Lions captaincy

[jimigiller]

I have to get this off my chest, seriouly its been bugging me, and this is not an anti-munster rant by any means. I'm looking at POC as Lions captain, and everytime I see an interview on TV, or read some quotes in the press, there is nothing coming off (vibe wise) that he is the 'right' man for the job. I cannot see anyone from the S.A team saying to themselves that this guy will get the Lions performing, and put the 'Fear of God' in the S.A teams minds, it's just not there. I know Geech went for size and intimidation for captaincy, a Martin Johnson type leader, but come on, POC is no Martin Johnson, he's not going to walk up to the S.A teams dressing room and stand there intimdating them "I'll box the head off yiz if you touch one of my team, who are you lookin at....." etc etc.

BOD on the other hand, theres the guy who would put something in the minds of the Springboks be it fear, respect, intimidation. Before the 6N, i thought it would be good for him to take a back seat, and let POC do the captaincy, it seemed to have worked at Leinster, but the guy showed up at ALL the times you'd expect a captain to turn up, tight games (England, Wales) and took the team past the winning post, he was instrumental in the wins, and the grand slam, without BOD, we would not have won the grand slam period.

Look, what I'm trying to say here is, a Lions team with POC is not going to get the team to win 3 tests, or 2, or even 1. A lions team with BOD as captain, yeah I can see them do a job over there and get a result. The guy gets respect from a team, from an oposition, he leads by example, and has the tendancy to do the unknown and make things happen.

Lions 0 - Springboks 3 (If POC stays as captain on all 3 tests)

[Dublinner]

Im sorry but after one game this is such a crock of shite. BOD will still be on the pitch leading. O'Connell will do fine. The Lions were always going to be up against it in South Africa. Whether BOD or POC is captain makes little difference. The team, on paper should be full of leaders. Their problem is they may not have the quality to match what will be a superb South African team. Of course the likelihood is that we will lose the series!! Not exactly a ground shattering prediction. I say at least give them a bloody chance before writing them off after one crappy bloody game. This forum is really really negative

[jimigiller]

Yeah fair point, I'm not basing this off the first game though, just my opinion, as I said I needed to get it off my chest, unfortunately lunch discussions here where I live are more about NBA, NFL, and ice hockey, I need to vent man!

[leinsterlank]

I can see your points but I also think POC is good at being an understated captain. He's not a media whore and the press dont really seek out stories from him like they would o'driscoll.If BOD was captian they'd constantly be asking him about the six nations rivalries and the umaga, mealamu incident and whether he feels the need to write the wrongs of the last tour. I think POC is a good choice purely because he hasnt captained a 3-0 hammering of the lions, albeit BOD didnt play. Give the guys a chance, i think we can definately be competitive. Adrian Kennedy would probably appreciate you getting this off your chest, give him a bell on 000383838221

[orfeo]

I have to get this off my chest, seriouly its been bugging me, and this is not an anti-munster rant by any means. I'm looking at POC as Lions captain, and everytime I see an interview on TV, or read some quotes in the press, there is nothing coming off (vibe wise) that he is the 'right' man for the job. I cannot see anyone from the S.A team saying to themselves that this guy will get the Lions performing, and put the 'Fear of God' in the S.A teams minds, it's just not there. I know Geech went for size and intimidation for captaincy, a Martin Johnson type leader, but come on, POC is no Martin Johnson, he's not going to walk up to the S.A teams dressing room and stand there intimdating them "I'll box the head off yiz if you touch one of my team, who are you lookin at....." etc etc.

BOD on the other hand, theres the guy who would put something in the minds of the Springboks be it fear, respect, intimidation. Before the 6N, i thought it would be good for him to take a back seat, and let POC do the captaincy, it seemed to have worked at Leinster, but the guy showed up at ALL the times you'd expect a captain to turn up, tight games (England, Wales) and took the team past the winning post, he was instrumental in the wins, and the grand slam, without BOD, we would not have won the grand slam period.

Look, what I'm trying to say here is, a Lions team with POC is not going to get the team to win 3 tests, or 2, or even 1. A lions team with BOD as captain, yeah I can see them do a job over there and get a result. The guy gets respect from a team, from an oposition, he leads by example, and has the tendancy to do the unknown and make things happen.

Lions 0 - Springboks 3 (If POC stays as captain on all 3 tests)

One Game in and already 2 threads over the captaincy ! no one does civil-war quite like the Irish.