Stop the gloating, All Black fans
OPINION: Come on, guys. You were magnificent on the pitch. Hard, skillful and intelligent. Everything we revere about the All Blacks. But far too many people in New Zealand really need to learn how to win. Listen to the Lions who always sing when they’re losing. Be Irish for a day.
A lot of Kiwis have been in touch since Saturday night who now want the Lions to win the second test. They hate this smug blanket that is settling over the country. They wince at all the gloating, all the high-pitched crowing.
It’s unthinkable, but there are blokes and blokesses deep in the New Zealand undergrowth who have become Lions supporters for a week. They are the folk who used to turn out to cheer for the Lions when they toured apartheid South Africa.
Even Steve Hansen had a couple of moments in press conference that were unbearably smug. You couldn’t see Wayne Smith, Brian Lochore or Fred Allen behaving like that. Hansen sets the example and just a touch more humility, something beyond the usual ‘we’re taking nothing for granted’, wouldn’t go amiss.
But how are the Lions going to come back from this? How are the Lions going to salvage the second test from the rabble-rubble that finished the first? The Lions were so good for so long on Saturday night, but for a period they were almost out on their feet.
The first big question is who will captain the side? You expect that it will still be Peter O’Mahony. But as predicted the All Blacks ruled the referee on Saturday night. They were a side full of captains. The Lions were a side full of people who wanted to be captain. At one point a clearly irritated Peyper told the Lions that he had ‘‘six people telling me what to do.’’ It was probably nearer six thousand as some of the Lions support made their feelings known as the decisions started to flow the All Blacks’ way. But this is test match rugby and the Lions’ discipline wasn’t good enough.
Both Warren Gatland and O’Mahony spoke afterwards about the number of soft penalties given away that allowed the All Blacks out from choking positions. When O’Mahony was asked about the referee he spoke of ‘‘a lot of frustration’’. There was then a pause. A very long pause.
Finally he conceded that in the heat of battle you question some assessments. He then said, slightly lamely, that the Lions players were asking about technical issues. Some of the conversations seemed a great deal more heated than that. The big scrum that the All Blacks had in the second half was clearly the result of an illegal angle from Wyatt Crockett, but it was one of many things that Peyper predictably got wrong.
The Lions also desperately need to slow down the pace of the game. At times they were sucking in huge gulps. Some of them, such as Alun Wyn Jones, were even gasping after a quarter of the match.
When Ireland beat the All Blacks they were able to play the game at their pace. Hansen observed after Saturday’s match that people make mistakes when they are tired. The Lions do not have the same sort of anaerobic, lung-busting fitness as the All Blacks and it was exposed.
The Lions also need some luck. It’s a part of sport. Two bounces went the All Blacks way when the Lions were still in the match late in the half. George Kruis’ chargedown near the line went into touch when it could have gone the Lions way. And seconds later when Liam Williams dropped TJ Perenara’s kick, the ball bounced into Rieko Ioane’s hands when it could have gone the way of any one of three covering Lions.
But the Lions need to concentrate on the stuff they can fix. Should Maro Itoje start ahead of Wyn Jones who was not impressive. They also need more flexibility because they were slow to adapt to the All Blacks negating their rush defence. And the big question, who starts at 10 for the second test.
Owen Farrell talked beforehand about playing the match and not the occasion, but he did not have his finest night. Should Johnny Sexton now come in?
Above all the Lions have to slow the game down. Two of the All Blacks three tries came from tempo. The Lions were only outscored by three tries to two and created a ton of other chances. I have always thought the second test represents their best chance of victory, due to the venue and the nationality of the referee.
For the sake of the game, there are many heretics in New Zealand who are fervently hoping that the Lions can turn the series and the All Blacks around.