Yeah some great performances from the likes of Lauchbury, Care, Robshaw, Brown alike again.

We can't call them up the Lions squad though as it's
an 11 hour flight apparently.

Looking forward to seeing much more of young Collier at tight head. Little to go on but he looks like a real find for England.

Hi folks,

First and foremost congratulations to your chaps Show, that was a great game, some fantastic rugby from both sides and superb tries

On the England side another amazing test and the young players look amazing, Ford also looks fantastic and seems to have taken a step up in Farrells absence, how England go 10-12-13 will be very interesting

So to the Lions, a good, solid display today especially from Itoje, O'Mahony, Te'o and Halfpenny who must have played themselves into contention, quite possibly the XV. Just a thought, but if you wanted a smokescreen, a disttaction, a Farrell injury and utterly random call ups would do that. If not, as I suspect, I have to say its a disgrace and a real slap in the face for the likes of Healy, Toner, Heaslip, Kearney, Hartley, Robshaw, Ford, Launchbury and Brown. I wouldnt want to be Gatland going to Twickenham in February
1

Just to addI thought Duncan Taylor was excellent, also nice to see Michael Hooper as Wallabies captain, an honour well deserved on his part.

Ford coming back to the Tigers in great shape

SARS

Indeed, a kick in the teeth for all those guys. I presume by Brown, you mean Fraser Brown . Also a huge boot in the hawmaws for Willem Nel, Jonny Gray, and our entire back row. Every one of them is better than Cory Hill. Then of course, as you say, there is Taylor. Superb player. Looking forward to seeing him and Huw Jones together. Just wish we had the same depth all over the park as we do at centre. Dunbar, Bennett, Horne and Scott would have walked into any Scottish side I can remember in the last 20 years.

As a wee bit of balance, Dell is a very very lucky boy.

Yeah, the Scottish backline looks fantastic
Laidlaw, Russell, Seymour, Taylor, Jones <not sure who the other wing is> and Hogg

With Nel, the Gray brothers and the lijes of Barclay and Denton the pack seems to be shaping up too. Where has all this come from, as for more than 20 years Scotland had the odd top class player and to be brutally frank a bunch of also rans, yet now there is a genuinely impressive first XV at least

Under 20s final not going well, 50 mins in

England. 7 - 45 New Zealand

Ouch!

NZ players just looked more developed. A bulk of this side also played in last year's disappointing team so they had a lot of experience. The hooker is just insane

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How does a hooker get a hattrick in a bloody final?

SARS

The other winger would probably be Maitland. Yeah, a decent Scottish team comes along once in a generation, but sadly the lack of depth in the resources is always likely to remain a plague.

And we are not so attractive as you guys to the very top of the SH who won't make it for the ABs. ____________________

Every nation should have a Denny Solomona, 3 tries a match guaranteed, though not neccesarily who for!

I see it ended up 64-17, so much for Northern hemisphere domination for years to come!

Bit of sad news

Former Scotland international Doddie Weir has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Weir, who earned 61 caps, announced his diagnosis to raise awareness of the condition for Global MND Awareness Day.

Speaking during a family holiday in New Zealand, Weir, 46, revealed plans to create a charitable foundation to help tackle the debilitating disease.

"I will devote my time towards assisting research... to help my fellow sufferers," he said.

MND - also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's Disease - is a progressive disease. It occurs when specialised nerve cells called motor neurons break down.

Former British & Irish Lion Weir, now an after-dinner speaker, said his health had become a source of concern.

''Over the past few months a number of friends and family have raised concerns surrounding my health," he said.

"I think then, that on this day set to help raise awareness of the condition, I should confirm that I too have Motor Neurone Disease. I should like to take this opportunity to thank the National Health Service in recognising then diagnosing this, as yet, incurable disease.

"I am currently on holiday in New Zealand with Kathy and the boys and when we return, I will devote my time towards assisting research and raising awareness and funds to help support fellow sufferers.

"There are plans in place to create a charitable foundation to help in any way we can and we will share these details with you after our family trip."

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Weird team selection from Garland, North not even in the 23 is just bizarre.

Good team. Great to see Williams and Daly ahead of Twofarthings asked North. Much more inventive.

All Blacks going to hammer the Lions.

Been looking again, and actually I'm a tiny bit more positive than I have been. Still think we'll lose the series and probably 3-0. But the glimmers of hope come from.

1. Reads first game back. Yes,a huge talisman, but there will be some rust there

2. 10-12-13. Barrett Sonny Bill and Crotty are good, excellent in fact, but they're not Carter Nonu and Conrad.

3. Savea has been dropped because he is not the Savea of old, not because Ioane is a significant improvement on the Savea we all saw in 2015.

4. No-one will ever replace McCaw

Is that clutching at straws? Don't know, maybe it is.

3. Savea has been dropped because he is not the Savea of old, not because Ioane is a significant improvement on the Savea we all saw in 2015.
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agree with a lot you said bar this, ioane is in on form this year, I mentioned a week or so back on this thread I think savea should miss out but didn't think he would but Hansen made imo the right call

I think it will be a tighter series than 1st expected, I still expect nz to maybe sneak the 1st test(but wouldn't surprise me if the lions edged it but as the series goes on they will get stronger and stronger just like the lions have

Kaz

I think we're actually saying the same about Savea/Ioane. I'm just asking whether Ioane is any better than a 2015 Savea?

With McCaw no longer playing, will the All Blacks be forced to actually observe the offside rule or does his exemption pass to another?

That wouldn't be a big chip in your shoulder there Bom?

Having utter disdain for the offside rule is the hallmark of truly great players

I think we're actually saying the same about Savea/Ioane. I'm just asking whether Ioane is any better than a 2015 Savea?
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whichever era savea we may be taking about imo he's to me always been a pure finisher, his all round game is below par but his immense finishing makes up for a lot of it, his defence is suspect at best and can be jittery under the high ball, again I think Hansen knows there will be a lot of box kicks by the lions and doesn't feel savea is up2 it maybe? nz selectors are pretty brutal and ioane is defo the better all round player for me