The Singapore Forum

Indeed, certainly lived up to expectations and what a nail biting finish! Beale, got to feel for him.

Some lovely performances from North, Youngs, Genia, Falou - hopefully they at least stay fit for the rest of the series. See that Horwill has been cited for stamping on AW Jones' face, stupid if proven as would surely be the end of his series.

This is shaping up to be a cracking series!

Fat Bob wrote:
And I was on TV a few times!

And you looked in fine form - green & gold definitely suits you!

Second Test is nearly upon us - 8pm local time tomorrow, and just heading down to Melbourne to watch.

Both coaches have tweaked their teams: some through injury or return to fitness, others through change in plans for game 2 of the three test series. Last week proved just how close the game was - 14 missed points from the boots of O'Conner and Beale to only 3 missed points by Halfpenny. That was the clear difference between the two teams. Both teams had some great tries, and the Lions certainly had difficulty with the breakdown and a large number of penalties in their own half (which I would call "kickable" - but they obviously weren't!)

Gonna be a humdinger indeed. Expect the Lions supporters to add their voices to the 15 on the field and see what happens.

Result prediction? No friggin' idea! Too close to call, and the above stats just show how different the game could have been. We'll find out at about 10pm tomorrow night!

C'mon the Lions!

It's do or die for the Wallabies whilst the Lions want so badly to secure the series tomorrow, watch out for a tough physical game.

Hope you have your winter woollies there FB...

Winter woollies not needed, the roof was closed.

Tight game, a thriller but not good rugby. The wallabies played the better and topped it with the only try. Though it was tight, the wallabies deservedly came out on top.....

Bring on Sydney.

Again some good individual performances including Warburton who had his best game thus far, sadly looks like he'll be out for next week.

And yet again the Wallabies prove they are tough never say die finishers, definitely setting up the last test in fine style!

Fat Bob wrote:Winter woollies not needed, the roof was closed.

y.

It was bloody freezing where I was standing

The countdown is on to what should be a cracking series decider in Sydney!

Hopefully the furore surrounding the dropping of BOD will subside and people will get back to supporting the chosen team. I do think it's a bit tough for BOD not even benching but maybe that's just sentiment over realism! Seems Deans is also taking a bit of a gamble bringing back George Smith - will make for an interesting contest against SOB.

The Lions team.....hmmmm...an interesting set of picks indeed. There seem to be some strange decisions: I've no problem with Phillips starting, but Connor on the bench seems strange - doesn't have the different style of play that Ben Youngs could bring to the game. It's not as Phillips was great in the 1st test, and seems a knee jerk reaction to an overall poor team plan and performance last week.

JD over BoD - again, JD played OK last week, and so did BoD. Neither of them set the game alight, so I agree with Roberts in at 12. I can see why Gatland has kept the Roberts/Davies partnership, as there's not been enough time to test other partnerships with Roberts due to injury. I agree with Tuilagi on the bench - bringing him on at 55 mins will be very interesting against a tiring midfield of the Wallabies. However, Tuilagi needs bringing on with at least 20 mins to go.

However, this game has got to be about execution of a good game plan. The game plan last week was too conservative, very defensive with little attacking options. Poor decision making near the start of the game didn't help (2 excellent line out wins and drives, 2 penalties awarded, a warning to the Wallabies about bringing it down - then the decision to go for points and not a 3rd line out and drive!)

So the Lions have to make the right decisions and have a good game plan. So far, Gatland has succeeded once out of 10 times in trying to outfox the Aussies, let's hope he manages to improve those odds tomorrow night. Let's hope he's not fallen into Woodward's faults in 2005 and chosen his golden boys. This Wallaby team is beatable, it's not excessively strong, so it'll be down to what the coaches want the players to do and how well the players execute it.

Wow! What a fantastic game of rugby - Lions moving away to start, Wallabies coming back to within grasp, then Lions thrusting the the accelerator down to finish off very strong, 4 tries to 1, 41-16. Excellent work Lions.

Obviously the right decisions were made and the game plan good, and executed well.

I feel rather happy now!

Fat Bob wrote:Wow! What a fantastic game of rugby - Lions moving away to start, Wallabies coming back to within grasp, then Lions thrusting the the accelerator down to finish off very strong, 4 tries to 1, 41-16. Excellent work Lions.

Obviously the right decisions were made and the game plan good, and executed well.

I feel rather happy now!

Echo that!

Watched it at a pub in Perth full of Lions supporters (no surprise there) great atmosphere! For someone who isn't really into rugby it was a great match to watch I have to admit.

Have woken up again....wow, still can't believe what a game that was. First 50mins was a tight affair, Lions going ahead early on with Corbisiero's try and extending their lead by Halfpenny's boot, and great defence by the Lions including a fantastic, try saving tackle by Parling on Mogg in the 34min. The Wallabies continued the pressure with a well taken try by O'Conner and a few kicks from Lealiifano. I was rather nervous at 19-16 a few mins after half time, thinking again that the Lions would win 4 halves and lose the series.

However, that wasn't the case, with some great running by Halfpenny leading to tries for North and Sexton, and a great Murray/Roberts combo opening up a another try. The Lions blew the Wallabies away with those tries in a period of 10 mins, and the roar from the crowd continued until the final whistle. I do have a very shaky photo of the scoreboard, but it's not really worth posting.

Have got the game to watch on the way home - I think a few people may be crowding my seat to view!

Pretty comprehensive win in the end and yes, a bit tense in the period after half time. The most complete performance in the last 30 minutes with three super tries as reward.

Halfpenny deservedly awarded Player of the Series - and broke the existing record held by Neil Jenkins for most points scored on a Lions tour.

As for Warren Gatlands' post match comments about not being able to take pleasure in the win following the vitriol served up after dropping BOD, he's a wily press operator Perhaps his definitive quote applies not just to his selection strategy but to the players too...

" Sometimes you have to be prepared to put your balls on the line" . Way to go Lions!!

Well done Wales.

Looks like Robby Deans is out the door

Deans' time has been up for a while - he appears not to have been particularly liked by the players or public.

Read some Sydney trash paper this morning: 2 pages of when Deans would go, who to replace him with, and how quickly Deans should go. Nothing on how good the Lions played, and how the difference in tactics, players and execution of game plan went.

But yeah, without winning too much of anything in the last few years then gotta be on the line.

Deans out, Ewen McKenzie in.

First the cricket coach, then the PM, now the Wallaby coach. All in a few weeks!

Aussies, you picked a right bunch!

Cricket coach was a SAffer, PM a ranga, Rugby coach a sheep shagger.

We're just righting the wrongs