Lions Victorious in Johannesburg

The third and final test ended with a fantastic victory for the Lions, defeating South Africa 28-9, and preventing a series whitewash. Although the game could easily have been a bit of dud as the outcome of the test series had already been decided, both teams threw themselves into the match with high intensity. The Lions played some [...]

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Lions Name Third Test Team

The Lions team to play the third test against South Africa on Saturday has been announced. Arguably it is the weakest test side the Lions have fielded yet, but this is mainly due to the impacts of injury on the Lions’ squad. Here’s the team below:

A Sheridan
M Rees
P Vickery
S Shaw
P O’Connell
J Worsley
M Williams
J Heaslip
M Phillips
S Jones
S [...]

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Lions Lose Test Series

South Africa managed to clinch a win in the dying minutes of the second test on Saturday, beating the Lions 28-25, winning the test series with a game to spare. It was a hard fought match, with the Lions dominating the early exchanges, leading 16-8 at half time. The Boks fought back very strongly in [...]

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Lions Second Test Team

The Lions team for the second test has been announced, with five changes to the starting line up from the first test. Rob Kearney fills in for the injured Lee Byrne at full back, whilst Adam Jones and Matthew Rees replace Phil Vickery and Lee Mears respectively in the front row. Simon Shaw takes Alun-Wynn [...]

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South Africa 26 Lions 21

Well, the first test yesterday was a pretty close run thing, but I really thought the Lions should have won. The Lions failed to click properly in the first half, going into the break 19-7 down, but they rallied and put up an impressive fight in the final 30 mins which lead to a tense end [...]

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Lions Test XV Announced

Here we go then, the test XV named by McGeechan today:

G Jenkins
L Mears
P Vickery
A-W Jones
P O’Connell
T Croft
D Wallace
J Heaslip
M Phillips
S Jones
U Monye
J Roberts
B O’Driscoll
T Bowe
L Bryne

Replacements – M Rees, A Jones, D O’Callaghan, M Williams, H Ellis, R O’Gara, R Kearney
The starting lineup is as I thought it would be, and the replacements not really [...]

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Lions Test Team Predictions

Apparently the test team is going to be announced tomorrow at midday. Currently only two players are unavailable for selection. Murray and Hook have been ruled out the first test due to injuries sustained against the Southern Kings.  Murray has a bad sprain to his ankle, whilst Hook hurt his neck after a high tackle. [...]

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Lions 20 Southern Kings 8

Just a quick post on the last match before the tests, as I’m assuming I’ll have the test selection to pick over tomorrow. Judging from the BBC live text, it was a pretty brutal affair, with the Kings putting in a massive physical performance and piling pressure on the Lions in the first half, which ended [...]

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Lions scrape 5th win

Another narrow win for the Lions on Saturday, with a penalty from Hook 3 mins from time securing a 26-23 victory over Western Province. Hardly the display the Lions wanted with the first test looming this weekend. Western Province pushed them all the way, rallying from a half time deficit of 18-12 to level the [...]

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Lions 4 from 4

4 wins from 4 games for the Lions now, after a 39-3 victory over the Sharks. It was a very close first half, with the Lions leading only 7-3 at halftime. Despite dominating possession and territory, the Lions wasted a few opportunities and the Sharks defence held firm. A different story after the break thou, [...]

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