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| You are in: In Depth: Lions Down Under |
![]() | Let the best team win ![]() Australian second row and new BBC Sport Online columnist David Giffin gives his opinions ahead of Saturday's Test match against the Lions. We've just finished the last training session before the match and the mood in the camp is quite good, the guys are just relaxing. There is a bit of an injury scare to hooker Jeremy Paul whose not a 100% at the moment, but hopefully with some intense physiotherapy, he can be fit for Saturday. From my point of view the Lions have had a great tour, with some other performances that have not been as good as the others. The Australian press have made us the favourites - but we are not going into the game with that attitude. We have been watching them closely and they have an extremely good forward pack with whom we will have to gain parity with.
Myself and John Eales will have a real battle on our hands as Martin Johnson and Danny Grewcock are amongst the best second row pairings in world rugby. But the Lions also possess some very exciting backs who have been playing extremely well. One player who has impressed me is Jason Robinson, who has made phenomenal progress since his switch from league to union. He's someone the entire team will be watching as he can move into the inside and open up defences with his elusive running. Though much has been made in the press about the Lions' ill-tempered matches against the Queensland Reds and the New South Wales Waratahs, I don't think there will be any problems on Saturday. The game will be so fast, the guys will not have time to scratch themselves.
Despite all the talk of the Lions being weakened because of injuries, they have got depth throughout the entire squad and we know they are more than capable of doing the job in every department. They will probably admit they have been a little inconsistent, so they will want a put a full 80 minutes of decent rugby under their belts. From the Australian side, Elton Flatley is a little unlucky not to be featuring, but the selectors felt Nathan Grey had a fantastic game against the New Zealand Maoris and wanted him to continue at centre. But one man to watch out for is my ACT Brumbies team-mate George Smith. I have played a few seasons with George and have never seen a guy so young and so composed on a rugby pitch. He has everything and this will be only his fourth Test match. Joe Roff was right to describe him as a "freak" - he has the ability to compete and will be a real problem for the Lions. May the best team win. |
Other top Lions Down Under stories: Links to top Lions Down Under stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Links to other Lions Down Under stories |
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