Farrell blow looms large over Lions ahead of first Test
Fly-half a serious doubt after suffering leg injury Sexton can stake claim with start against Maori
First Billy Vunipola and now possibly Owen Farrell: the two players who the Lions could ill afford to lose if they are to take the game to the All Blacks in the Test series that begins in eight days at Eden Park.
Vunipola’s loss came, of course, before the squad departed. But news that his Saracens team-mate suffered a grade one quadriceps strain in training yesterday, just hours after being named on the bench to face the Maori All Blacks tomorrow, is a grievous blow.
Warren Gatland, the Lions head coach, had been speaking of the need to wrap Farrell in cotton wool by naming him among the replacements – “he has been pretty crucial for us and we need to make sure he is fit for the following week” – before the thunderbolt struck.
While such injuries have a sevento-10-day recovery span, it will be a major concern for the Lions with so much riding on the opening match of the three-test series.
Even if Farrell makes a return, he will not have been able to train and will probably be hampered as a goal-kicker. On that front, at least, the Lions are well covered, with Leigh Halfpenny and Jonathan Sexton at their disposal.
There are other pressing matters for the Lions to address as they prepare to face one of New Zealand’s most cherished sides. Sam Warburton may not be up to scratch with his match sharpness as he takes his position on the bench, with Munster’s Peter O’mahony leading the team against the Maori. And the back three is far from a proven, productive force in action so far.
Steve Hansen, the All Blacks head coach, may have been trying to add a little mischief to proceedings yesterday when he suggested that Gatland was about to split his squad into a midweek team and a Test side. He predicted his opposite number was poised to call up more players to allow him to do that.
But it is Farrell’s injury that will dominate the build-up to the Tests.
The midfield was one of the selection conundrums. Sexton, who had a disappointing start to the tour, had shown well when coming on against the Crusaders, slotting in at 10 with Farrell shifting to his England position at inside centre. That partnership was sharp and assured, offering Gatland a different option in terms of style.
England’s Ben Te’o had performed with such vigour and cleverness that he had laid great claim to the No12 shirt, even though he has made only one start for England. It now appears that if the gloomy tidings on Farrell prove to be true a Sexton-te’o axis becomes the only realistic permutation.
Sexton has to continue in the vein of last weekend against the Crusaders and not revert to the flaky, hangdog figure of the opener against the Barbarians. Gatland had been enthusiastic about the upturn in Sexton’s form and glad that it offered him the opportunity to shield Farrell. So much for that.
“Johnny was really good off the bench the other day and the combination of 10 and 12 was pretty seamless,” said Gatland. “Johnny needs more rugby, and we’re building on that. He was just down a little on confidence, but he’s got a bit of his mojo back.”
Te’o is a talented midfielder with the same sort of technical skill-set and mental toughness as his fellow New Zealanders when they don the black shirt. He grew up in Auckland but left at 17 to carve out a career in rugby league, before heading to Leinster to re-educate himself in the code he had played as a boy.
It has been some re-immersion. The 30-year-old has played second fiddle for England to the George Ford-farrell partnership, impressing off the bench. What is more, he has played with Sexton at Leinster, and, as he puts it, “feels comfortable playing 12 or 13”.
O’mahony is the personification of “Munster mongrel”, in the words of Gatland, speaking of an ability to play with “special pride and to dig deep”. The coach made it clear that his efforts against the Crusaders had made a forceful impression.
Of course, Warburton could slip into O’mahony’s No 6 slot if the coaches consider Sean O’brien indispensable but want to make the best use of Warburton’s guile at the breakdown. O’mahony, though, offers a splendid line-out option.
Warburton was effective in spurts against the Highlanders, but contributed nothing like the turbocharged relentlessness of the O’mahony, O’brien, Taulupe Faletau combo that stressed the Crusaders to distraction.
“Sam fully understands that that loose-forward trio went outstandingly well against the Crusaders,” said Gatland. “The challenge for them is to repeat it.”
On that, and other matters, rests so much. It is time for delivery on all fronts.