Blues 22 – 16 Lions
A marked improvement on last Saturday’s outing despite losing to a spirited Blues side. Overall, it was a solid performance undone by a lack of discipline when it counted. A trademark looped pass saw Rieko Ioane touch down in the corner early on, before CJ Stander brought some balance back with a try to the visitors, whilst Sonny Bill Williams jumped on loose ball before the break. The home side continued their momentum into the second half and eventually broke through with Steven Luatua and Sonny Bill Williams combining to put Ihaia West under the posts. Despite a late surge and last gasp attack, the Lions couldn’t take advantage having lost Williams to the sin bin for two dangerous aerial challenges.
Backs
Leigh Halfpenny – 7
Chosen for his consistency before the posts and kicked all attempts to take 11 points to keep the Lions in the game. Defended well despite missing West and carried safely into contact for a small man. I admit I breathed a sigh of relief when he caught the first high-ball and knew he’d have a solid game.
Jack Nowell – 6
He’s been caught wrong footed a few times in defence this season and was caught facing inwards (along with Haskell) to let Ioane slip in on the overlap for a try. However, he responded well and denied Ioane at the second time of asking. Apart from that one slip up he played well, making ground and using his athleticism to dance around tackles and gain valuable yards.
Jared Payne – 6.5
It was a pity he went off injured. He looked sharp against his former team and looked dangerous early on, capitalising on a Blues’ loose ball to almost go over under the posts. Moments later, the TMO review ruled his foot was just in touch after quick ball through the backline’s hands. A utility back showing his versatility.
Robbie Henshaw – 7.5
Solid in defence and looked dangerous with ball in hand in the centre of the field. Broke the gainline on a number of occasions and can only improve from here.
Elliot Daly – 6
A decent game for the Wasps’ centre. Put in a defensive shift but was largely quiet on the wing early on. After moving to outside centre, he kept up his defensive duties and ran his lines well.
Dan Biggar – 6
Biggar started well under the pressure of his Lions’ debut and fly-half race. He distributed flatter and more effectively than usual. Thankfully, the blatantly offside tackle was ruled out and Biggar saved from embarrassment.
Rhys Webb – 8
Sparky – that is the one word that comes to mind. Always a spring in his step to leave the defence guessing. Very nearly darted from a maul to go over from ten metres. Put in a good defensive shift, driving back Parsons with Nowell, and hung on to his man to stop a breakaway move when the Lions were under the cosh. He even got involved turning the ball over in the Lions’ 22. Oh, and he started some fisty-cuffs – overall classic sparky scrum-half and exactly what the Lions need.
Pack
Jack McGrath – 6.5
Completed all tackles, and kept the scrum steady.
Ken Owens – 7.5
Did not shirk from the pressure of captaining on his debut. Tireless in defence, mopped up loose ball and carried well. A pity his last contribution was not straight. Overall, he should give himself a pat on the back for a good shift and he’s done his chances of starting no harm.
Dan Cole – 6
Solid at tighthead and won two decisive penalties early on against opposite All Black number, Charlie Faumuina. Bodes well for the Lions’ set piece in the weeks to come.
Maro Itoje – 7.5
Where AWJ brings veteran passion, Itoje brings youthful enthusiasm. Constantly buzzing, he made good ground and drove the maul well with Tipuric. Carries 11, tackles 7, lineout wins 5.
Courtney Lawes – 7.5
Very impressed with Lawes. Carried well and generally made a nuisance of himself using his massive frame to good effect in the ruck and maul. Looks to be in pole position to start at lock.
James Haskell – 6
Tackled well as to be expected of the blindside flanker. He could work on his discipline but overall a decent game. Certainly not enough to start at 6.
Justin Tipuric – 7.5
Calm and composed and highly effective work in and around the breakdown. Reads the game so well, and gets around the field to be first to the ball.
CJ Stander – 8
Drove the maul excellently to go over for a simple try, and looked like a menace on every crash ball. Carried across the gainline and made important tackles, battering the Blues’ pack to create space for Webb to dart. Excellent performance from the Ireland international and a good response to Faletau’s challenge.
Replacements
Rory Best – 5.5
Although he didn’t have time to get established and into the flow of things, he bottled the last lineout and last chance to salvage anything from the game. Unusual for a player of his calibre. Replaced Owens 69’
Joe Marler – 6
Scrummaged well to penalise the Blues but conceded a penalty with a silly schoolboy error five metres from the Blues’ tryline with only a few minutes left on the clock. Replaced McGrath 55’
Kyle Sinckler – 6.5
Much the same from the surprise performance last week. Carried well and put the Blues’ scrum under pressure. Fell in nicely as pack cheerleader with Itoje at one point too. Replaced Cole 55′
Iain Henderson – N/A
Replaced Lawes 76’
Peter O’Mahony – 6
An average game for the Munster captain who was partly at fault for missing a tackle that led to Ihaia West’s try. Nevertheless, few mistakes and head down performance. Replaced Haskell 54′
Greig Laidlaw – N/A
Replaced Webb 76’
Jonny Sexton – 6.5
Thank goodness for that. We can safely confirm that his last performance was a one off. Recovered well and directed the game with good distribution and some well-placed attacking kicks. Much better from the Irish fly-half. Replaced Biggar 36’
Liam Williams – 4
And talking of those attacking kicks… He’s a player with a history of misconduct and any Scarlets or Wales fan will tell you he’s no stranger to the sin bin and taking the man in the air. I don’t dispute the referee’s decision to sin bin for re-infringement, but he was overzealous and the occasion got to him. Apart from that he made a few athletic runs and smashed Duffie… on the ground this time. Replaced Payne 49’
Worthy Mentions
Sonny Bill Williams – 8.5
Cracking game from the centre who started out to impress Steve Hansen. Was everywhere at once – turning balls over, running good lines, pouncing on Nowell’s spilled ball to score a try and putting Ihaia West in for a superb try along with Luatua. Reminding us why he’s still up there with the best.
Rieko Ioane – 8
The flying menace. Punished the Lions early on, collecting a Blues’ trademark looping pass to execute well in the corner. Could very nearly have gone over again had it not been for Nowell’s tackle early in the second half. This young man is going places.
Last thoughts and collated ratings
Overall team rating – 6.57
Individual nation ratings
Scotland player rating – N/A
England player rating – 6.44
Wales player rating – 6.66
Ireland player rating – 6.64
A pretty positive performance if not a positive result for the Lions. They’re beginning to gel, with a marked improvement in the basics from last week. Both Gatland and Owens were quick to point the finger at poor discipline. If they can clamp down on that, continue to dominate set pieces and grind down with solid defence then they can remain optimistic for the rest of the franchise games before the tests. Whilst the coaching staff won’t be pleased with today’s result, they’ll go away satisfied that they know how to improve.
By Dave Beach
Don’t think we were watching the same game. Webb’s kicking was appalling, too long and straight to a man and there was not the slightest sniff of creativity anywhere in the backs. The Blues were quicker to the breakdown and far more enterprising. If you seriously think sound defence and a good set piece will be enough to beat the AB’ s you are suffering from delusions.
I too wonder if I was watching the wrong game. Henshaw was anonymous and totally lacking in creativity; Webb’s kicking was poor; Stander was ok but not outstanding. How can these three get such high scores? The props were on top and won penalties, yet Cole only scores 6 and McGrath 6.5?
Your first point I agree with you on – his kicking was poor at times but he was dangerous and otherwise had a good game.
No creativity in the backs – yep, that’s why the backs average 6.2 overall.
For your last point, it’s far too early to predict how the so far experimental Lions XV will perform against the All Blacks. Any attempt to do so would be delusional.
6.2 is a ok score they deserve an average of 4
Until gatland stops thinking that his wales players are the best in the world and his welsh tactics are the best we will get hammered.
3 games 3 Welsh captains. Making a mockery of the whole thing
Agree with Andy.
Halfpenny added little beyond kicking penalties. He looks slow nowadays
Henshaw made a couple of nice little kicks but I don’t think he looked dangerous at any point. This may be down to the coaching as there’s more too him than just a crash ball centre but that seems to be how was used.
Biggar – very little enterprise or ability to get his backs moving
Webb – very poor kicking which you just cannot do against NZ teams
Tipuric started well but faded in the second half.
Sexton didn’t add much when he came on for Biggar but at least he wasn’t as bad as previously
I didn’t see much of the game so can’t comment too much. I have just read that AWJ will captain the side on Saturday against the Crusaders. I’m guessing this means that 1. Warbs is not fit enough to play? and 2. We will have some very poor decision making from a very experienced player. I’m basing this on his poor decision making in the Six Nations and his poor form, including the game last week.
This news certainly doesn’t fill me with confidence of getting a result on Saturday!!
Warburton is potentially out as both O’Mahony and O’Brien “need” to start games.
Does seem strange for the captain to barely play. Potentially took too many flankers on tour? Adding Haskell for Vunipola I don’t think helped the situation.
yeah Warburtons omission is purely because he needs to give everyone a start to stake a claim. I would expect Warbs to be on the bench Tuesday and starting against Maori
Agree with this, should have called in Strauss, or Hughes, both true 8’s..
Backs
Leigh Halfpenny – 5
How do you know what he was chosen for?
Consistency? Is it because he carries little/no attacking threat? Defended well except his missed tackles and laboured efforts to cover. As he’s not going to be the test kicker (and even if that was an option) he’s behind Hogg and Daly for 15
Jack Nowell – 6
Ahh, the pride of Cornwall. Eager beaver and beat many first defenders around the break down however has a tendency to bite in and struggles to resist the temptation of being the 2nd man in a 2-man tackle which isn’t always necessary as it often exposes outside space. Too slow against the very best/quickest.
Jared Payne – 6.5 (Agree)
Would’ve scored if any one or more of the 4backs inside him had been taught as a twelve year old to straighten up as the ball went down the line
Robbie Henshaw – 6
Solid bit struggled to carry much threat being sent up the same ‘heavily defended’ channel time and time again.
Elliot Daly – 7
Not a lot of attacking opportunity but did everything asked with a class and composure few others have. Also stayed very strong under testing kicks, bit being forced into touch
Dan Biggar – 5
Biggar struggled to a) get a backline moving with speed and purpose b) call moves which fixed the inside defence with anything other than henshaw trundling straight to the middle in the 10/12 channel c) kick well. Waste of a Lions pick IMO Ford or Russell as the 3rd fly half would’ve offered much better alternative especially when chasing a game.
Rhys Webb – 6.5
Decent/improved service? and some good work in defence however aimless box kicking (only one contestable IMO) down the throats of the back 3 gave the Blues’ what they thrive on.
Pack
Jack McGrath – 7
Completed all tackles, and kept the scrum steady.
Ken Owens – 7
Needed to be reminded on one occasion he was the captain after Biggar did his talking to the ref for him but a really good game in all aspects. Marked down a point for a bit straight (which in the modern game really does have to be off!)
Dan Cole – 6.5
Solid in the scrums though few meaningful carries. Has a tendency to take the ball static behind the gain line and to ‘lean on’ in defensive rucks.
Maro Itoje – 7
Ran the line out well and was very busy around the park. Missed/half missed a couple tackles and gave a couple of a pens away largely his eagerness to do everything. He may be better served using his energy more effectively.
Courtney Lawes – 7.5
Very impressed with Lawes. Carried well and generally made a nuisance of himself using his massive frame to good effect in the ruck and maul. Looks to be in pole position to start at lock.
James Haskell – 6
Solid if unspectacular (definitely a dirt tracker)
Justin Tipuric – 7
Calm and composed and highly effective work in and around the breakdown. Reads the game so well, and gets around the field to be first to the ball.
CJ Stander – 7
Drove the maul well to go over for a simple try and carried powerfully. At this point the Test 6
Daly. Not being forced into touch
Halfpenny – 5 – Looks out of place in a squad boasting a number of other highly competent kickers, offers nothing in attack and his defence seems to have regressed.
Nowell – 6 – Yes he was at fault for Ioane’s try, and yes he dropped an easy pass on the short side, but he also made a great cover tackle and some hard yards. Not going to make the test team, but will be a valuable dirt tracker.
Payne – 6 – Average player, average performance, Blues had his number all night.
Henshaw – 5 – along with Biggar his drifting rather than setting straight meant Payne ran out of room. Discovered that just running into defenders doesn’t get you very far in NZ.
Daly – 6.5 – starved of service, but looks composed with ball in hand and from the boot, deserves to play in a better back line.
Biggar – 4 – all the reasons why he won’t challenge Farrell for the 10 shirt were on display. No running threat, couldn’t get the backline moving, even with Webb and the pack providing faster ball, kicking from hand poor.
Webb – 7 – didn’t kick well, but so much sharper and more lively than Laidlaw, although helped by a much less lethargic pack.
Stander – 7 – decent, making hard yards without ever freeing himself from defensive shackles.
Tipuric – 7.5 – energetic, especially in the first half, faded a bit in the second half. Better than Warburton so far….
Haskell – 6.5 – one nice run, couple of nice tackles, but not enough all round impact. Shoe in for the dirt trackers.
Lawes – 8 – Carried, tackled, hit rucks, took line outs, AWJ and Kruis need to show why he shouldn’t start alongside Itoje.
Itoje – 8.5 – the best Lion on the pitch, heavily involved all over the place, even if pinged for a soft penalty. Gatland should be penning his name into the test team already.
Cole – 7 – won his battle against an All Black prop, which is worth a lot, but doesn’t quite have the mobility and impact of others.
Owens – 7 – good performance, highlighted by how Best struggled when he replaced him, but not sure he led quite as well as would have been hoped.
McGrath – 7.5 – the best of a good front row, again won his individual battle, but also a bit more mobile round the park.
Bench – 5 – a lot of players playing their way into the midweek team: Best, Williams, Henderson, Laidlaw all look overawed or not up to the standard required in their basic skill sets. Hartley, Launchbury, Ringrose, Russell, Dunbar must all be livid on the showings so far.
Final thoughts – a lot now depends on Farrell, if he can’t get a back line moving better than Sexton and Biggar (a low bar on the evidence so far) the Lions will be beaten by a cricket score, even with parity/advantage up front.
Totally agree on your last point Charlie. The fact that Farrell has Murray providing ball and T’eo outside him should help, but I can’t help but think once the ball gets to JD it won’t get any further unless by the end of his boot. The back three need to get into the line and do the footwork JD can’t.
Marked too highly:
Halfpenny – 5 I’m not too convinced about the defensive performance, and I think an international fullback should be contributing when the kicking tee is off the field too.
Daly – 5 Pretty anonymous on the wing, slightly less so in centre.
Webb – 6 I thought his kicking was actually rather aimless, which is not what you want against any NZ team.
Itoje – 6.5 I thought he played well, just think he wasn’t close to the best forward (outshine by Lawes and the front row imo). Also made a couple of weird decisions, I recall him trying to kick a ball that fell out of a ruck instead of just dropping on it/ppicking it up.
Sexton – 6 Much improved from last outing, but there’s still something off there. I’m not sure what it is, but I hope he can sort his head put soon as I feel Sexton/Farrell is our best 10/12.
Marked too low:
McGrath – 7.5 Hit rucks, a couple of carries and one of the top tackles despite being subbed on 55′ is a good show for a prop, particularly one that also got the upper hand one of the probable AB props, Faumaina.
Cole – 6.5 Part of a dominant tight five, deserves credit for that.
SBW – 9 Man of the match for me, he was everywhere defensively and offered some nice offload in attack. Took his opportunistic try very well too. I don’t think he could have put down a better marker for Hansen watching.
I really feel bad for Henshaw. He’s shown that he can also be a creative, intelligent player, particularly for Leinster, I’m just afraid that this coaching setup have given him strict instructions to be Roberts Mk. 2 and nothing more.