Signs were there before second test started
So it is true, the All Blacks are mere mortals. With a chance to beat the best of the rest with only 14 players, they were not quite up to the challenge. Their pattern was predictable and never searching and the decision making was ordinary.
It was un-All Blacks like, so much so that in the end they were unable to grab the opportunities that were presented by an infringing British and Irish Lions side.
Maybe a few kicks in to the corners from the penalties and some close in lineouts would have demonstrated a belief that they were a confident side who could score tries and take control of games.
Instead, they were happy to partake in a stop-start game that the Lions perfected from the very first scrum which took an inordinate amount of time to set. There appeared to be little desperation in any aspect of the All Blacks game that we have come to expect.
Looking back, the All Blacks warm-up was probably an indicator of things to come. There was the usual individual stuff by the nearly 30 players who wandered out over a 15 minute period to do what they had to do, but then when they came together there were dropped balls in simple line passing drills, overthrows in the lineouts and little or no intensity in the activities.
These were anxious minds which seemed far away from the intense and focussed minds of the first test, reinforced in the first half with dropped balls and mistakes that would not normally occur.
The mind is a tricky little character who can confuse and panic you if you don’t have him pointed in the right direction. For once, it appears the All Blacks were not in sync.
But don’t expect the same to take place on Saturday at Eden Park. The mind this time will be clear and concentrated, ready to play with intensity and accuracy, and attain the level every player expects of himself by being an All Black.
If they are to be the best of the best it won’t matter that players are missing and they go in to this game with new combinations. It will be just the chance they need to prove the depth of talent, or disprove it as the case may be.
By toughening up their defence, slowing the All Blacks ball down at the tackle and keeping the ball alive in the final 15 minutes, the Lions managed a win and in doing so have introduced a new coaching concept.
Jump in the air when you are taking a pass and you feel like you are under pressure. It will be a handy tool for a charging player close to the line. Let him go and he gets through, or tackle him and get penalised.
It is just another glitch in the laws of the game which make rugby what it is. Open for discussion.
On Saturday there will be no second chances but there will be a second French referee.
Still, the mind this time will be strong and the execution accurate. A win by more than 13 will settle all our nerves and will stop all these emails that have just started arriving from the United Kingdom.