Courage and boldness keys for Lions
Gatland repeatedly talks of the need to be bold to beat the All Blacks but it remains to be seen just how daring his team will be at Eden Park tomorrow
Being courageous and bold, Warren Gatland says, is the key to winning the first test at Eden Park. The British and Irish Lions appear to have the first bit under control as they have had to come through adversity after their long haul travel and a fixture list described as suicidal by former All Blacks and Lions coach Graham Henry.
They have shown backbone and strength, too, in facing down the challenges of the Crusaders and New Zealand Maori, and Gatland has gone for form and attacking ability in
selecting Liam Williams at fullback and Sean O’Brien at flanker. But bold?
It was a word Gatland used three times in front of the media yesterday, and one that doesn’t necessarily fit the grinding, physical, albeit narrow style of game with which they won in Christchurch and Rotorua. We might have to wait and see on that one.
“To play the All Blacks, you have to be bold, you have to take risks,” Gatland said. “We’ve been saying that to the players and encouraging them.
“Yes, we play to a structure as every team plays to a structure but [it’s about] having the confidence and ability to bring an offloading game in when it’s appropriate. We’ve been trying to do that, not always effectively, but we think we’ve seen some development in that and there were a couple of nice examples on Tuesday night of that coming together.
“We know we’ve got to be courageous coming here. We know we have to be bold and play some positive rugby.”
Gatland believes his top team’s set piece and defence have improved on this tour. There were wobbles with the former against the Crusaders, but they did not allow one of Super Rugby’s best attacking teams to cross their line and against the Maori they were devastatingly good up front.
Their front row of Mako Vunipolo, Jamie George and Tadhg Furlong is world class. In Alan Wyn Jones and George Kruis, they have two solid locks, with Maro Itoje ready to provide impact off the bench, and in No 8 Taulupe Faletau, they have a sensational ball carrier.
Kiwi Gatland added: “Now we just need to bring another element to our game which is playing with some flair, taking some risks and being courageous and bold, and that’s the way to beat the All Blacks.”
The common thinking is that the Lions will be wary about playing with width due to the All Blacks’ devastating ability on the counter. Make a mistake on the right wing and turn over the ball, for instance, and you could be cut to shreds on the left.
But if Gatland is to be taken at his word, the Lions won’t simply aim to P r e s s R e a d e r. c o m
kick and maul the All Blacks to death. They want to offload too.
They want to meet fire with fire, to bring an X-factor that hasn’t necessarily been there among their top team so far. They showed it in Hamilton in thrashing the Chiefs 34-6, but Williams and wing Daly are the only players backing up tomorrow.
In acknowledging the All Blacks are the best in the world and haven’t been beaten at Eden Park since 1994, Gatland added of the two teams: “A lot of people are speculating about contrasting styles. We’ve played some good rugby. We struggled at the start of the tour but we’ve scored nine tries in four games, or something like that.”
For skipper and loose forward Peter O’Mahony, an Irishman who didn’t play in that big upset against the All Blacks in Chicago last November, the challenge is clear.
“It’s a huge task, obviously, with the calibre of player they have and their record at Eden Park obviously is impressive, but it’s going to be a different animal this weekend,” he said. “There are going to be 20-odd thousand Lions fans there.”
On what is needed to beat the All Blacks, Gatland added: “We’ve got to be accurate for 80 minutes. We’ve got to stay alive. We know there are periods during the game when they almost go into a lull and they get one opportunity and they almost ignite, that’s when they’re most dangerous.”