Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions
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@Bovidae said in Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions:
The Maori team will be named at 2:30 pm THURSDAY.
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British & Irish Lions
1 Mako Vunipola – Saracens, England, #787
2 Jamie George – Saracens, England, #818
3 Tadhg Furlong – Leinster, Ireland, #817
4 Maro Itoje – Saracens, England, #825
5 George Kruis – Saracens, England, #819
6 Peter O’Mahony (capt) – Munster, Ireland, #833
7 Sean O’Brien – Leinster, Ireland, #796
8 Taulupe Faletau – Bath Rugby, Wales, #779
9 Conor Murray – Munster, Ireland, #790
10 Johnny Sexton – Leinster, Ireland, #791
11 George North – Northampton Saints, England, #792
12 Ben Te’o – Worcester Warriors, England, #815
13 Jonathan Davies – Scarlets, Wales, #778
14 Anthony Watson – Bath Rugby, England, #816
15 Leigh Halfpenny – Toulon, Wales, #775Replacements
16 Ken Owens – Scarlets, Wales, #829
17 Jack McGrath – Leinster, Ireland, #827
18 Kyle Sinckler – Harlequins, England, #814
19 Iain Henderson – Ulster, Ireland, #808
20 Sam Warburton – Cardiff Blues, Wales, #800
21 Greig Laidlaw – Gloucester Rugby, Scotland, #810
22 Owen Farrell – Saracens, England, #780
23 Elliot Daly – Wasps, England, #822 -
That's very close to what I expect as their Test side. Don't expect Mako to start as his scrummaging isn't the best. Itoje hasn't done anything to justify the hype, let alone a Lions Test start. If they're opting for Te'o, they've given up any pretence at guile. I still expect Farrell to start. This could be a banana skin for Sexton.
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So Gatland is reverting to a Saracens tight five.
We'll see who Cooper names in 2 h but based on last year the starting tight five should be obvious.
I expect the Maori to struggle in the scrum against the Lions. Hames will be OK but based on the performance of the Canes scrum the other 3 (Eves, May, Kainga) will be in for a long night. Renata might get in ahead of Kainga. Still, the 2005 Maori team had some issues in the scrum too but still functioned.
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@Bovidae It helped they had Hayman...
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@antipodean And the Lions had Sheridan.
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All out attack eh?
The team is (*denotes new cap);
- Kane Hames – Ta$man (Ngai Tuhoe/Ngati Porou)
- Ash Dixon (captain) - Hawke’s Bay (Ngati Tahinga)
- Ben May – Hawke’s Bay (Ngati Maniapoto/Tainui)
- Joe Wheeler – Ta$man (Ngai Tahu)
- Tom Franklin - Bay of Plenty (Ngati Maniapoto)
- Akira Ioane – Auckland (Ngapuhi/Te Whanau a Apanui)
- Elliot Dixon – Southland (Ngapuhi)
- Liam Messam – Waikato (Ngai Tuhoe)
- Tawera Kerr-Barlow – Waikato (Waikato/Ngati Maniapoto)
- Damian McKenzie - Waikato (Ngati Tuwharetoa/Ngati Tahinga)
- Rieko Ioane – Auckland (Ngapuhi/Te Whanau a Apanui)
- Charlie Ngatai – Taranaki (Ngati Porou/Te Whanau a Apanui/Te Whakatohea)
- Matt Proctor – Wellington (Ngapuhi/Ngaiterangi)
- Nehe Milner-Skudder – Manawatu (Ngati Porou/Tapuika)
- James Lowe – Ta$man (Ngapuhi/Ngai Te Rangi)
Reserves
16. Hikawera Elliot - Counties Manukau (Ngati Awa)
17. Chris Eves – Manawatu (Waikato/Tainui)
18. Marcel Renata – Auckland (Ngati Whanaunga/Te Aupouri
19. Leighton Price – Taranaki (Waikato/Ngati Maniapoto)
20. Kara Pryor – Northland (Ngati Awa/Ngati Pikiao/Ngati Rangitihi)
21. Bryn Hall* - North Harbour (Ngati Ranginui)
22. Ihaia West – Hawke’s Bay (Ngati Kahungunu/Ngati Porou)
23. Rob Thompson* - Canterbury (Ngati Kahungunu) -
Fark that backline is pure sex. Bring it on!!
@Crucial you get to see your boy at 10 now. I'm excited to see how he goes.
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@No-Quarter said in Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions:
Fark that backline is pure sex. Bring it on!!
Why am I more excited to see this backline than the AB's tomorrow?
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Rieko on the left wing suggests he's making a real push for J Savea's spot.
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might have to reclaim the TV back instead of watching on the laptop for this one!
