LIONS GO FOR BROKE
Farrell and Sexton join forces in Gat’s gamble
THE dice have been rolled. The Lions are going for broke. Warren Gatland and his assistants have evidently decided that sporting fortune truly does favour the brave.
Three starting changes are one more than had been widely expectted. The two up front were flagged up days ago; Sam Warburton’s return as captain in the back row and Maro Itoje’s promotion from the bench to lock.
The surprise is further back. Shifting Owen Farrell to inside centre in order to accommodate the return of Johnny Sexton at No 10 is the eye-catching gamble in the selection.
Ben Te’o is the victim of this reshuffle and he must wonder how on earth he has ended up being sacrificed to pave the way for this dual-playmaker, midfield alliance.
The Worcester centre had a monstrous impact in the first Test in Auckland last weekend, but it appears he has paid the price for one damaging moment. It was in the 44th minute of the series opener at Eden Park when Te’o received a pass deep in All Black territory, with an overlap to exploit on his right. Instead of releasing the runners, he straightened the line, slipped over and the chance was gone.
He has paid a heavy price for that lapse and New Zealand won’t miss the force of his tackling.
What they will face instead is a 10-12 double-act of a very different kind. Sexton and Farrell side by side was what many envisaged months ago, before the Irishman’s injuries and form fluctuations diminished the likelihood of the friends being picked in tandem.
But the All Blacks had planned on the basis that it was inevitable once Gatland claimed Sexton ‘had his mojo back’, following an indifferent start to the tour.
It is an enticing prospect. If it clicks, it can ignite the Lions’ attacking game. But that will rely on much good work having been done behind the scenes because the Sexton-Farrell axis has not had much game-time on this tour.
Against the Crusaders, the pair combined well after the Leinster stand-off was introduced midway through the first half, following injury to Jonathan Davies.
Late in that game, they sparked a lightning raid with an exchange of passes which suggested an understanding had been formed. But since then they have had only 23 minutes together — in the latter part of the first Test, which the host nation won 30-15.
The decision to bring Sexton into the back line and demote Te’o is a curious one in the sense that the Lions didn’t struggle to carve open their opponents. With the combinations they had, they were able to make countless linebreaks. In addition, Te’o was a powerful barrier to the marauding Sonny Bill Williams in midfield — on an occasion when Kiwi ballcarriers smashed over the gainline all too frequently.
So what Gatland and Co have apparently decided is that they want as many top-class distributors as possible to increase the chance of capitalising when they get behind the home defence.
The pack changes were expected. Warburton is the tour captain who was denied the leadership role in last weekend’s Test as a result of yet more injury setbacks.
He was out for eight weeks with an end-of-season knee problem and only made his comeback in the tour opener against New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.
Yet, 15 minutes into that game he suffered an ankle sprain which had profound knock-on effects. It meant that he was denied the match-time needed to reach full throttle before the series began, so it became inevitable that he would fall short of the form needed to claim a starting back-row role. As a consequence, he became the first Lions skipper since 1930 not leading his team into a series.
However, what Gatland’s side chronically lacked during their defeat at Eden Park was a breakdown specialist capable of disrupting the home side’s possession. Warburton is a master of thatparticular art, but there is no escaping that he is being picked on reputation rather than compelling performances on this trip.
The Welshman will wear No 6 but will be charged with bringing his openside qualities to bear in order to prevent Sam Cane treating the rucks as his personal domain.
Warburton’s recall comes at the expense of the man who led the tourists in the Test from blindside, Peter O’Mahony.
The Munster flanker and England lock George Kruis are the forwards who have been jettisoned and that means a potential weakening of the lineout operation. Kruis has been replaced by fellow Saracen Itoje, whose selection was all but assured after his impact off the bench last week.
Lock was an area of intrigue. Alun Wyn Jones appeared off the pace after a heavy early collision at Eden Park but the veteran has been retained to partner Itoje. Courtney Lawes played his way into the coaches’ Test plans with a compelling display in midweek.
Elsewhere, the players who started in Auckland have been given an opportunity to make amends for a performance which Gatland suggested lacked pride.
The Lions are now armed with additional clout and attacking pedigree. The dice have been rolled.