Do not think this is a gentle loosener – the tourists will be ready
Gatland’s men must use curtain-raiser to resolve outstanding issues and lay down marker for tour
This team matters. This match matters. Do not be swayed by the notion that the game against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in Whangarei is a gentle tour loosener before the serious stuff starts next week, with a wham-bam itinerary of games against the Blues, the tip-top Crusaders followed by the Highlanders and the Maori.
Of course, those matches are at a different level to this game against an ad hoc bunch of fringe Super Rugby and club players, with even one amateur in the ranks.
But try telling the likes of Sam Warburton that this is a token fixture, a chance merely to get some wind in the lungs and mud on the knees. The Lions captain did not feature until the third game of the 2013 tour to Australia, injury delaying his involvement. Warburton is chomping at the bit to show what he has to offer this time around, following yet another bout of injury.
The Wales flanker will have only one thing on his mind as he leads the Lions down the tunnel at the Toll Stadium in Whangarei on Saturday, and that is to lay down a marker for his team first and foremost, and himself as a secondary consideration. The same is true of Johnny Sexton at fly-half, eager to show that his recent up-and-down form is a thing of the past and that he is the man to guide the Lions from the pivotal No10 position, as he did four years ago, seeing off the challenge then of young buck Owen Farrell.
No matter how much these guys pledge allegiance to the Lions cause, they all, every man jack of the 41 of them, have a blazing desire to be in the starting XV for the first Test in Auckland on June 24. All those pre-tour prognostications count for little now. It is about performance. It is about seizing the moment, because there will not be many opportunities between now and the announcement of the side to take on the All Blacks.
Warburton has to prove that he can replicate the hard-nosed, high work-rate play that thrust him right back into the reckoning during the 2017 Six Nations. Sexton, meanwhile, will be well aware that the apprentice shows all the signs of becoming the master, with Farrell growing in stature with every game. No matter that the Saracens fly-half has been such a dominant figure for England at inside centre – he has made his name as a No 10, and considers it his favoured position. Farrell will be a lurking presence on the bench. Sexton needs a strong start, a performance of note, showing leadership and selflessness in equal measure.
Try telling the Irishman that this is a mere run-out.
Apply that logic to all on view in Whangarei. Sexton’s half-back partner, Greig Laidlaw, will have no truck with the idea that he is the last-but-one man in, summoned when Ben Youngs withdrew for family reasons. Sure, the experienced Scot would make an ideal midweek captain, but that would be a duty to the badge rather than his personal goal for the tour.
The centre combination for the Test side is up for serious debate, and Ben Te’o could earn early brownie points with a dominant display. Te’o is newcomer to the international stage, yet the former rugby league player has shown that there is both power as well as nuance in his game.
In the forward pack there is so much to resolve. What holds good for Te’o applies to rookie tighthead, Kyle Sinckler. The Harlequin has impressed from the bench. Now is the time to illustrate that those 15-minute cameos can translate into a hefty impact from the first whistle.
Alun Wyn Jones as the powerhouse of the forwards again? Iain Henderson to come through the field to take his place? Ross Moriarty likewise? Questions, questions. All to play for.
The Lions have impressed the locals with their deference and sense of fun at the various official and Maori welcomes. They carry an air of togetherness about them. But all that is a sideshow. This is the moment that the 2017 Lions tour gets real.