FAZ BATS AWAY TAUNTS OF A TOUR FROM HELL
All Blacks warned tough itinerary won’t break these Lions
ANDY FARRELL has told New Zealand they can bin any thoughts of the tour schedule breaking the Lions before the All Blacks get their shot.
The toughest rugby mission ever undertaken sends the Lions into battle with the Highlanders today, their fourth game in 10 days.
After that, they have 72 hours to make the 861-mile journey to Rotorua, check into their seventh different hotel in a fortnight and prepare to face the formidable NZ Maori.
It is the itinerary from hell, but Farrell insists there will be no bleating from the British and Irish camp – even if the Kiwis are already dreaming up things to complain about.
“The one thing we discussed before we left for these shores is that there is no bitching or moaning about anything,” said the Lions defence coach.
“This is the schedule, we know the travel and we get on with it. That is what touring is all about. You have to embrace it.
“Preparation is never ideal, but it is what it is and there will be no whinging about it on this tour. We will not accept that.”
Since Saturday’s morale-boosting victory over the Crusaders, the Lions have been showered not with praise in the home media but criticism of the way they scrummaged and of how the referee allowed them to.
“They have to talk about something!” Farrell said with a sigh. “We just adapt and don’t whinge and moan about it, but get on with it.”
What most encourages him is that the Lions appeared to grow in power the deeper they went into the Crusaders game (below).
“Our collisions got stronger, our breakdown got better, our line speed improved,” he said. “We’re bearing the fruits of the last three weeks. “We’ve gone hard with the lads in a way that would have had an impact on the first couple of games, but we’re now ready to get battle-hardened for a Test match.”
The Highlanders play in an indoor stadium, which means the Lions get to play with a dry ball for probably the only time during this six-week odyssey. It is timely given their urgent need to break a distressing habit of butchering clear try-scoring opportunities.
Two tries in three games has left them exposed to claims they are one-dimensional; strong in defence, but over-reliant on goal kicking to move the score in their favour.
That is harsh given the number of line breaks they have made. But if the trend continues they know as well as anyone that this tour can have no happy ending.
Winger Tommy Seymour (left) said: “There’s only so long you want to go along the lines of being pleased with creating opportunities – at some point you’ve got to start finishing them off.
“That said, it’s a lot easier going from try-scoring opportunities to getting that final pass than it is to create the opportunities in the first place.”