Lions make a stuttering start to their tour of New Zealand
Gatland insists his squad will only get better from here:
MIKE Tyson’s build-up to his world heavyweight boxing title date with Buster Douglas remains the benchmark for anyone interested in how not to prepare for a sporting contest.
The previously-unbeaten Tyson didn’t watch any videos of the 42-1 underdog he was due to face; he barely trained beforehand, barring a few sparring sessions in which he was given the runaround by his partner Greg Page. He arrived in Tokyo, where the bout took place, 30lb overweight.
And so it was that Douglas ended the legend of Iron Mike: 10th round, lights out, let’s all go for a coffee.
It is unlikely anyone in the Lions camp will have pondered the fate of Tyson over the weekend, especially as they managed to avoid defeat against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.
But their preparations for the contest in Whangarei were not particularly clever even by those standards.
Anyone doubting that ought to try a 12,000-mile flight followed by a rugby match three days later.
Sleep patterns are all over the place and immune systems take a battering. It is fun only in the way that being on the wrong end of an extended bout of root-canal surgery performed by a dentist with the shakes is fun.
The Lions tried something similar in 1971 and came unstuck 15-11 against Queensland, prompting the hosts’ coach, Des Connor, to suggest it was the worst Lions team to be sent to New Zealand.
Forty-six years on, there are similar noises from the other side of the world.
They should be taken with a Siberian-sized pinch of salt.
That said, it doesn’t completely exonerate the entire class of 2017 from criticism.
After all, Taulupe Faletau performed imperiously and Ben Te’o and Ross Moriarty showed no ill-effects from the travelling. So, there are questions. The problem for Stuart Hogg, Jonathan Joseph, Iain Henderson and Johnny Sexton is that there are only so many opportunities on a Lions tour and those four and one or two others have now failed to take the first of those.
It means they will be playing catchup, maybe with confidence dented.
Sexton came into the game on the back of an out-of-sorts effort against the Scarlets. He again failed to shine and then saw Owen Farrell do exactly that as the Lions squeezed home.
One Kiwi website gave Hogg a 2.5 rating out of 10.
For some, to have such a low mark a player would need to fall over as he ran onto the pitch, miss a dozen tackles, gift the opposition three tries, butcher four potential scores and get sent off.
But, hey, variety is the spice of life and everyone is entitled to a view.
Suffice to say, the Scottish full-back needs to up his game.
No such calamity befell any of the Welsh Lions who started against the Barbarians.
Faletau provided a regal response to the faintly daft idea put forward by Zinzan Brooke that “he just isn’t a key player”.
From tracking back to haul down a tryline-bound attacker – a piece of defensive skill any back-rower in the world would have been happy to put his name to – to making priceless metres off the back of scrums and working hard in contact and generally holding the tourists together, he was the star man by some distance.
If that’s the effect Brooke’s words have on a player, maybe the Kiwi legend could train his fire on some of the others in Gatland’s party.
The truth is, of course, Faletau’s effort wasn’t a skyscraper above his usual contribution. That is what he does, Zinzan. Gatland would have been delighted, too, with Ross Moriarty’s display.
Here was a youngster making his Lions debut, who could have easily been overawed by the experience.
But the son of Paul Moriarty and nephew of Richard Moriarty was born for the big rugby stage and he stamped his authority on proceedings with power and enthusiasm.
One hit on a black-shirted attacker was akin to a hammer crushing an apple.
The surprise was there weren’t any pips left where the contact had taken place.
Gatland will be anxious, however, that Sam Warburton engages a high gear quickly.
His quality is not in doubt, but Warburton looked a fair way off the form that he produced for Wales during the Six Nations. That’s what two months out of rugby because of injury does for you.
A Lions tour isn’t about how anyone played a dozen weeks ago. It is a snapshot of the here and now, and Warburton will know there is significant scope for him to improve.
Alun Wyn Jones’s ego will be bruised, along with his ribs, after being on the wrong end of a monstrous tackle from Andrew Makalio. The Osprey continues to build after his return to action and will be happy enough with his effort, though the competition at lock for the Tests will be severe. No panic, then, for Gatland. But he will be under no illusions, too: the Lions need to get better