From Warrenball to Worryball
OPINION: Forget the red nose, if the Lions get hammered in the second test Warren Gatland will be up on the wobbly bicycle with shoes as long as an alligator and a green wig bigger than the hedge in Waikanae. Gatland’s selection for the second test is a colossal gamble that contradicts almost his entire coaching career.
We are used to the Lions coach making big calls. When he left Brian O’Driscoll out of the third test three years ago, Gatland might as well have told the whole of Ireland that Oliver Cromwell was a good bloke. He similarly offended most of Scotland by excluding almost their entire team from his Lions squad this time around. Chat live with Mark Reason about the Lions tour from midday on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Liam Williams, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Taulupe Faletau, Sean O’Brien, Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones, Maro Itoje, Tadhg Furlong, Jamie George, Mako Vunipola; Reserves: Ken Owens, Jack McGrath, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes, CJ Stander, Rhys Webb, Ben Te’o, Jack Nowell weakness in the All Blacks back three. Just as Ireland did in Chicago, kick and chase looks like being a big part of the game.
It doesn’t mean that the Lions won’t still counter-attack if the space is there to run into. But it does look as though Ben Te’o may have been sacrificed for his failure to pass when the Lions had an overlap early in the second half of the first test. Gatland can be ruthless.
The other big call is to bring back Sam Warburton as captain. It was a huge mistake to appoint Peter O’Mahony as captain for the first test. I said then that he did not have enough experience of handling international referees and so it proved.
Jaco Peyper was so fed up with the Lions by the second half that he had a go at them for having six players all talking to him at once. It put the ref’s back up. The line calls had already all started flowing the All Blacks’ way.
It was all very, very predictable and it was a colossal blunder. Sam Warburton now comes in, after becoming the first tour captain since 1930 to miss the opening test. He is there partly to slow down the All Blacks possession but he is also there to talk to Jerome Garces, the man in charge of the second test.
If this selection looks slightly desperate, then that’s because it is. The Lions have to win. Gatland clearly thinks they have to change. He clearly thinks he has to change. The Lions are going to be very, very physical tomorrow. There will be collisions, carnage and cards.
It’s big top and circus. It’s Gatland’s last stand. If he fails he will be going home on a unicycle.