. all partly coz of the trouble them Roosters got into over the weekend against Paramatta..
imagine the day when Umaga, McCaw or any other All Black face the juidiciary in one night.. well Wednesday night was like that for the Roosters with Hindmarsh, Ryan Cross and Brit, Adrian Morley all in the book, with only Hindmarsh escaping - to the release of the Blues.. on Umaga, i think he's doing the right thing.. if he knows he did nothing wrong, then he shouldn't apologise just because the media want him too.. he has to be the man here..
so to the Lions XV for this Saturday:
Gethin Jenkins, Steve Thompson, Julian White, Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, Simon Easterby, Lewis Moody, Ryan Jones, Dwayne Peel, Jonny Wilkinson, Shane Williams, Gavin Henson, Gareth Thomas(captain), Jason Robinson, Josh Lewsey
SUBS: Shane Byrne, Graham Rowntree, Martin Corry, Martyn Williams, Matt Dawson, Stephen Jones, Shane Horgan
a p good selection in my book.. SCW finally has the sense to admit he was wrong in picking reputation over present form and it shows with the Welsh Grand Slammers and Easterby and O'Callaghan who have been p good so far on tour.. Martyn Williams has a chance to prove why he is the 6 Nations Player of the Tournament from the bench, but it may be hard against what on paper is a p good loose trio.. with Jonny moved into first-five, we... still have only one proper midfielder, but Thomas should be able to fit into that center role, with his defence and is a great choice as captain.. the only question is why are there no other specialist midfielders, i.e. D'Arcy, Greenwood, Smith in there? if Henson got injured like O'Driscoll, it'd be p much the same situation as of last weekend, albeit less dire coz u only have one first-five instead of two who had little impression on the game..
wonder abt that front row.. Thompson's not a bad scrummager but his lineout throwing wasn't much better than Shane Byrne's who i'm surprised is still in the reckoning.. apparently Bulloch may be injured which is why.. but clearly Hayman and Woodcock had to wood over Jenkins and White, both p good scrummagers as well.. should he have brought on a v powerful prop in Sheridan instead of a hooker who is solid at scrum time, but not so at the important lineouts? remains to be seen..
on another note, Ma'a Nonu has been named on the bench.. now he's a super sub for me.. can play in midfield and on the wings.. and is always gonna make an impact on the field.. as i mentioned earlier, the All Blacks have had changes, which are positive no doubt.. they're still favourites but i think this weekend's game should be much tougher, with the Welshmen keen to show why they won the Grand Slam..
finally, Sydney's got an awesome sports shop called Mick Simmons in the middle of George Street just before the posh Queen Victoria Building.. it's awesome.. it's range of league, AFL and union gear is just so big , it's eye popping.. and it's got the 2003 World Cup gear at half price atm.. might get a Welsh jersey coz part of my heart came from a dragon - most of it's 100% Pure New Zealand.. want to get back to the Australia v Bangladesh game which can u believe it is on terrestial TV.. what a great law and i guess that's why it's so much easier for Australians to produce top quality sportsmen, when all of them have the chance to watch Wimbledon or any other top sporting event without having to subscribe to cable.. but i guess different countries, different cultures, and Australians do prefer to reach out.. kinda like Americans, whereas New Zealand is a bit more inclusive, while Britain is more old-fashioned, traditional and hierachial.. none bad, but just a different way of doing it..
which brings me to this quote which Michael Laws, mayor of Wanganui but more well-known as one of New Zealand's voices, said after the Lions got hammered in the hail in Christchurch:
The Lions.. it's like Germany, Spain, Italy and France combining..oh yeah they do.. the EU.. right and we know that doesn't work..
posted by Unknown at 11:59 pm
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