Lions tour to Australia

Lions with a 100% line out at the weekend. Impressive stuff.

Interestingly Oz also were perfect in that facet. Rare you see both teams not lose a line out. There was plenty of competition for it too.

From a broader POV though what an absolute joy it was to see a game of that quality play out.

Some of my bugbears from the first test appeared to be well ironed about. Specifically shape and structure in attack. Lions kept their pod structure much better and resourced the rucks a lot more effectively.

This test was much more a tale of defending and some fellas can hold their heads very high (not too high though or Jac Morgan will shoulder it)

179/219 tackles as a team is a large number to make. 82% success rate is lower than Farrell would have liked I'm sure. There were some poor misses but overall it was a strong defensive showing especially in the second half.

The entire starting pack hit double digits which is impressive. Normally you see at least one outlier. Porter with an industrious 16 tackles. Excellent workrate from him as ever. Conan steals the show here with an excellent 24. World Class numbers yet again.

The defensive integrity was sound. Oz are adopting a classic Schmidt tactic of forcing the same lads to make a few hits in a row off 9. Really targeting the same players in the same plays and hope they blink first. It's risky as it's energy sapping for the attack also. Given how early Valentini and Skelton came off it's clear the tactic didn't work. You'll always get metres from this tactic. But you'll exhaust the lads too. Lions dealt with it well.

On the Morgan head contact.

In Soccer there is a seldom enforced rule that comes at the referees discretion regarding low headers.

If a ref feels a player has put their head in an unsafe position they can award a free kick against that player.

It obviously wouldn't be as applicable in rugby.

But there's merit to putting some semblance of responsibility on the jackaler also. If your head is below knee height, the risk of you getting hit in the head is increased by a significant amount.

We speak a lot about all the responsibility being on the person who initiates contact. I would argue that some responsibility needs to be placed on the other party.

Final thought. I love the jackal and the elements it brings to rugby. But it's fast becoming a facet that can no longer be refereed.

There's an argument now to ban it outright. The ball can only be turned over by counter rucking where players enter the ruck with their heads above their hips as it is written in the laws of the ruck

Beirne is an incredible player - I think he is one of the most intuitive and clever players I've ever watched. His nose for where the key breakdowns will be - especially in the pivotal moments of big matches - is just amazing.

I think he's on track for a Man of the Series title (if they still award this).

Jgp without question.

Curry and lowe contenders

Yeah, it was such a strange take i actually think he possibly meant Lowe to fill in at blindside for Ireland going forward.

It seems about as likely as him being Player of the Series here.

I don't think he's been as bad as some of the ratings etc have made out, and he's obviously had the typical huge moments he's capable of, but equally will feel he definitely hasn't been at his best either.

Leave me alone and let me cook my piri-piri chicken!

Spot on here.

Although he keeps putting in big performances he won't be able to keep doing it again and again. Given Munsters fixtures at the start of the season, I really hope he is given a break up to the November internationals after this tour and he isn't seen in a Munster jersey until their European fixture in December.

So to counter the jackal (pretty much every jackal will have head lower than hips) don't bother trying to clear out, just bind. Keep your weight on the defender so he can't raise his head. You've created a ruck and he's now illegal. Perhaps this is the only clarification that's needed?

completely disagree regarding russell to be honest, lions got lucky with a well taken try but russell should have kicked a drop goal well before that. there were multiple opportunities to go for it before they scored the try but FR went missing, did the same in the euro final in 2020 and racing ended up losing, did it for glasgow against munster in europe in 2017

I agree and kinda disagree.

I was shouting at the tv for the dg. Russell does not lack confidence and definitely the right choice at #1 outhalf.

But would o'gara, sexton, Wilkinson have taken the chance?

Could see a penalty with offside anyways.

Good try though

Just one case of butter fingers…

Well done though.