The British are coming, the British are coming

[Parihaka]

Originally Posted by The Chap

I'm confused. I typed into Google "comming" and "British". This was not the site expected. I shall write a letter to the Daily Sport.

I'm a bit disappointed, I thought you might be over here drinking the pubs dry and making passes at the local colleens

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by The Chap

I'm confused. I typed into Google "comming" and "British". This was not the site expected. I shall write a letter to the Daily Sport.

Perhaps something like this?

[Julie]

Originally Posted by TopHatter

Perhaps something like this?

You've got to be kidding.

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by Julie

You've got to be kidding.

Well why not? It could happen

[Martin]

It will happen :-).

*Land of hope and glory.............................

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by Martin

It will happen :-).

*Land of hope and glory.............................

You know, the American Revolution never really ended, so I suppose it's only a matter of time before Her Majesty's soldiers resume hostilities.
I guess we could have everybody over for tea and trumpets () before the shooting starts though.

[The Chap]

I'm not altogether sure that post ceasefire, the second English Civil War of ~1775 led to a formal recognition of the colonies as a sovereign nation state. I think that means that technically - and such only, mind - we still own the "USA".

Even if this is obviously a pipe dream in terms of enforcement all Yank girlies go squishy for a Brit accent. Esp. RP. Like wot I've got innit?

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by The Chap

I'm not altogether sure that post ceasefire, the second English Civil War of ~1775 led to a formal recognition of the colonies as a sovereign nation state. I think that means that technically - and such only, mind - we still own the "USA".

Even if this is obviously a pipe dream in terms of enforcement all Yank girlies go squishy for a Brit accent. Esp. RP. Like wot I've got innit?

I tend to agree with you...I feel like I'm trespassing every time I wake up

And speaking for this Yank bloke, listening to girlies with Brit accents....Yum!

[Parihaka]

I would crow about this a bit more, but really this Independant article says it all. Suffice it to say the Lions now know they are in New Zealand.

Holah shows O'Driscoll's men meaning of 'mana'
By Chris Hewett in Hamilton
13 June 2005


They call it "mana" in the land of the Maori. Barely translatable, the word covers the wide range of qualities - aura and presence, authority and respect - with which the Lions found themselves confronted at the Waikato Stadium in the most significant contest of their New Zealand tour to date. They did not even begin to handle this quantum leap in pace, physicality and emotional intensity, and as a result, they were badly beaten. The Maori had any number of contenders for the "mana of the match" award. The Lions offered precisely none.

When they received their ceremonial welcome in Rotorua a couple of weekends previously, the Lions encountered what looked like the Maori pack from hell - 15 half-naked, heavily-tattooed, spear-carrying tribal types with an impressive line in war dances. These people may have been putting on a show, but they were not joking. What was more, they were only the warm-up act.

Jono Gibbes, Marty Holah, Corey Flynn, Angus MacDonald, Carl Hayman... the Maori forwards on Saturday made the Rotorua clans look like pacifists. They was no hint of indiscipline about them - the wild excesses came from the tourists, with pride of place in the rogues' gallery going to Andrew Sheridan and Gordon D'Arcy - but by God, they were motivated. Gibbes, a leader of genuine stature, was in tears at the end, having seen his revered coach Matt Te Pou and his wonderful outside-half Carlos Spencer disappear into the wide blue yonder with a first-ever victory over a British Isles side tucked away in their luggage. As Gibbes said: "I didn't have to say anything before the game. Everyone just knew."

One of the few Lions forwards to make the remotest sense of life amongst the Maori, the three-time tourist Richard Hill, was characteristically succinct in his take on events. "With all due respect to them - and they commanded our respect - it was an easy scenario for them in terms of getting up for the game," he said. "The Maori are a team built on heritage and pride, and they were very aware that many of their outstanding predecessors had never been given the opportunity of playing against a Lions side. All this was to their advantage. It is time now for us to look at our own levels of intensity."

The tourists were skinned alive on the floor, principally by Holah. Wherever the Lions have been on this trip, they have encountered a breakaway flanker of serious calibre and it will be the same story wherever they go. Ben Herring of Wellington is said to be top-notch, Josh Blackie of Otago is terrific, Daniel Braid of Auckland is nobody's fool. And the All Blacks? They have some bloke by the name of McCaw.

Holah was quite brilliant on Saturday, hard as Martyn Williams worked to match him. Amid the dying embers of a fiery contest the 28-year-old local hero made one last intervention by wrapping up Matt Dawson on the floor and forcing him into conceding the penalty that ensured the Lions' late surge would come to nothing. If ever a single act defined a game, that one did.

Brian O'Driscoll, the Lions captain, said that while his side had been well beaten - "This is the hardest rugby many of us will ever play," he said - a positive spin could be applied, in so far as his side were never in the game yet lost by only six points. Despite spending 75 per cent of the game on their backsides, they restricted the Maori to a single try from Leon MacDonald, manufactured by Spencer early in the final quarter. It was O'Driscoll himself who came up with a reply of sorts, haring over at the sticks in the last minute of normal time.

But while the Lions defended with considerable bravery - Hill and Williams made well over 30 tackles between them - much of the rest of their game was shambolic. They were no great shakes at the line-out, they offered little with ball in hand and their tactical kicking was off-radar. Only in the scrum, where Andrew Sheridan and Julian White established a degree of control in the 20 minutes before half-time, did they look the part, and even that phase levelled out once Sir Clive Woodward decided not to reintroduce Sheridan after 10 minutes spent in the cooler.

It was a peculiar call, to say the least, made all the more peculiar by Woodward's reluctance to explain himself. Was it a question of disciplining Sheridan for throwing a wild right-hander at Luke McAlister smack in front of two of the three officials? Had the Sale prop suffered another problem with his right ankle? Had Woodward decided to hold him back for the Tests? Whatever the reason, Sheridan's absence did nothing to aid the Lions.

The only Englishmen likely to celebrate the events of Saturday are those associated with the Northampton club, for Spencer has agreed to play at Franklin's Gardens next season. Right now, though, the Lions are grateful that they are unlikely to see him, or Holah for that matter, for the rest of what now looks like the most demanding of trips.

[Parihaka]

well, in roughly thirty hours time it finally begins. After 1 loss to the Maori side and 4 at best patchy wins over 2nd division and weakened 1st division sides, the Lions finally get to put up or shut up. The British press, on the back (if you'll pardon the pun) of these wins is talking their side up

Back and McCaw ready to contest the key battleground
From Mark Souster in Christchurch



If the Lions are to beat the All Blacks in the first international on Saturday - and a sense of optimism grows by the day - then it will be because they gained the upper hand at the breakdown. It is an area that has been the main topic of debate in recent weeks in New Zealand where the open - side flanker is held in higher esteem than the fly half, but for both Neil Back and Richie McCaw, two of the world's great exponents of the dark arts at the tackle area, little has really changed. In their eyes it is merely the media's current hot topic. The goals of any No 7 worth his salt remain the same: to ensure clean quick ball for his own side, to prevent the opposition slowing down your ball, and, when the opposition has possession, doing you utmost to slow down their ball. It sounds straightforward enough but if only it were that easy, particularly in the suffocating intensity of an international.



What has changed though is the reliance solely on the No 7 to achieve such aims. The evolution of the game has been such that it is now up to the nearest player to the breakdown to be able to perform similar duties and help to clean out forwards from rucks. It is perhaps where New Zealand from No 1 to 15 have proved themselves more adept than sides in the northern hemisphere who have tended to rely on the forwards to carry out those responsibilities. The inability to compete effectively was evident in the early stages of the tour not least against the Maori. "The Kiwi is a bit more streetwise but I think we have adapted game on game ," Back said. "We can compete. It is not a a question of just committing more players to the breakdown. That is what they want you to do. It is about doing your job effectively and accurately when you get there. You can win a ruck with one or two players if they do their job correctly.

"But New Zealand teams get the nearest player there very well. They also second ruck very well. If you do not commit or if your body position is not right they will send another wave in and seek to turn you over. They are very predatory. That's the competition we have got at the weekend. We have done well in patches on this tour but now we have to do it for 80 minutes. It will be very competitive. We have to win that battle. It will be the key to success. If you can't retain possession you aren't going to play with the football and you aren't going to score points. We want to win the ball, turn them over, they want to do the same. They will not want this Lions back line to have quick ball. That gainline battle, that physicality, winning those collisions, getting on the front foot is key to both sides. On Saturday we go head to head and we'll see who wins."

McCaw, who has faced Back once before in June 2003 when he admitted the Englishmen gave him a "real lesson", said: "Back is a smart player at the breakdown. He knows how to get in there and get his hands on the ball when you don't want it. It is something we will have to stop. The breakdown is always big. Always my main focus is to make sure we get nice clean ball and this week is no different. You have to make sure you remove the threats and the Lions are good at slowing the ball down; but we try to do that too. In the rugby I have been playing it has always been the area which determines whether you do well or not."

He's right in suggesting that the key to the game will be at ruck time, but I don't believe the English forwards will contest the ruck but simply lie all over it to slow the game down. I also think the British pack might find themselves going backwards at scrum time. However the proof will be in the pudding, I can't wait

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by parihaka

However the proof will be in the pudding, I can't wait

Never count your eggs before they're in the pudding Mr Parihaka

[Parihaka]

Originally Posted by TopHatter

Never count your eggs before they're in the pudding Mr Parihaka

(said with humility) As long as it's a good game I'll be happy. YEAH RIGHT, I hope we slaughter em

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by parihaka

(said with humility) As long as it's a good game I'll be happy. YEAH RIGHT, I hope we slaughter em

That's the spirit! Never mind the manoeuvres, just go straight at them!

[BenRoethig]

Originally Posted by Ziska

I reckon they should give up Gridiron and concentrate on Rugby. Then we'd see who's best. It amazes me that a country with a superiority complex like the USA can let the two biggest team sports in the world pass them by.

Why don't why start playing that God awful soccer crap too? As for rugby, no pads are fine when everyone is a buck fifty, but I wouldn't recommend that your rugby players went to play the Patriots with no pads. I doubt any of them would be walking off the field in one piece. By the way, which one of their wives picked out those uniforms? Nobody could pay be to wear those.

[Parihaka]

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

Why don't why start playing that God awful soccer crap too?

We do, we're just god-awful at it

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

As for rugby, no pads are fine when everyone is a buck fifty, but I wouldn't recommend that your rugby players went to play the Patriots with no pads.

Fine by me as long as the Patriots wore no pads as well. By the way, Rugby sides don't have an offensive and defensive side, they're one and the same, nor do they stop for tv commercials. Within 5 minutes the Patriots would be run off their feet and gasping for breath while the All Blacks would still be getting into their stride. Wanna see a Patriot try and stop this guy?