RETURN TO THE HURT ARENA
Farrell warns the All Blacks as he rekindles THAT 2013 speech which fired Lions to thrash Aussies
ANDY FARRELL has warned the All Blacks that the British and Irish Lions are going to take them to the “hurt arena” and beyond this weekend.
Four years ago the Lions were triumphant after Farrell demanded Australia be shown a previously unseen level of physicality in the series decider.
His pre-match call to arms – “We are taking them boys to the hurt arena this weekend” – inspired a record 41-16 win and has gone down in Lions folklore as one of the great motivational speeches.
Five days before this series starts, Warren Gatland’s defence coach revisited it when spelling out what the world champions should expect in Auckland on Saturday.
“Mentally and physically we’ll be ready,” he said. “We’re a good side brimming for a big challenge. I know we’ll turn up. It’s going to be a hell of a game.”
Asked whether he had another trip to the hurt arena in mind, he smiled, then suggested it would be somewhere beyond even there.
“We’re going to have to take ourselves to a place that individually we’ve not been before,” he said. “The boys realise that and are excited by that challenge. Physically I don’t think we’ve disappointed so far.”
But Farrell recognises that the 2017 All Blacks are a class apart from Australia’s 2013 team.
“They’re the best in the world, an unbelievable side,” he said. “They are reigning supreme at this moment in time.
“But our squad is full of winners – full of guys who are used to winning and know how to win. I think we’re going to be a hell of a side. The strength of the collective group is going to be phenomenal.”
Ahead of today’s clash with the Chiefs, the British and Irish camp are in high spirits.
The memory of a week ago, when they meekly coughed up victory to the Highlanders and then were mocked by All Blacks’ coach Steve Hansen, has been put behind them.
“The players don’t feel it at all, they think it is irrelevant,” Farrell said of Hansen’s depiction of the Lions as onetrick ponies and Gatland as a coach with nothing up his sleeve but an arm.
“We feel that we’ve got a game and the players to play in all sorts of ways.”
Farrell says he expects Leigh Halfpenny to be fit for Saturday despite reporting symptoms of concussion after the win over the Maori. The full-back has begun the ‘return to play’ protocol.