Poor Lions take kitty steps in opener
IF the British and Irish Lions were under any illusions about just how tough this tour of New Zealand would be, they surely aren’t now.
Don’t get too cocky too early, New Zealand. This is game one and the Lions should drastically improve.
But even considering the excuses at play, the Lions’ lacklustre 13-7 win over the Provincial Barbarians in Whangarei was a very poor start for Warren Gatland and his 41-man squad. The result could well have been different but for a first half trysaving tackle from Lions No 8 Toby Faletau on Baabaas centre centre Kaveinga Finau.
Perhaps the Lions were nervous. But the worry for Gatland is this will be the weakest side they face in terms of player quality in their 10 matches, and the Lions’ collective body language already does not look good.
Celebrate, for a moment, the outstanding efforts of the Baabaas; a semi-professional team selected from 15 New Zealand provinces. They made them all proud. The 19,519 in attendance at Toll Stadium sure enjoyed their competitiveness and fight throughout.
Given the Lions come together from four countries, one could easily argue the Baabaas had more reason to be scratchy.
Yet it was the tourists who battled immensely. Sure they arrived in the country four days earlier and may well still be struggling with jet lag. But we were told their match-day 23 had spent the best part of three weeks training together.
Their poor restart receptions, wobbly lineout throws, lack of execution out wide and kicks out on the full suggest otherwise. And they don’t get that sort of preparation time again.
Comparatively, to a man, the Baabaas were impassioned, and fully deserved their 7-3 half time lead, thanks to a try from captain Sam Anderson-Heather.
His men largely made all the play; certainly the vast majority of the entertainment. While the Baabaas turned down shots at goal, the Lions were booed for attempting to take the points on offer.
Even the Lions’ much-lauded goal kicking didn’t live up to the hype.
The resilient Baabaas competed surprisingly well at set piece, with lock Josh Goodhue and No 8 Mitchell Dunshea standing out. Their ball movement and offloading – looking to go wide often – regularly troubled the Lions, who also struggled to defuse cross-field kicks and nudges in behind with a greasy ball.
The locals were called on frequently to defend their own line. The Baabaas mixed up their game, too. They were not afraid to take the Lions on in the tight exchanges and control possession.
Lions loose forwards Ross Moriarty and Faletau were busy on the edges and made a couple of telling carries. Kiwi-born English second five-eighth Ben Te’o impressed at times on the charge, linking well with Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg.
The Lions won turnovers at the breakdown – Irish hooker Rory Best prominent there – but their counter attack failed to inspire. Prop Kyle Sinckler tapped and went once and was penalised after being isolated. It summed up the Lions; so much of what they did was individual.
The likes of Irish first-five Jonathan Sexton epitomised the Lions’ general rustiness. In the battle for the No 10 test jersey with England’s Owen Farrell, Sexton did himself few favours.
Naturally in the lead-up to this opening fixture plenty of discussion focused on the last time the Lions toured New Zealand in 2005. In their first match 12 years ago, the Lions overcame Bay of Plenty 34-20 in Rotorua.
They started that tour better than this one. And we all know how that panned out.