British and Irish Lions 2013 Squad
Day 1,988, 21:35
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Published in Romania 
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by
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by New Faustian Man
Here's the squa
😛[ Might require a zoom to make it out, or just click here ]
The omission of Best was the biggest surprise for me. I'd have took Hartley, Hibbert and Best as hookers. Otherwise I think its a very good, balanced squad, though they may need to draft in a third flyhalf at some point.
Matt Stevens' inclusion was another surprise, considering he's retired from international rugby and his form for Saracens is decent but I wouldn't say warrants call-up to the Lions. He's still a great tighthead on his day though.
Whatever frontrow combination they choose is going to be awesome both in the scrum and in the loose. I can't wait to see what Healy-Hibbert-Jones can do to the Aussies, who are usually relatively weak at the scrum. Whatever frontrow the Lions turn out should be too much for them.
Australia have some of the best backs in the world, but its difficult to know if a couple of them will even be picked for their squad considering the discipline issues. Whoever they do pick will still be a handful but it'll be disappointing if we don't see Cooper and Beale turn out for the Wallabies, especially as they're already missing the best out-and-out 7 in the world, Pocock. Plus it would've been awesome to see who would've come out top between Pocock and Warburton.
My first 15
1. Healy
2. Hibbert
3. Jones
4. Gray
5. O'Connell
6. O'Brien
7. Warburton
8. Faletau
9. Youngs
10. Sexton
11. North
12. O'Driscoll
13. Tuilagi
14. Bowe
15. Hogg
A number of these selections are unlikely, notably Hogg and Youngs, but I'd have both in there. Youngs is a nightmare to play against because of all his darting runs, and no Pocock to slow ball down don't forget. Philips will probably get the nod over him, which is fine, both are great. The other unlikely selection is Hogg, personally I'd like to see what his pace could do against the Aussie backline, but I think Halfpenny is a shoe-in to start.
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pirinç sal xd
this is defiantly one of your worse articles 😃
There's a derth of Union fans on Erep unfortunately.
Soccer is gey.
You must be a huge fan of it then. The Lions are a rugby union side btw.
That's the point.
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v#25 will I really see the gold?
Sorry, its currently 18:16, the competition timed out 16 minutes ago.
@Coxswain - I'll make an exception in your case as you were only 16 minutes late, so I sent the Gold on to your main account [ http://www.erepublik.com/en/citizen/profile/1784825 ]. Please accept, ty
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V35 old sub 🙂
Good luck!
Ohh basketball. I like it when they score the touchdowns. Go Andy Murray!
Fecking hard bunch to choose between. It's difficult also to say who'd work best together especially in the 9-10 channel and in the front row. I also don't know too much about the Aussie team this time around.
Anyway, here's who I'd pick and seeing as I'm not a Lions coach I should stop putting too much thought into it.
1. Hibbard
2. Youngs
3. A.R. Jones
4. A.W. Jones
5. O'Connell
6. Croft
7. Sam Warburton
8. Toby Faletau
9. Youngs
10. Sexton
11. North
12. Roberts
13. Tuilagi
14. Bowe
15. Halfpenny
The most interesting aspect of the team, as you mentioned, is the inclusion of Matt Stevens. I'd like to see him start against the Barbars to see how he settles into an international side.
Yeah, I was thinking the 9-10 channel could be an issue. You'd imagine Youngs-Sexton would have the most going forward, Sexton's worked with a Youngs-type scrumhalf before with Leinster so there should be some chemistry there, but I think the no.9 shirt is Philips to lose tbh, although he's not a bad choice either, especially behind a dominant pack. The Aussies will have Genia in at 9 barring any injuries and Quade Cooper looks like he might make the squad, so he'll probably turn out at flyhalf. Very dangerous pair, though Cooper overdoes it a bit for my liking
I agree its very hard to pick a definite 15 out of that squad, there are a lot of decent-looking combinations all over the park. Whatever front three the Lions put out should be too much for the Aussies, but its gonna be an ask to capitalise on it as the Aussies have that same problem most of the time but teams rarely make them suffer for it the way they should. Robbie Deans was talking about the physicality the Lions would bring all over the park, he's got that right! Even the Lion's wingers are all over 15 stone, North and Cuthbert are freaks with their size and pace.
The Stevens selection is a strange one, not to say the guy can't scrummage, but his inclusion definitely came out of left field, for me anyway.