Lions look to make a statement of intent
Tourists must win the tour opener in style Payne suffers calf injury and is replaced by Daly
The Lions’ shock and awe campaign begins in Whangarei tomorrow, with the tourists intent on convincing a sceptical Kiwi public by dispatching the Provincial Barbarians in style.
It is a fixture that head coach Warren Gatland acknowledges they dare not lose – “there is no hiding from that” – if the short-span tour is to get the kick-start it needs. Much stiffer challenges lie ahead.
Gatland’s 22-year-old son, Bryn, is at fly-half for the Baa-baas, but it is not bragging rights in the family household that are most prominent in the mind of the Lions head coach, rather the desire to lay on a show of sparkle and substance.
Gatland was informed that a recent nationwide survey had shown that 78 per cent of New Zealanders would not be able to name one of the Lions touring party. That insularity and ignorance has always been in play here – partly through isolation, partly arrogance, and partly because the Lions have yet to create their own identity. That process starts in earnest at the Toll Stadium.
“That’s hopefully the plan [to shock New Zealand],” said Gatland. “If we can play some good rugby, make people stand up and take notice, it’s going to create interest. Maybe when the 30,000 Lions supporters arrive and they do the poll again, the number might go up.
“We’ve got players who aren’t known here at the moment, but they’ve got some X-factor in them and can cause some surprises. We’ve got pace, we’ve got footwork and we’ve got ability. I honestly feel we’ve got players with some X-factor to match the All Blacks.
“If you look at New Zealand at times, it just comes down to one or two magical moments. That might be an offload or something else. We’ve got to give our players the confidence to do the same thing. We have to give them the freedom to play what is in front of them and be able to express themselves.
“I said to the players this morning, ‘If we’ve got a four-on-two on our goal-line, then you’ve got to move the ball and do something. I don’t want you to play by numbers, I want you to play what is in front of you’. I want them to express themselves, starting straight away in this game. You have to give them that confidence that they can go and do that and maybe create something special. That was the message today.”
There have been other messages, including the one Gatland left for his son, pointing out that both of them will now have played against the Lions – Warren was Waikato hooker in 1993 – but that only one of them would have won. “At least, I desperately hope that will be the case,” Warren observed.
It ought to be. There is little experience in the Barbarians ranks with the prime criterion for the team being that one player is picked from each of the union’s 15 provinces. They have managed 14 in a side who ought not to be able to match the relentless speed and physicality of the tourists, who have put together a strong bench featuring the likes of Owen Farrell, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Rhys Webb and - after a calf injury picked up by Jared Payne, the late addition of Wasps’ Elliot Daly.
The Lions starting XV has come about through circumstance rather than design with 13 of the starting XV originating from those who had been able to attend the first training camp in Wales a fortnight before departure while others were still involved in domestic competitions. Those restrictions account for an all-wales back row and an intriguing English midfield of Ben Te’o and Jonathan Joseph.
Te’o has a chance to impress, with Gatland agreeing that Test places are up for grabs and that there is more subtlety to Teo’s game than is usually acknowledged. There are three national captains on display, in Greig Laidlaw, Alun Wyn Jones and Sam Warburton, who gets his wish to lead out the 2017 Lions in the first game, a far better state of affairs than four years ago in Australia, when his debut was delayed by injury.
“I was constantly panicking that I wouldn’t pull through, but I will need a few games now before I really hit my straps,” said Warburton.
There is so little time for any of the squad to settle and develop. This is a one or two-game audition, with Gatland underlining the strength in depth available, saying that it was hard to determine who was “No 1 in their position and most players will be looking over their shoulders”.
That could apply as much to Dan Cole or Tadhg Furlong on the tighthead as Kyle Sinckler gets a start or, perhaps more tellingly, to Jonathan Sexton and Owen Farrell. Gatland stressed that he saw Farrell as contesting the No10 shirt primarily.
“We know that Owen can fulfil the role of No12, but we want all three fly-halves [Dan Biggar is the other] to have a start. Johnny needs to get some rugby under his belt.”
There is much to savour for Gatland and his coaches. “We know everyone has written us off,” said Gatland with a smile.
The mission to conquer hearts and minds is as much on the agenda in Whangarei as simply to get off to a winning start.
‘We’ve got players who aren’t known here at the moment but they’ve got X-factor in them’