LET’S MAKE HISTORY
Lions greats back Warburton heroes to end the long wait
LIONS greats are queuing up to back Sam Warburton’s team as they bid to make history this morning.
As the Lions prepare for the winner-takes-all final Test against New Zealand, they have been receiving messages of support from the only other conquerors of the All Blacks.
Tour manager John Spencer, a member of the
IF they win today these British and Irish Lions will become household names.
In rugby circles they will be remembered forever; their achievement framed as the greatest in Lions’ history. I can’t think that any previous Lions side has played against such a complete team, with such little preparation time. Everything has been stacked against them. This tour is out on its own. If they can come back from losing the opener to beat the back-to-back world champions it will be one for the ages. In 20 years’ time we will be able to name the team that achieved it. No question whatsoever, it will be heralded as one of THE great Test victories of all time. You will have noted my use of the word ‘if ’. For this remains a towering challenge. Winning in Wellington was one thing, a very special accomplishment in its own right. A victory at Eden Park, where the All Blacks never lose and where Kieran Read’s team know winning is nonnegotiable, is another level. I’m not being blinded by the fact that the Lions won last week’s game. The All Blacks played an hour with 14 men and still had a nine-point lead with opportunities to extend it further. Take nothing away from the Lions’ comeback, it was ballsy, marvellous to watch. But for me, the All Blacks start as favourites this morning. My concern is some have got a little carried away with the result of the second Test and not properly analysed the performance. Critique the first half-hour: the Lions’ setpiece wasn’t good enough, the scrummage was creaky. The picture the ref was seeing was one of Kiwi ascendancy. Had Sonny Bill Williams not been sent off after 25 minutes and the Kiwis not sacrificed a forward as a result, every time the scrum went down the Lions would have been penalised. And that would have sucked territory and discipline out of them. Instead, the All Blacks had to switch from covering all options to second-guessing where the Lions with their extra man were going to attack so they could put their defenders in there. Without Jerome Kaino, the forward they took off, their back-row balance was wrong, the ripple effect of which was that space opened elsewhere and the All Blacks ended up just fighting fires. The Lions’ scrum must get at least parity, the pack must play with the same relentless intensity against 15 as they did versus 14. It is a tall order. I passionately want the Lions to win and I have seen at first hand how players become superhuman when they wear that shirt. But the First Test is the game we should really all be referencing and in that New Zealand were too good in all departments. So there’s the challenge. And it is why, should the Lions prevail, it will be a feat that is talked about for the rest of our lives.