Ready to roar on hallowed ground
One team – the All Blacks – yearn to play the game at pace, with width, ball in hand and the athleticism and expression that suits their personnel. They will look to strike off turnover, to pressure with the kick-chase and to use their wonderful natural instincts to find holes in that Lions defence that other, lesser, sides have struggled to identify.
The other – those Lions – will approach things differently. They will look to squeeze the life out of the back-to-back world champions with their trademark line speed on defence, and with their power at He’s the best player in the world and the All Blacks will be looking for their No 10 to show it tonight. How Barrett copes, and responds, to that Lions linespeed on defence will be arguably the key element of the game. If he can find the weak points, the visitors’ No 1 strength will be negated. the set piece. They will play a calculated, territorial game and they will as many bodies as they have to, to slow down that All Blacks supply line.
One team will look to run and stun, the other to strangle and stifle. It’s the essence of rugby.
That’s the theory at least. The weather could have a say and, of course, the result is paramount. The All Blacks are not beneath jumping into the trenches, if that is what it takes. And who knows? Maybe the Lions will show that ‘‘X-factor’’ that their increasingly Jaco PeypPeyper (South Africa). TAB odds: All Blacksks chirpy coach Warren Gatland has hinted from the outset is in their makeup.
Twelve years ago this matchup proved ridiculously one-sided as the All Blacks swept the Lions with ease.
But that was then and this is now. This is a different Lions beast under Gatland. They reflect a British and Irish game collectively in a very good place, and have given every indication on tour, morphing from a stagger into a swagger, that they are coming together nicely into a content, cohesive group with a clear idea of their strengths and game-plan.
But this is the All Blacks who have not lost at their Auckland fortress since 1994. That’s 38 straight tests won on their Garden of Eden. They have also not dropped a match In New Zealand since 2009, which makes it 46 victories on the bounce – and counting.
Their keys? Deal with the linespeed, then break it down. Everyone has a role, but Beauden Barrett and Sonny Bill Williams must be assertive. Muscle up at the set piece and ruck. Seize on The Irish halfback might be the Lions’ best player, with an outstanding allround game underpinned by a brilliant tactical kicking arsenal. He has good size (1.88m, 95kg), uses it well, and is seldom rattled. The Munster man was pivotal in Ireland’s shock defeat of the All Blacks in Chicago last year. turnovers. Do that and the rest should take care of itself.
If this becomes a battle of which team can create best, rather than suffocate most, the All Blacks will have the Lions right where they want them. Getting there will be the hard part.
Hansen, who has lost just four times with the All Blacks since he took the head coach’s reins in 2012, put this series on the same level as the business end of a World Cup. That sort of pressure, intensity, stakes and interest.
‘‘It’s exciting. You can feel the enthusiasm and hunger with the players. They’re really up for it. That doesn’t guarantee you’ll win, but it does guarantee your attitude will be right, and we know if our attitude is right and our clarity is right, then we’re a good side.
‘‘You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know we want to play off quick ball and they will want us not to. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s advantage to the team that wins the first [test]. But there have been plenty of occasions in sport where people have come from behind to win.’’ So many factors swing test matches but perhaps the one most stacked against the Lions tonight they appear bullish about overcoming.
Eden Park, fortress oh fortress, has witnessed two World Cup triumphs from the All Blacks and stands unblemished over the past 23 years. Lions lock Maro Itoje was not born the last time the All Blacks lost there in 1994 to France, who needed the famous try from the end of the earth to pull it off.
Thirty-seven matches unbeaten since, and the one occasion the Lions played at the Garden of Eden they were humbled 38-19 in the 2005 third test.
Just for good measure, the All Blacks are also unbeaten anywhere at home since dual losses in 2009 to France and South Africa.
Such records are not formed by chance. Eden Park is a place of comfort for the Blues (yes, even the Blues) and All Blacks, regularly evoking a lift in significant matches.
Yet from coaches to players, all week the Lions have dropped references to the All Blacks’ phenomenal record here. It has clearly been discussed and a mantra settled on.
Warren Gatland backed up calls for the Lions to be bold and courageous by stating the record was ‘‘there to be broken’’.
Classy Irish halfback Conor Murray delivered his thoughts with similar conviction.
With two of the three tests at Auckland’s national stadium, the Lions have no choice but to believe they will be the team to breakthrough.
‘‘We’re all aware of it. We’ve all played at Eden Park and know how tough it is to win here.
‘‘This is a whole new team, a whole new pod of players with massive talent and I think we’re more excited about that.’’