We’ll pay price for needless penalties

THE LIONS need to sharpen up discipline and cut out needless penalties or else it’s going to be a very long tour. Thirteen is way too high against any New Zealand opposition. That is 13 times the Lions gifted Auckland the ball, giving them a chance to relieve pressure and secure great field position or go for goal. You just can’t do that and expect to get away with it. Ireland gave away just four penalties when they beat New Zealand in Chicago in October. Not conceding penalties must be coached. Yesterday it was CJ Stander’s needless penalty on half-time that gave the Blues a shot at goal which hit the post and from which Sonny Bill Williams scored his try. A huge moment. Then Liam Williams, a player I rate, came on and twice in a couple of minutes jumped high to make clumsy challenges on the man while making no attempt to gather the ball. I thought we had cut that from the game. The first offence saw a Lions penalty 25 yards out turned over — they were playing advantage — and the second rightly saw him depart for 10 minutes in the sin bin. Then right at the end Joe Marler got

pinged when the Lions were attacking under the posts and he went to ground. He was unlucky. He somehow kept the ball off the turf and was not held, but you need to be absolutely precise in those pressure situations. Overall it was a pretty even game won by a cracking try from Ihaia West with good assists by Sonny Bill and the impressive Steven Luatua. That score summed up New Zealand rugby at its best and illustrated why you need to keep down the penalty count. Minimise their ball-in-hand time. There were parts of the Lions performance I liked. It was definitely a step up from Saturday. It wasn’t a disaster. Maro Itoje and the Welsh trio of Rhys Webb, Ken Owens and Justin Tipuric were my standouts but I’m mystified why Webb and Owens were taken off with the game in the balance. Greig Laidlaw isn’t an impact player and in the final lineout of the game, we had Rory Best throwing long and missing when the Lions had a real opportunity to salvage the game. An outstanding Crusaders side wait in Christchurch on Saturday, the best Super Rugby side by a distance. The fourth Test they are calling it. A better Lions backline, led by Owen Farrell, lies in wait and the Lions will improve. It is still early days but the big games come at you remorselessly in New Zealand.