Revamped Lions side looks good to go

Clive Woodward has made many welcome changes to the test side that was defeated by the All Blacks last Saturday. Wilkinson returns to fly-half with Henson and Thomas linking up in the centre. A brave choice from Sir Clive to solve the outside centre conundrum, lets hope Thomas is up to it. Shane Williams finally gets a run out at 11 with Robinson on the opposite wing and Lewsey at full back. A renewed back row consisting of Easterby, Moody and Jones should add that element of youthfulness so lacking at the breakdown in the first test. Another key area for the Lions will be the lineouts, lets hope the addition of O'Callaghan and Thompson to the front five will ease the problems. If any Lions XV can do it, I reckon this team can.

Lions 109: Manwatu 6

It wasn't even a contest, although not suprising given that many of the hosts were only part timers. Shane Williams was man of the match and he certainly deserved it, he was everywhere. Whether finishing, supporting or creating, he was always involved. Worryingly, Woodward chose to take Robinson off early in the second half suggesting he still favours the english winger over the dazzling talent of Williams for a test place on Saturday.

The commentators also mentioned that Greenwood was rumoured to be starting outside Henson in the second test. The rumour had better just be a rumour. Greenwood was rubbish last Saturday (suprise suprise) and shouldn't even make the bench. My Lions XV for Saturdy's test would be as follows,

Forwards:
White, Thompson, Jenkins, O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Easterby, Jones, Corry/Owen

Backs:
Peel/Dawson, Wilkinson, Williams, Henson, Smith/Horgan, Thomas(c), Lewsey

Last day at the office

Today is my last day as an M.Phil student at the University of Birmingham. I have cleaned all my equipment and cleared out my desk; all that remains now is for me to leave. I have mixed feelings about going. On the one hand I will be leaving friends behind, turning my back on the efforts to prevent environmental catastrophe and saying goodbye to the possibility of ever being called Dr. Matthews. On the other, I am going back to live in the greatest place in the world, face new challenges as a probation officer/teacher and get back involved with the faith community I grew up in. A strange mixture of sadness and excitement.

All Blacks 21 : Lions 3

What a disaster! The Lions were outclassed in all areas of the game and never looked like a team that could beat the awesome All Blacks. Losing O' Driscoll to a dislocated shoulder in the first minute was a massive blow, one which the Lions never really recovered from. Aside from the first 10 minutes, there was no creativity in the Lion's back line.

The kicking game wasn't great, with both Jones and Wilkinson failing to find touch on numerous occasions. Couple this with Shane Bryne's inability to hit his lineout jumpers and disaster was the inevitable result. The most positive Lion's performance came from the welsh flanker Ryan Jones who made a huge impact when he replaced the injured Richard Hill (not a moment too soon either).

Henson has to play at inside centre for the next test, his playmaking creativity and ability to offload in the tackle were seriously missed. If Shanklin is fit, he is the only real option for outside centre now that O'Dricoll is out (Greenwood was awful, and shouldn't even have been on the tour let alone the starting XV). Robinson was poor and needs to be replaced by someone with a little more flare. Shane Williams is the obvious choice given his past form against the New Zealanders (check him out for yourself here), Geordan Murphy would also be a good choice.

With regards to the forwards, sorting out the lineouts must be the key priority. It would seem that Grewcock and Thompson are more reliable than Byrne and O'Connell. Ryan Jones should start along with Simon Easterby as neither Back nor Hill made a significant contribution.

Whatever happens, Woodward has to face up to the fact that he made a disasterous mistake in choosing experience over form. He needs to stop forcing a style of rugby on a team that needs to be free to express itself in a way that we all know it can.

My suggested XV for the next test would be as follows

Forwards
Jenkins, Thompson, White, O'Connell, Grewcock, Easterby, Jones, Correy.

Backs
Peel/Dawson, Jones/Wilkinson, Williams, Henson, Shanklin, Thomas, Lewsey.

The day of reckoning awaits

So, Saturday is nearly upon us and all will be clear in around 14 hours. Whether Woodward was right to stick with a side that has not played great rugby in the last 18 months is yet to be decided. All I hope is that for the rest of the tour he will select players in great form, not players with great reputations. The day of reckoning awaits.....

It is finished

After 11 months and 22 days I have just finished the first draft of my M.Phil thesis. Whoot! Whoot! I will be handing it in to my supervisor later this morning and then wasting the rest of the day because I can. The title is 'A Novel Borohydride for Hydrogen Storage'. It is basically looking at the problem of onboard hydrogen storage in fuel cell powered vehicles.

You must be joking Sir Clive

The Lions team who are to face New Zealand on Saturday was announced this morning. Can't say I 'm too suprised by the selection, Clive has stuck with what he knows best. Unfortunatley, I think he's overlooked some cracking talent in the process. Why on earth is Jonny Wilkinson playing at inside centre, Umanga is going to eat him alive. Nothing about Wilkinson's game has looked awesome, whereas players like Henson and Shanklin have really shown promise. And Robinson back at full back? Josh Lewsey has been excellent in that position, why give it to Robinson who has had a bad season and looked pretty average in the one Lion's game he played. I think putting either Shanklin or Williams on the wing and Lewsey at full back would be much better selection. I know everyone thinks that Shane is too small, but it didn't bother him when he devestated the All Blacks defence in both the World Cup and the Autumn tour. Anyway, enough of the ranting, Clive has made his decision and I just hope the boys can pull it off. COME ON THE LIONS!

Camera got nicked; Aaaaarrrggghhhh!

The stag night was awesome, lots of fun had by all and the stag wasn't punished too badly. Unfortunately, my camera got nicked halfway through the evening meaning all the photos got lost. Gutted.

Doing us proud

The Welsh contingent in the Lions Tour are playing beautiful rugby (okay maybe I am slightly biased). With four of the last five trys scored by welshmen, Clive Woodward had better take notice and select accordingly. My particular favourite was Shane Williams skipping round the Otago defence for the third try this morning, magic. My Lions XV for the first test would be as follows;

PR- White
HK- Byrne
PR- Jenkins
SR-Grewcock
SR- O' Connell
Fl- Back
Fl- Easterby
No8- Jones

SH- Peel
FH- Jones
WG- Williams
IC- Henson
OC- O' Driscoll
WG- Shanklin
FB- Lewsey

Bring on the All Blacks!!!

Stag night, bring the chaos!

Off to Harpendon tonight for a mates stag party, should be lots of fun. Will be good to catch up with friends that I haven't seen for a while. If you are reading this Jon, BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!!!!!!! Photos will follow.

Theological worldview quiz

Just tried the theological worldview quiz here. I came out as emergent/postmodern.

'You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.'

Emergent/Postmodern 89% Neo orthodox 75% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 64% Roman Catholic 54% Classical Liberal 36% Modern Liberal 32% Reformed Evangelical 14% Fundamentalist 14% Charismatic/Pentecostal 11%

I have eaten of the apple and it tastes good!

Well, after weeks of careful deliberating, researching and soul searching, I finally made the switch from PC to Mac. My first ever ibook arrived just this morning. Already I have recieved a torrent of abuse from my PC using friends and a hearty welcome from other mac users. Whether I have made the right decision or not will only become clear with time; until then, I will be basking in the glory of the ibook with my new smug mac-users grin on show for all to see.