Cheetahs vs British & Irish Lions Match Thread

thomond2006

British & Irish Lions:

15 Lee Byrne 14 Leigh Halfpenny 13 Keith Earls 12 Luke Fitzgerald 11 Shane Williams 10 James Hook 9 Harry Ellis 8 Andy Powell 7 Joe Worsley 6 Stephen Ferris 5 Paul O’Connell (c) 4 Donncha O’Callaghan 3 Euan Murray 2 Ross Ford 1 Andrew Sheridan

Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Nathan Hines, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Gordon D’Arcy.

Cheetahs:

15 Hennie Daniller 14 Danwel Demas 13 Corne Uys 12 Meyer Bosman 11 JW Jonker 10 Jacques- Louis Potgieter 9 Tewis de Bruyn 8 Hendro Scholtz (c) 7 Francois Uys 6 Heinrich Brüssow 5 David de Villiers 4 Nico Breedt 3 Kobus Calldo 2 Adriaan Strauss 1 Wian du Preez

Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss 17 WP Nel 18 Frans Viljoen 19 Kabamba Floors 20 Gerrie Odendaal 21 Louis Strydom 22 Fabian Juries.

*JUVENAL HAT ON*

Well it's match number 3.

Ross Ford, Donncha O’Callaghan, Stephen Ferris, Andy Powell, Harry Ellis, James Hook, Luke Fitzgerald and Leigh Halfpenny will all start for the first time on the tour with new arrival Gordon D'Arcy named among the replacements.

It seems a strange decision to play Fitzgerald at 12 when he is more comfortable on the wing. It maybe suggests that the wing places have been decided. The centre partnership may be a weakness therefore, with an out of position 12 and a 13 in Keith Earls who had a poor game last week.

The Welsh contigent once again dominate the side. Star performers against the Golden (Xerox :rolleyes:) Lions i.e Roberts, Bowe, Wyn Jones, BOD etc have been left out.

Leigh Halfpenny gets his chance to show his wares on the wing. His long range goal kicking is a great asset for the team.

Can't wait to Stephen "Pierre Spies" Ferris tommorrow!! :D

COME ON THE LIONS!!

*JUVENAL HAT OFF*

Crash

Here's a question - Will 1/2P be taking all kicks for goal, or only the longer ones?

ScrubsfanChris

Darn, you beat me to it thomond by like 5 minutes.
Anyway, some interesting selections there like Luke Fitz in at 12 with Keith Earls, but I'm scepticle about the half-back pairing of Ellis and Hook but I hope I am proven wrong.

thomond2006

Could a mod add "match thread" to the title??

Thanks.

They clearly picked Fitzgerald there because him and Earls are friends and can help each other and McGeechan is ****ed because he picked ridiculous players and needs to stick an 11 for the whole year at 12.

Not a chance Fitz will get that 11 spot now.:mad:

bigbadben

Dexter Unkempt Silverware wrote: »

They clearly picked Fitzgerald there because him and Earls are friends and can help each other and McGeechan is ****ed because he picked ridiculous players and needs to stick an 11 for the whole year at 12.

Not a chance Fitz will get that 11 spot now.:mad:

Flutey injured, Roberts just played two games, Hook at 10 and D'Arcy just arrived. Who the fck else was he going to play there. I dont know how you can back up the "ridiculous players" statement.

Be happy that Fitz is playing at all and cheer on what should be Irelands centre pairing in two and a bit years time.

Trojan

thomond2006 wrote: »

Could a mod add "match thread" to the title??

Thanks.

done

redmca

Already put this on a different thread:

There is no back up on the bench for the backrow - v strange

chupacabra

redmca wrote: »

Already put this on a different thread:

There is no back up on the bench for the backrow - v strange

Yeah, i couldnt imagine Hines or Shaw coming in for an injured backrow player.

TarfHead

bigbadben wrote: »

Who the fck else was he going to play there.

ROG at 10, Hook at 12, Luke Fitz at 11 ?

3rd match in a row for Shane Williams. If he doesn't find form soon ..

il gatto

I thought he might put 1/2P on one wing, Fitz on the other, Hook at 12 and Rog at 10. Obviously not. I don't believe the left wing is nailed down by any stretch and I expect Fitz to get a shot at it before the tests start. Moyne was fine, but apart from taking his tries well, wasn't that good. And Williams has been kak so far.

thomond2006

What do ye mean by "1/2P" ?

RuggieBear

thomond2006 wrote: »

What do ye mean by "1/2P" ?

halfpenny

Chucky the tree

thomond2006 wrote: »

What do ye mean by "1/2P" ?

halfpenny.

thomond2006

Is that just halfpenny or other players??

il gatto

thomond2006 wrote: »

Is that just halfpenny or other players??

Yeah sorry. Halfpenny. That's what I get for looking at the ScrumV forum:o

what?

his name is halfpenny= 1/2 of a p = 1/2p = overrated and they are doing there best to put him and Shane Williams in the team.

If 1/2p arived on the same day as Gordon Darcy,someone please explain to me why he can start but Darcy cannot?

RuggieBear

i could be completely wrong on this but is there any chance that D'arcy flew in from oz....which mean two incredibly long flights in a couple of days

chupacabra

il gatto wrote: »

Yeah sorry. Halfpenny. That's what I get for looking at the ScrumV forum:o

Or "pency" as he likes to be known :rolleyes:

almost as bad as Mike Blairs self given nick name of "blade"

beezer84

No D'arcy was in America apparently - just started a holiday - apparently he is pretty jetlagged which means his omission from the starting team makes sense

thomond2006

Thanks for that lads.

Lions -16 with the bookmakers.

bigbadben

thomond2006 wrote: »

Is that just halfpenny or other players??

Are you drunk?

TarfHead

RuggieBear wrote: »

.. is there any chance that D'arcy flew in from oz..

He wasn't in the Barbarians match day 22 for tomorrow's game which was, IIRC, announced before he was called up. There are only 4 NH players involved tomorrow morning.

premierstone

I would assume that the reason Fitz is in the centre and Hook at 10 is because he wants to have a look at ROG and Phillips in hte next match, slightly unfair on Fitz I agree but he will get his chance on the wing during this match.

Also re. Darcy now dont shoot me down for this as I actually dont agree with it but - why are people suprised I mean he wasnt in the original squad, Hook was called up ahead of him so Im afraid its obvious McGeechan just aint a fan or has some issue with him, I would say if I was having a bet he is very very long odds to start a test match or even to see a match day 22 ( againd I dont agree with this but I think its very clear from McGeechans selections thus far)

thomond2006

bigbadben wrote: »

Are you drunk?

No.

Aidric

thomond2006 wrote: »

What do ye mean by "1/2P" ?

Epic facepalm.

Nukem

That is a pretty strong front row - would not like to be stuck in with that lot. Really hope that they have another strong game . Com'on the LIONS

danthefan

Dexter Unkempt Silverware wrote: »

what?

his name is halfpenny= 1/2 of a p = 1/2p = overrated and they are doing there best to put him and Shane Williams in the team.

If 1/2p arived on the same day as Gordon Darcy,someone please explain to me why he can start but Darcy cannot?

1/2p arrived before D'Arcy. He was in the crowd for the game on Wednesday, D'Arcy was only called up on Wednesday.

funky penguin

bigbadben wrote: »

Be happy that Fitz is playing at all and cheer on what should be Irelands centre pairing in two and a bit years time.

I sincerely hope it's not! Not unless Fitz gets a shed load of gametime there at leinster, which won't happen because of Darce, BOD and better centres like McFadden.

I hope he gets shuffled to the wing at some point on Saturday, because I just don't see him playing better than Roberts.

bleg

stop calling him 1/2p, it's sadder than referring to every scandal as something-gate

danthefan

bleg wrote: »

stop calling him 1/2p, it's sadder than referring to every scandal as something-gate

No.

il gatto

bleg wrote: »

stop calling him 1/2p, it's sadder than referring to every scandal as something-gate

What is this Scandalgate you speak of?

anonymous_joe

il gatto wrote: »

What is this Scandalgate you speak of?

-gateGate?

Anyone else a bit worried that Hook will be phenomenal and we won't know what out-half to pick?

As for Fitz, the NZers reckoned he was our best player in November. He's a quality player, and while I'm annoyed he probably won't make the first team at this stage, I hope he does well.

And Shane Williams, talk about flogging a dead horse. I feel sorry for him, there's such an unsightly scramble for him to try and pull some form together, and it's not really fair on the guy.

Hoping Williams does what he did to that NZ team. (Which one was it?)

thomond2006

lions by 40!

Jackz

You could see in that intro where they walk up and say their position, that Luke wasn't entirely convinced about being a center.

Stealdo

As predicted the news is that Darce will come on at some point with Fitz getting his chance on the wing.

Another poor turnout unfortunately.

WaldenByThoreua

anyone got any streams?? gratefully accepted:D

toomevara

Jaysis, the crowd,or lack thereof, is utterly pathetic..you'd think they'd have thrown open the gates, or given away a few tickets...I've seen more people turn out to watch Barrow V Featherstone in the Nortern rail cup...someone somewhere is buggering up royally...

Stealdo

Jackz wrote: »

You could see in that intro where they walk up and say their position, that Luke wasn't entirely convinced about being a center.

I wonder whether they had that one filmed in advance or did they have to scramble it in last night?

Does anyone else hate that team lineout thingy?

Looking for a big scrum here

Aidric

toomevara wrote: »

Jaysis, the crowd,or lack thereof, is utterly pathetic..you'd think they'd have thrown open the gates, or given away a few tickets...I've seen more people turn out to watch Barrow V Featherstone in the Nortern rail cup...someone somewhere is buggering up royally...

It's pathetic alright. Playing in front of a virtually empty stadium does nothing for the occasion.

jimmyboy

limerickmunster wrote: »

anyone got any streams?? gratefully accepted:D

Ditto

Trojan

Particularly bad when compared to the crowd at the 1997 fixture. Admittedly it was between 2 Test matches but still.

Profiler

Earls juggles a pass, loses his support and the Cheeta's turn the ball over...

Not good again from Earls.

Stealdo

Hook has started well, bit of a wobble from Earls - keeping the fingers crossed for him today.

Think the crowd thing has a lot to do with the sheer volume of top class rugby being played these days. Especially the number of test matches SA would have played against the home unions over the past 10 years or so, the mystique of the Lions etc is somewhat lost as a result.

Profiler

Hook kicks the first score of the game for the Lions on 6mins with a penalty

toomevara

Trojan wrote: »

Particularly bad when compared to the crowd at the 1997 fixture. Admittedly it was between 2 Test matches but still.

Agreed, after all, Its the Lions V a Super 14 team...inexplicable. I mean the place is barely a third full. I realise this is a match thread, so i won't belabour the point, but this is definitely starting to devalue the currency of the tour...shouldn't have been allowed to happen...someone's asleep at the wheel here...

Profiler

Ferris try for the Lions

he showed great pace once again

Stealdo

Cracking stuff again from Ferris.

woodyg

http://www.veetle.com/viewChannel.php?cid=4a0d017b77088

toomevara

Great turn of pace from ferris, but a massively soft try. No fringe defence around the ruck from the cheetahs. Doesn't bode well for them.

Stev_o

G'wan Ferris would love to see him start the tests at 6. Powell has had a good start aswell.