Peter O'Mahony will captain the British & Irish Lions against New Zealand in the first Test in Auckland on Saturday. Many did not even have him in the squad to come to New Zealand although that omission was a serious mistake. "He can get involved in the game a lot from there", said the Wales boss, who has mainly only given Williams the Wales 15 jersey when Halfpenny has been injured. We don't mind pressure.
"Not necessarily the way he speaks, he does speak very well but it's about how he plays and that aggressive, confrontational game that he plays".
Ireland scrum-half Murray hailed the All Blacks' remarkable 38-game unbeaten run at their Auckland fortress, where they were last defeated on July 3, 1994. They're going to have to score tries and he has put some game-breakers in there. "On Saturday, we're up against the best team in the world in their own backyard, so we have to take things up a level".
"The forward pack are all hard-nosed individuals", he said. "Normally, they don't take too long". But he also suggested the Lions may have to do a bit more. He'll give everything on the field and will extract everything from his seven cohorts upfront.
"It was always in him, he was always a leader, he was always someone who if something wasn't done right he'd want to put it right and he wouldn't be happy until it was just knowing him as a person, when we all came into Munster with the like of Paul O'Connell, O'Gara, all these guys, we have grown with them and probably taken a lot of experience off them, and learned an bad lot".
"And he's gone with the finishing power throughout the back division". They're really up for it. Ioane tore the Lions apart for the Blues early in the tour, though he was shut down when playing for the New Zealand Maori (in a game where he was admittedly starved of the ball). "They should have smashed that side, which was thrown together, half baked, amateur, they held in there and it was embarrassing, a shocker", was Guscott's scathing takeaway from the tour opener.
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The Navy said the families were being notified and provided the support they need during "this hard time". The cause of the collision - which happened in an area with busy sea traffic - was not immediately clear.
"That's being smart about how you play and hopefully we can be strong at set piece and strong defensively, and when the opportunities arise we can get in behind the All Blacks and finish the opportunities we create". Prior to that series the New Zealanders had an overall winning percentage of 73 out of 393 Tests.
The former England captain was accosted at a city centre venue called The Depot on Thursday night ahead of the weekend's opening Test against the All Blacks.
The 27-year-old could so easily have missed the Lions tour altogether had he not excelled as a last-minute injury replacement in Ireland's 13-9 Six Nations win over England in March.
What time does New Zealand v British and Irish Lions kick-off and which TV channel will be showing the first Test?
Read's Crusaders teammate Ryan Crotty is also an accomplished addition to the middle of the backline, the coach said. Warburton is not the best "7" on tour at the moment.
"Gats has made some bold calls", he told Dave McIntyre, adding: "He's never been shy of big calls and I think it's fearless and I think it's the right call".
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