Jenkins aware statistics are against Lions
Selectors back themselves and youth
The last time the All Blacks lost two in a row at home was in 1998: a defeat to South Africa in Wellington compounded by another a week later in Christchurch against Australia.
The All Blacks lost five in a row that year, an annus horribilis for them and coach John Hart, and it’s a rare series of failures that Lions kicking coach Neil Jenkins is aware of.
“I did ask that question earlier, to be honest with you,” Welshman Jenkins said when asked about the All Blacks’ most recent back-to-back defeats on home soil.
“It’s an interesting stat . . . we know what’s coming on Saturday. I always remember going back a long time with Graham Henry saying ‘the boys will probably be eating barbed wire’ The All Blacks coaches are backing themselves as much as they are backing youth in the final test of the series against the Lions.
On Saturday, the All Blacks will play their biggest home test since the 2011 World Cup final. With a strong expectation they would opt for experience in those tough to decide calls, they have instead made a stunning enforcement of their conviction that talent, form and confidence trumps all.
How must Jordie Barrett feel that with just one cap — a 20-minute cameo against Samoa — the selectors have thrust him into battle?
It screams out that they believe in him. It says they have every faith that Barrett has the skills and temperament to deliver the defensive and offensive performance the All Blacks need at fullback.
Fill a player with confidence like that and typically they respond by repaying the faith. There are few things more empowering, liberating and motivating than an overt declaration of faith.
And what about Ngani Laumape? He made his debut off the bench last week in the most trying circumstances and understandably made a couple of mistakes among some brighter moments.
If he was worried he'd cooked his goose he needn't have been. The selectors have debriefed him on his ment to play just one test, so to play 100 is a remarkable effort.
“His playing ability speaks for itself and inspires others, and he now joins a unique group of special All Blacks. We’d also like to congratulate Jordie on making his first test start in what will be a very memorable occasion.” from Saturday night onwards, probably, the All Blacks.
“We know that very rarely do they lose and very rarely do they lose at home. Everything’s on the line on Saturday night — it’s a series decider, a World Cup final, whatever you want to label it as. It’s a humungous game. We know how hard it’s going to be.”
And yet the Lions feel they will be perfectly poised at Eden Park to ruin another weekend for the All Blacks and their supporters after their comefrom-behind victory in Wellington.
They have enjoyed two days off in Queenstown as they prepare for the final push in a long and arduous battle around various points of New Zealand, training yesterday for the first time since they arrived in the south in front of The Remarkables mountain range. performance, slapped him on the back and said “get back out there and believe in yourself because we do”.
He hasn't been judged for making a few mistakes, but instead given the opportunity to show how he has learned from them.
The fact Laumape will be in the midfield alongside Anton LienertBrown is poignant because about this time last year he, too, was given his chance considerably earlier than planned.
Lienert-Brown started the season a relative unknown but thrust unexpectedly into the test arena amid a significant crises, the youngster was a revelation.
One intriguing aspect of the two Barrett backs playing alongside each other (a third, lock Scott, is on the reserves bench), is which one of them will kick for goal.
Beauden kicked at 100 per cent at Eden Park in the first test and although last weekend he became the first player in history to kick seven penalties in a match against the Lions, he missed a couple of easy ones.
It is just one question in a test which will provide plenty of answers about both squads, who have taken very different approaches in preparation this week.
“This final match in the series is
They know how they want to play and believe they have the men to do it. For once, all of the personnel and tactical issues are with Steve Hansen and his assistants and an added freedom for the Lions, written off by most
And that's the thing with the All Blacks, there is a long history of players who have stepped in at a time of need and grown an extra arm or leg and revealed previously hidden or at least obscured talents.
Not that either Barrett or Laumape should be seen as having arrived unseen out of the mist.
Laumape has been difficult to miss in Super Rugby this year and in case anyone did, when he played for the Hurricanes against the Lions he made the sort of impact that was impossible to ignore.
That performance didn't sell Laumape to the All Blacks, it confirmed what they already knew.
The selectors spent five months tracking Laumape and were convinced when they picked their initial squad in early June he was ready for test football.
They obviously haven't changed their mind nor been convinced that his longer term development would be best served by sitting this one out.
So as much as it says they believe in Laumape, it also says they have enormous faith in their selection template. They dig deep into the characters and qualities of the men they select.
Clearly Laumape has only enhanced their belief that he can cope and if they thought they were right to pick him in the squad, why would they no longer be right to pick him in the starting team given the injury situation? going to be a cracker,” Hansen said. “It’s the series we expected it to be, as the Lions have quality players. It now comes down to this Saturday — the winner takes all — and that’ll create its own unique pressures and it’s going to be interesting to see how both sides cope with it.
“We’ve had a good week of preparation and are very excited by the opportunity that’s ahead of us. We know it’ll be a physical and intense match. It’ll be a game where both teams will have moments of momentum, and the ability of everyone to adapt and adjust throughout the 80 minutes will be crucial.”
This final match in the series is going to be a cracker. It’s the series we expected it to be. All Blacks coach Steve Hansen
before they arrived, is that they will feel they have little to lose.
Hansen’s world champions have come through many high-pressure situations in recent years but Saturday’s test must rank right up there in terms of importance.
“If we can implement our game plan and the way that we want to play on the All Blacks — well, it’s going to be an incredibly tough game and a very close game, there’s no doubting that,” Jenkins said.
“[A Lions series win in New Zealand] has only been done once before — in 1971 — so it says it all really.”
With his men on the brink of history, Jenkins was asked how their lives might change should they win again.
“Sometimes you don’t actually appreciate what you’ve done until you’ve finished playing.
“It might only be a look,” he said of how the players might remember the occasion in the future. “You have friendships and bonds for life and that will never change.”