2005 Lions Challenge

Ok bit of Friday fun. Lots of talk on here about the 2005 lions tour and what a debacle it was. I have no arguments there, SCW had a shocker and deserves the lions share of the blame. There is no doubt that he didn’t get the most out of the tour but my question is how much more was there to come? My memory of the period was of the home nations playing some particularly mediocre rugby with some particularly mediocre players. They were also up against one of the finest all black teams ever assembled (in my opinion) which to me made the tour result a bit of a forgone conclusion before the tour even got started.

So here’s the challenge. Pasted below is the tour squad that went. Below that are the teams selected for the 3 tests. The challenge is to come up with the following:

i) Name 5 players not selected in the squad who you think should have been there
ii) Name 5 players out of the squad plus any from i) that would have made a big difference to the test side and who they would have replaced
iii) Out of the extended squad name 5 players who were on a par or better than their NZ counterparts

When selecting please take into account form at the time, caps at the time (is it likely that someone with 1 test cap gets selected?) and injuries.

I’ve had a look and I’ve struggled, particularly on points i) and iii) but the old memory isn’t what it used to be. Have a crack if you fancy it.

Squad:

England
Steve Thompson, Richard Hill, Neil Back, Matt Stevens, Martin Corry, Lewis Moody, Lawrence Dallaglio, Julian White, Graham Rowntree, Danny Grewcock, Ben Kay, Andy Titterrell, Andrew Sheridan, Iain Balshaw, Josh Lewsey, Jason Robinson, Will Greenwood, Ollie Smith, Charlie Hodgson, Matt Dawson

Ireland
Shane Byrne, Paul O'Connell, Malcolm O'Kelly, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, Geordan Murphy, Shane Horgan, Denis Hickie, Gordon D'Arcy, Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara

Scotland
Simon Taylor, Gordon Bulloch, Chris Cusiter

Wales
Michael Owen, Martyn Williams, Gethin Jenkins, Gareth Thomas, Shane Williams, Gavin Henson, Tom Shanklin, Stephen Jones, Gareth Cooper, Dwayne Peel

Called up later:
Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons and England) — Added 8 May, Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks and England) — Added 17 May for Iain Balshaw, Simon Shaw (Wasps and England) — Added 2 June for Malcolm O'Kelly, Simon Easterby (Llanelli Scarlets and Ireland) — Added 4 June for Lawrence Dallaglio, Ryan Jones (Ospreys and Wales) — Added 10 June for Simon Taylor, Brent Cockbain (Ospreys and Wales) — Added 26 June for Danny Grewcock , Jason White (Sale Sharks and Scotland) — Added 27 June for Richard Hill

1st Test:
Lions: Robinson; Lewsey, O'Driscoll (captain), Wilkinson, Thomas; Jones, Peel; Jenkins, Byrne, White, O'Connell, Kay; Hill, Back, Corry.
Replacements: Thompson, Rowntree, Grewcock, Jones, Dawson, Greenwood, Horgan

2nd Test:
Lions: Lewsey; Robinson, Thomas (capt), Henson, S Williams; Wilkinson, Peel; Jenkins, Thompson, White, O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Easterby, Moody, R Jones.
Replacements: Byrne, Rowntree, Corry, M Williams, Dawson, S Jones, Horgan.

3rd Test:
Lions: Murphy; Cueto, Greenwood, Thomas (capt), Lewsey; S Jones, Peel; Jenkins, Byrne, White; O'Callaghan, O'Connell; Easterby, Moody, R Jones.
Replacements: Bulloch, Rowntree, Corry, Williams, Dawson, O'Gara, Horgan.

Too many permutations so i'll just pick the XV he should have gone with at the time - Another GS year remember with both Ireland and Wales showing form:



15 Robinson
14 Williams
13 Shanklin
12 BOD
11 Thomas
10 Jones
9 Peel
8 Ryan J
7 Dallaglio
6 Hill
5 POC
4 Shaw
3 Hayes
2 Byrne
1 Jenkins

Ruby, that patient you mentioned on another thread is going to be one confused soul if you have all that stuff in your head!!!

"Yeah, doc................ that's interesting but......................."

Havent time for the full challenge.

Without a doubt the most feiced over player on that tour was Charlie Hodgson.

i) Name 5 players not selected in the squad who you think should have been there

er Woodward took every man and his dog didn't he?.... I'd have left Alistar Campbell and taken David Humphreys maybe.

i) that would have made a big difference to the test side and who they would have replaced

Henson replacing Wilkinson 1st test.

iii) Out of the extended squad name 5 players who were on a par or better than their NZ counterparts

er...no one. Ryan Jones, Simon Easterby and Gareth Thomas fronted up though.

Can't think of anyone that would have made a difference against that All Black team.

Richard Hill would have made the NZ starting XV. They would have moved Jerry Collins to 8 to accommodate him.

SecretFly wrote:Ruby, that patient you mentioned on another thread is going to be one confused soul if you have all that stuff in your head!!!

"Yeah, doc................ that's interesting but......................."

and how did that make you feel