Dave Cahill wrote:OTT wrote:Stander on paper makes double figure tackles and at least 15-20 carries a match. It is hard on a guy like that to get left out when it is clearly evident the work he is putting in.
The problem for Stander is that he has been hoist on his own petard to a certain extent by being played at number 8 - he's a world class 6, but as an 8 he can be found wanting at the higher levels.
I'd actually have started him at 6 for the first test, but I can see what Gatland is trying to do with his flankers.
As would I – really like Stander in general and thought he would have made it into the 23 if Warburton wasn't squad captain. Warburton's not at his best at the moment and is quite fortunate to get in; it's very difficult to make an argument for him to get in ahead of Stander on their form on the tour thus far. Stander has been better at the breakdown, made more tackles, got on the ball an awful lot more, obviously made a lot more carrying meters and made bigger plays. Tipuric's tour is turning out very similar to his 2013 Lions tour – quite fringey. Neither he nor Haskell were realistically in the frame for this test.
O'Mahony has a huge advantage over Stander in the lineout , and I think using him on the defensive side of that set piece is something that the Lions have deliberately not shown in his games to date. I expect him to be at two and up in the air on practically every lineout in the first half, to really try and get into the head of the ABs hooker and put pressure on their lineout and prevent them having a solid supply of first phase ball.
I'm not O'Mahony's biggest fan, but he's obviously somebody that people respond to and that his peers respect. He's got very good elements to his game – notably his defensive lineout work – but I think his worth is more in his captaincy than in his play. Just one man's opinion.
I'd second LRIP's query about breaking up the Saracens partnership in the second row. A big part of the reason why the set pieces functioned so well against the Maori [a scratch side, in fairness], is that four of the front five were Saracens. Itoje was absolutely outstanding in that game, and while I understand the argument that he provides an outstanding impact substitute, I think he's such a good player that omitting him doesn't make sense.