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By Adrian Warren,
AAP
Updated June 10, 2013, 1:22 pm
A feisty NSW-Qld Combined Country side are primed for a huge defensive effort as they seek to avoid the role of sacrificial rugby lambs against the British and Irish Lions on Tuesday.
Physical size and time together loom as major areas of disadvantage for the Country combination, who go into the clash at Newcastle's Hunter Stadium after just two training sessions and a captain's run.
Country suffered a blow on Monday, when their only Test representative, one-cap Wallaby flanker Beau Robinson, was ruled out after suffering a head knock in the Queensland Reds' loss to the Lions on Saturday.
Coached by former Wallaby prop Cam Blades, who played in a winning Australia A team against the Lions in 2001, Country will field eight players currently attached to Super Rugby franchises.
"We need to be dominant in defence. If they get a little bit of a rumble on it will make life pretty difficult for us," Blades told AAP.
"They are a massive physical side and we need to stop them before they get going."
Country captain and Rebels back rower Tim Davidson nominated attitude as the key for his team.
"You can't afford to go in with a defeatist attitude because I think they will just sense it and the floodgates (will) open," Davidson said.
"All I've said to the boys is that we've got nothing to lose, they've got everything to lose."
The Lions named an imposing three-quarter line, reuniting the highly successful 2009 centre combination of Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll for the first time on tour and selecting giant Welsh wingers George North and Alex Cuthbert.
With their two specialist five-eighths Owen Farrell and Jonathan Sexton rested, Lions coach Warren Gatland has switched fullback Stuart Hogg into the No.10 shirt.
"Thats obviously an opportunity, for us, but he's an international Test standard 15, so I'm sure he'll adjust to that pretty well, " Blades said.
Teams:-
NSW-Qld Combined Country: Nathan Trist (Sydney Uni), Alex Gibbon (Southern Districts, Sydney), Lewie Catt (NSW Country), Tareta-Junior Siakisini (Qld Country), Tom Cox (Brumbies), Angus Roberts (Rebels), Michael Snowden (Force), Tim Davidson (capt, Rebels), Jarrad Butler (Reds), Richard Stanford (Eastern Suburbs, Sydney), Blake Enever (Reds), Phoenix Battye (Force), Tim Metcher (Southern Districts, Sydney), Josh Mann-Rae (Brumbies), Haydn Hirsimaki (Qld Country). Res: Dylan Evans (NSW Country), Rikki Abraham (Qld Country), Rory Arnold (Qld Country), Trent Dyer (Rebels), Adam McCormack (NSW Country), Shaun McCarthy (Qld Country), Dale Ahwang (Qld Country).
Lions: Sean Maitland, Alex Cuthbert, Brian O'Driscoll (capt), Jamie Roberts, George North, Stuart Hogg, Conor Murray, Jamie Heaslip, Justin Tipuric, Sean O'Brien, Ian Evans, Richie Gray, Dan Cole, Richard Hibbard, Alex Corbisiero. Ben: Rory Best, Ryan Grant, Matt Stevens, Alun Wyn Jones, Toby Faletau, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...-lions-at-bay/
How dare they treat the Country team with such contempt?? When was the last time Hogg played 10, under 9's![]()
80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?
Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!
Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!
First up, a Mickey Mouse Barbarians side in a superfluous match in Hong Kong; leading to fixture congestion causing the selection of an understrength Force who don't even get to play at their actual home ground anyway. Now a side calling itself NSW-Qld Combined Country, which isn't actually a combined side of NSW Country Cockatoos and the Qld Country Blue Heelers, but is in reality a hastily thrown together Country Australia Origin XV made up of city-based club players on a hiding to nothing. What sort of Lions tour is this?
They should have ditched the Barbars and the faux-Country team and had a fixture against Australia A and maybe the Aussie Barbars also. At least give the Wallaby coaching staff some chance of picking teams and combinations before the test series starts. The A side could have had all the up-and-comers from this years' form players and the Barbars could have been a fully experimental side full of flair players who may have already played for the Wallabies, with maybe some of the foreign players from our Super Rugby teams. Both teams could have had experimental positional combinations, etc. I think it would have made for interesting rugby and both games could have been in regional locations (Townsville and Newcastle/Wollongong perhaps?)
Last edited by chibi; 27-06-13 at 16:17.
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
Good point with the up and coming team. Would have been great to see guys like Toomua, Godwin, Mogg, Cottrell, Luke Jones all get a chance
I guess the issue with the country game is that a true county team would probably lose by 100 as opposed to this team losing by 50
Great that Phoenix is playing, but I thought he was from Canberra???
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
You can almost make a team from the foreign players:
1. Ruan Smith (Brumbies)
2. Shota Horie (Rebels)
3. Ruaidhri Murphy (Brumbies)
4. Toby Lynn (Force)
5. Etienne Oosthuizen (Brumbies)
6. Ita Vaea (Brumbies)
7. Scott Fuglistalier (Rebels)
8. Gareth Delve (Rebels)
9. Alby Matthewson (Force)
10. Sias Elbesohn (Force)
11. Henry Speight (Brumbies)
12.
13. Jayden Heywood (Force)
14.
15. Jason Woodward (Rebels)
Can't think of anyone to fill the 12 & 14 spots, and the tight five looks pretty weak, but if we're nominating fantasy teams
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
If they lose by less than 51, the Force really will be the laughing stock of Australian Rugby.
Still can't believe we threw away a chance to prove we really are a Super Rugby Team to back up and get thrashed by the Tah's! Still gutted!
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
2nd game against the Lions for Phoenix! Well done to him and Mick Snowden on their inclusion in the squad
You can listen to the game online at from 5pm at http://www.abc.net.au/newcastle
You just need to click onto the LISTEN LIVE link on the right hand side of the page
and via the Grandstand website - http://www.abc.net.au/granstand and if you have Digital radio
More canbe found at http://www.nhru.com.au
and http://hunterstadium.com.au/events/r...ish-lions-tour
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...behave/?cs=306
And other yarns
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...ns-den/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...castle/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...s-tour/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...-clash/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...-clash/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...-clash/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...-lions/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...urists/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...ountry/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...ns-den/?cs=306
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/15...legend/?cs=306
Greg Martin WHY
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I was holding back the sick in my mouth most of the game listening to the Fox team wank on.