All Blacks vs Lions: Five mouthwatering match-ups

They will. Coles maybe another if he stays on long enough

George North isn't that impressive for me. I think he's well back in the pack of world class wingers these days. Savea has started his super rugby season well so I suspect he will be primed for the Lions tour. North really peaked during the Australian Lions tour a few years ago. I would look at the English wingers to match up against Savea better. The other matchup between Read and Billy will be a no-contest. I like Billy, but Read is in the McCaw mould and that's saying a lot. I think the most important clash will be the battle of the 10s, the second row and the midfield. The biggest problem the Lions have is their muppet of a coach. If it were Jones bringing them to NZ, I'd be worried, but Gatland is very overrated.

Comparing the AI's to the 6N's is not a good comparison. For the ABs its end of year, less priority than both the RC, internal tour and the Bledisloe, nor are the recent RC matches, mainly because Oz and SA have dropped off dramatically. The best comparison are the down under tours as this is what the Lions will be. Last year Wales scored 5 tries vs 16 against In 14 England 6 vs 12 against In 13 France 1 vs 7 against In 12 Ireland 2 vs 15 against. and more importantly the last Lions tour here 3 vs 12 against. So touring teams are letting through anywhere between twice to 8 times the number of tries the ABs are, and 6 tries being the most of them all is not enough to win a three test series here. This year the Lions will be top priority and will be approached as importantly as the World cup was in terms of focus. The non Lions tours usually take second place behind the RC and Bled. cup. For me Hogg is strictly a 6 Nations level player on attack, has not done much else and isnt great defensively. Liam Williams is the type of runner you need at fullback against the ABs as all Hoggs best runs have been when hes been able to slip through defenders untouched. Hes not great with contact. Williams is, and showed that on last years tour of NZ. something I rate much higher than any 6N performance. Its only my opinion but if Hogg is at Fullback for the Lions in the tests then theyre in big trouble. Doesnt have the game to combat the pressure he'll be under, and he'll be a long, long way from his beloved Murrayfield. Don't think he's even tasted rugby in NZ and that will count against him big time.

Whereas I think theyll be forced to kick. Without an experienced midfield they cant keep pushing it up all day.

I doubt Roberts will start in any test side and probably wont tour. Henshaw, Farrell and Scott Williams are all better options at 12 now. I really hope Roberts isnt picked anyway. Joseph, Ringrose and Davies are probably front runners for 13.

Gus Pulu has some strong points but also some 'work ons' in his game. As observed by others, he is quite frustrating watching him delaying bofore clearing the ball, applying the breaks on momentum at times. He also tends to be a bit selfish, or should I say, he tries to do too much on his own. Personally, I think he is well behind Smith, TJP, TKB (even though he is leaving NZ shores). Not sure if Gus he has more potential than the injured Brad Webber ..

Riccardo, its interesting that many perceive that the AB's have a weak link in the 2nd row. While I agree that Retallick of Whitelock would be extremely difficult to replace, not so sure now that the problem is as acute as it 'apparently was' a few short months ago. After the last Spring Tour, maybe our stocks in those positions are not quite as low as perceived. Easy to be wise hindsight of course but the debacle in Chicago was I think Hansen playing players out of position for no gain. We have Barrett still young and inexperienced, but never let the team down, Big Patrick now over his 'personal problems', Bird coming back, Romano not too far off the pace ... The back row contest will be very interesting, depending on who Gatland plays in his top 23. From our perspective, we pretty well know (barring injuries) who the AB back row will be.

Oh well Bob that's it then ... I'll just have to hope that the AB's don't lose 3 zip ...

Assuming injuries do not interrupt, I would be quite confident that Hansen will start with Cane at No7. Cane is a solid defender and never shirks the tough stuff. In particular the 1st 20 - 30 mins or so Hansen likes Cane for his defensive work which is superior to both Ardie Savea and Matt Todd. When Cane was injured last year and Ardie was selected to start, he was not nearly effective. Savea's great attribute is his athletism and explosiveness whose at his best when the game opens up a bit. Matt Todd is probably in between Cane and Savea and I think a valuable squad member but very stiff with the 2 marginally ahead of him. Whenever he gets his chance, he has never let the AB's down. As for blindside, I still think Kaino is ahead of the pack ...

Only two real match ups, Retallick and Barrett vs Itoje and Sexton. In all other positions the Lions will be too good to warrant a match up.

Not sure I agree with you Taylorman. Firstly Hogg doesnt go on 60 - 70 meter runs in he six nations. Not very often anyway though if anyone was to do it it would be him. I think there is some evidence to suggest that defences are stronger in the six nations on the whole than the rugby championship. Certainly if you compare NZs games v SH opposition vs their games v NH opposition last year. NZ won all their rugby championship games by 19 points or more. Given at the time Barrett was statistically the worst kicker in the world most of those points came from tries. In November by contrast, aside from the Italy game NZ won both their other wins by 12 points and 5 points scoring a lower average of tries than they did in their rugby championship games. All that aside though New Zealand's defence is a level above everyone elses in the rugby championship and probably the 6 nations but perhaps not to the extent you are suggesting. Hogg is a very exciting player and real handful for defences. I have no doubt really that he will be given his moment to shine in NZ.

NMS if fit will come off bench. the kicking game is more to do with england and there is no reason to expect same from Lions. also dont forget the england kicking game revolves around Ford n farrell .i doubt either will be a starter.

THERE IS A NEED FOR ALL THE GAMES !!! it is a pity they have a packed schedule. the non-test matches are the ones hat help the second tier players - who may never get another chance to play a touring TEST team. most of the time the test players dont get inolved in the mid week matches. long time ago cricket used to be that way - a touring team will play about 5 practice matches with various home teams in addition to their usual 3 tests - BUT NO MORE. now they play one practice match and straight into tests without any other matches. then one practice match and straight into ODI and t20s. these non-tests are the kind of matches that help a country to develop their standby players and up and coming players. it allows them to be measures against an assured foe. at least in cricket there are still "A" team tours and under 24 and under 19 tours. rugger rarely has those. so i think it is one reason for the decline in rugger among most countries. if u look at NH they play under 20 parallel with 6N. that is something worthwhile and one reason for the wider player base.

Smith has spoken recently yes and there is no doubt that he had got himself in a bit of a pickle but I'm not sure that he has publicly stated he reached the point of depression. If I missed it and he did say that then I stand corrected.

Yes, and good timing too. Played well last weekend and his cheeky spring looks back. Gotta be good to have both he and TJP keeping eachother honest again. We have that healthy competition in several places.

Yes and the 2005 ABs hadn't won their last 45 home tests either so they were a bit lacking as well. So what is it that will make this lot a bunch of happy campers?

Yeah - it was like the parting of the sea. And Sid was very hard to stop close to the line. One of my favourite players of all time. Another was Batty who I think played his last test in that match. The knee cried enough.

Aron Smith has said much about his end of year performances,now admitting he should never have played and stayed home because he was depressed and fighting to keep his relationship alive He is a very different player now and is getting back to his best and at is best is the best in the world in his position and he will remind all of us about that in Lions tour where he will be first choice because Hansen knows this too.

Both Vunipolas are nailed on for the test 23. Why would the Celtic press 'go nuts' about picking Farrell? He's '12' for the back to back 6 Nations champions and '10' for the current European Cup holders

Because many of the England players that Woodward picked were over the hill and/or carrying injuries. The rest of the squad knew it and this led to a very unhappy camp. Garland is unlikely to make the same mistake given that Wales haven't had a great time the last couple of years.