Ill-disciplined Lions are left high and dry
ONE step forward, one step back.
After the morale-boosting win over the Crusaders in Christchurch, this narrowest of defeats to the Highlanders takes the Lions back to square one.
Played four, won two, lost two is their record and in truth this game at Forsyth Barr Stadium should have ended in victory.
Coach Warren Gatland wanted his Lions to be tested before they face the All Blacks and on what is the most punishing of tours, he got just that.
Gatland argued afterwards that his side will be battle-hardened following their latest encounter but he should be concerned by their poor game management in the final quarter.
At 22-13 up following Sam Warburton’s try, the tourists should have seen out the game but the wheels fell off when their captain and impressive scrumhalf Rhys Webb left the field.
“This result hits the momentum a little bit,” said Warburton after he played for 68 minutes. “Obviously everyone wants to win and the morning after a victory is always better than a morning after a defeat. But the boys are highly motivated on this tour and we will be back.”
With such a punishing run of fixtures, back-to-back wins would have done wonders for confidence. And there were positives. CJ Stander was immense despite his third game in a week, carrying relentlessly and smashing himself into the tackle time and time again. Webb showed how lucky the Lions are to have a man of his ability as back-up to Conor Murray, and they finally found some attacking verve to score three tries. After Waisake Naholo had opened the scoring for the hosts, Jonathan Joseph, Tommy Seymour and Warburton all crossed the whitewash, while Dan Biggar kicked two conversions and a penalty, but it still was not enough to seal victory. The Lions managed to let a nine-point lead slip when Liam Coltman’s pushover try got the Highlanders back into it and a penalty from Marty Banks sealed the win.
Elliot Daly attempted a 57-metre penalty to snatch victory at the death but could not find the target.
Injuries to Webb and Courtney Lawes, who took a sickening blow to the head, are also a concern for Gatland, as is the ill-discipline that continues to haunt the Lions. In the two games he has refereed on tour, Australian official Angus Gardner has penalised them 25 times. You cannot win Test matches with a count that high.
“We wanted to keep the penalties to single figures, we did that against Crusaders but not here,” said Warburton. “We scored tries, which was a positive, and for the neutrals, it was a good game.”
The 80 minutes also showed which players are now out of Test contention: Jack Nowell, Seymour, Greig Laidlaw, James Haskell and Iain Henderson are destined to stay in the midweek side for the rest of the tour.
Gatland will pick his strongest team to face New Zealand Maori on Saturday.
Owen Farrell, Alun Wyn Jones, George Kruis, Taulupe Faletau and Leigh Halfpenny are all likely to start and those five, plus Warburton after his decent showing in Dunedin, remain close to certainties to meet the All Blacks a week on Saturday.
This tour has swung back and forth already and now Gatland’s first-choice outfit is charged once again with getting it back on track. They did it against Crusaders but the Maori are itching to repeat their 2005 victory over the Lions in Rotorua. It promises to be some occasion.