Johnson backs Jones to captain Lions

Yep the English memories are already rewriting themselves to ease their pain... it happens. See it a lot in football : )

Its gotta happen for them sometime.

I'm well aware of why a team would collapse scrums thank you. I'm also well aware that it is a tactic used by teams. Generally, by a weaker scrummaging team to conceal deficiencies in that area. My point was that Wales were dominant in that area to the extent that Joe Marler was taken off just after half time. To me that is an admission from the coaching staff that he was struggling in that area. The English scrum was generally being shoved backwards and that's where the majority of penalties came from. In fact there were only 2 penalties awarded against England for collapsing the scrum. One in the 45th minute when Vunipola replaced Marler and one in the 62nd minute when England were 17-3 down. The first penalty was a result of Vunipola not binding and the second was due to Cole's bad positioning. Brian Moore said both were clear penalties. There were only 2 other scrum collapses and both were simply re-set. The other penalties came from England being driven back and popping up as result and once for England not driving straight. Brian Moore stated that Marler was being "buckled" in the latter. There were also 2 free-kicks awarded against Youngs for delaying the put in. Brian Moore has stated in the aftermath that he had no problem with Walsh's rulings at scrum time. He is one of the most forthright pundits in relation to this area and generally calls a spade a spade so to speak when it comes to issues involving the scrum. He is certainly not known for any pro-Welsh tendencies. I've have not read anything from a single English scribe agreeing with Rowntree's assertions. The likes of Brendan Gallagher in the Telegraph, never exactly a "pro-Wales" paper have gone so far as to say the English management are making themselves look rather foolish by making their grievances public. The scrum is clearly an issue in the modern game and needs to be sorted. Walsh's performance was no worse than his peers and was certainly better than Joubert's performance in the Wales-Scotland game which saw a record number of penalties awarded. Your comments re the penalties at the ruck are quite interesting as Wales conceded a similar number of penalties there themselves in the first half. England's sole points came from Warburton being penalised at the breakdown. He asked the ref for clarification straight away and didn't give another penalty away in this area. Don't see how Wales got away with loads, they were just far quicker to the breakdown than England.

Phillips ended the tournament well, but he was very poor at the beginning. And in the Tests against Italy and England he was playing behind a pack that was totally dominant. His passing is still far too slow for me. It's alright playing him against SA, but against Genia I'd be inclined to look toward Youngs or Care.

I wouldnt say Phillips is miles ahead and one of the big reasons I have Youngs, O'Brien, Sexton and Healy on the bench is to add mobility and punch if or when the opposition tires, rather than them being lesser players. Phillips is solid and fits in well with my plan to dominate Aust physically and at set piece.

You cant see why a team would collapse a scrum to get penalties? Well let me explain, penalties give you territory or points. If you think that its not a tactic used I think thats a bit naive. If you are collapsing and the ref is giving you penalties for it, you collapse again. Dean in relation to the English never looking like scoring a try. Its hard to get near the try line if the ref keeps penalising you at the ruck and scrum. Also its easy to get near the English try line if you are allowed to OBVOUSLY dive off your feet and play the ball on the ground afterwards. Were Eng allowed anywhere near that freedom? No. Infact imo the Welsh got away with lots and the Eng were punished for nothing at times. Eng didnt know how to play and in the end couldnt play due to the whistle.

I've seen a number of articles which claim Wales have privately admitted collapsing scrums but when I've actually read through them there isn't any substance to them at all. Just hearsay and speculation. Not really sure why they'd bother collapsing them anyway, Jones was giving Marler a right going over to the extent that Marler got hooked off shortly after half time. Jones is a renowned scrummager whilst Marler has been criticised as being relatively weak in that area. In addition, Wales were overwhelmingly dominant against both Italy and Scotland so they must be either adapting to referees very quickly or be pretty good in that area. They may have a point in relation to the Owens steal but these sort of things happen every game and Cuthbert still had a lot of work to do to score. As the final score was 30-3 and England never looked like scoring a try until the very end of the game, don't really see the point of the English complaints. They may have issues with Walsh and he's not a favourite of mine either but he did allow for a far better game than the whistle happy Craig Joubert who totally ruined the Wales-Scotland game.

tx for the replies colin, ben and HT. We have a new 'Ireland and UK" segment on the fox rugby thursday night show; basically a 5 min update from scott quinnell and will greenwood of whats happening over there. Last night they gave their Lions XV. A few differences but off the top of my head i think they agreed on most players: Hibbard at hooker, 9 Phillips, Halfpenny either at FB or wing (for Quinnell i think), Roberts - Tuilagi in the centres, Sexton/farrell at 10, 8 Felatau, Robshaw and Tipuric as flankers, Gray and Parling. I was surprised there seems to be a consensus; thought players like Youngs, Hogg, Wood etc would be more in the mix for a starting XV spot. Funny how Phillips has been pretty average at bayonne but had a very good tournament. They sort of said he was miles ahead of Laidlaw and Youngs. I thought Cuthbert would be a certainty on a wing but was only one of the possibilities mentioned.

I see Walsh is under the spotlight for his officiating in the 6 nats decider. Like I said, thank god Wales looked worthy winners in the end but Walsh ruined the game. I read that Rowntree has complained and that the Welsh privately admitted colapsing the scrum repeatedly to gain the penalties that Walsh was awarding. There is also a push for an explanation of the turnover that lead to the first Cuthbert try. I stated on here after the game that that was a shocker. Owens went straight off his feet onto the tackled player and ripped the ball off him! I was astonished at the time. Oh well, sh#t happens and Wales did deserve the win but I felt Eng just looked at a loss, as if they were unsure what to do becuz Walsh was not letting them play. Its happened before and it will happen again. It doesnt help that Walsh is such a ****ing ****.

Surely your test captain and tour captain would need to be the same man. If not I can see the potential for clashes.

Wales needs to concerntrate on not falling into a Welsh hole again before they can think about knocking off a top 3 side imo. In 2008 they won a grand slam and then went on to win 20 from 46 before winning another in 2012, after which they won 4 from 12.

I think he is injured or at least he was. If I recall it was a bad knee injury.

Heres my final Lions squad and test 23. Sheridan, Jenkins, Healy, Cole, Murray, Jones, Hibbard, Best, Hartley, Evans, Gray, Wyn Jones, Ryan, Armitage, O'Brien, Robshaw, Felatau, Morgan, Wood, Phillips, Laidlaw, Youngs, Farrell, Sexton, Wilkinson, BOD, Tuilagi, Roberts, Davies, North, Brown, Halfpenny, Hogg, Kearney, Cuthbert. 1) Sheridan 2) Hibbard 3) Jones 4) Gray 5) Evans 6) Robshaw 7) Armitage 8) Felatau 9) Phillips 10) Farrell 11) Brown 12) Roberts 13) Tuilagi 14) North 15) Halfpenny 16) Best 17) Healy 18) Cole 19) Wyn Jones 20) Wood 21) Youngs 22) Sexton 23) Hogg

What's happened to big welsh lock Luke Charteris.

No. For a start, Gray should wear the 4 jumper if fit with Wynn Jones or Ryan on the bench.

Not between the players there isn't. What frustrates me though is these jingoistic views from the English and Welsh fans and media . Only the other day, I saw a column from a Welsh journalist after they beat England effectively saying it was 'almost guaranteed' that the Lions was going to be made up of mostly Welsh players. It wasn't the viewpoint as such that annoyed me, it was the tone of it. It was the same after England beat New Zealand. We all support our countries obviously, but that's not the point of the Lions. I don't care who's selected providing it's the best team. Anyway, form on the tour will very much dictate selection. Before the Six Nations I would have had Dan Cole starting, now it's Adam Jones, but who's to say that Cole's form in the tight wasn't dictated by the other memebers of the England front-five? The only way the battle for the tighthead position will be solved is in Australia, and the same goes for most other positions. For example, Shane Williams was seen as the main man for the left-wing position in 2009 but his form was awful in South Africa However, just as an aside, if the backline is going to be primarily Welsh this time around, I would love to see Tommy Bowe or a ball-playing playmaker in the midfield - possibly Luke Marshall or Billy Twelvtrees as bolters. With the players who are expected to tour it's all a bit one-dimensional in there and however well Wales played on Saturday, the backline wasn't that creative (although that second try was superb). The likes of Bowe, 36 and Marshall or even BOD, if he can regain some form, would just add a bit of intelligence and creativity to the backline.

Speaking personally I don't think it's an issue.

I think it's the wisest choice too; a tour captain and a match day one. The competition for a spot in the starting XV being such AWJ, Morgan, BOD and most other senior players aren't certainties for every test anyway. Thats why would give the tour captain armband to a BOD or Wilko if selected, then choose the match day captain closer to the game. Question for the UK guys: is the subject of captaincy being sensitive over there? I mean is there two sides, one pro welsh the other pro english? If so, would an Irish or Scot captain resolve potential 'political' tensions between the two camps?

AWJ is a very good player, but so are Gray, Ryan, Evans, Launchbury and Parling. I certainly don't see him as a Test dead cert. He's a possibility, but this is just another media beat up.

AWJ seems like a good player and a good bloke but if he's such great captaincy material, you have to wonder why he seems to be 4th in the pecking order for Wales skipper behind Warburton, Jenkins and Ryan Jones. It's a tough call this time. I'd be tempted to make BOD tour captain and then pick a test captain once the 1st XV has been chosen.