Just in time as the Lions step up their game in key areas

With first Test looming, Gavin Mairs looks at how Gatland’s men are improving all over pitch

The scrum

If the defining moment of the 1997 Lions’ successful tour of South Africa came in Pretoria when Jim Telfer beasted his pack with 42 scrums in 46 minutes, 20 years on Warren Gatland’s forwards appear to have experienced a similar watershed in the 32-10 victory over Maori All Blacks on Saturday.

Having failed to exert their dominance in the previous four tour matches, the Lions completely bullied the Maori in Rotorua to the extent where they were awarded a penalty try and gave Taulupe Faletau the platform to launch a series of back-row attacks.

The key focus in training before the match was on the back five having more of an impact in supporting the front row.

“There was a bit of talk from outside about our scrum and how it is creaking but we focused on what we can control and, if anything, it has given us the kick in the backside that we needed,” said the Lions loosehead prop Mako Vunipola.

“As a scrum, we talk about the back five giving us the energy. We think about the processes, of course, but they provide the energy. And I thought they were superb, not just George [Kruis] but Sean [O’brien], Pete [O’mahony], Maro [Itoje] and Toby [Faletau], it was good to give us that energy when we needed it.”

The maul

Steve Borthwick, normally the quiet man of the Lions coaching team, could be seen delivering an animated speech to the pack in a huddle before kick-off. Among his demands was almost certainly greater intensity in their mauling game, which, like the scrum, had underperformed and denied the Lions a siege-gun option from the line-out. Yet against the Maori, it was utterly in control, with the Lions from the outset laying down their marker by finally getting the maul in forward gear, making 48 metres along its steady march, double any other game on tour, conceding just one.

“If you look at teams who have done well against the All Blacks – Ireland in Chicago – they put them under pressure in the set-piece,” said Jamie George, the Lions hooker.

“Steve Borthwick and Graham Rowntree are putting us under some pressure in training. We know we need to improve but we’re really happy with the direction it’s going. George Kruis did a fantastic job in leading that.”

And was that the first time Borthwick had really turned up the heat on the pack just before kick-off ?

“Before a match maybe. He does put us under pressure,” said George. “That’s the way he likes to coach and if it’s not good enough then he’s going to tell us about it. Steve understands exactly what the team needs, whether we need a rile-up or a calm down. He finds that balance really nicely and speaks brilliantly and the lads are loving working with him.”

Aerial contest

While Conor Murray gave a box-kicking masterclass in the victory against the Crusaders, on Saturday we finally saw the Lions take a significant step forward in their ability to compete for the ball in the air – a skill that is going to be critical against the All Blacks.

The back three was one area of the Lions game that had disappointed but, in the Maori game, both Leigh Halfpenny and Anthony Watson won a lot of balls in the air and, when they did not, the competitiveness of their chases forced poor returns from their opponents.

Murray believes part of the improvement is due to their time together. “Against Crusaders we didn’t get as many back as we would have liked but we’ve improved again and we’ll keep on pushing that, keep on pushing the standards,” said Murray.

Defensive line speed

The All Blacks demonstrated in their 12-try victory over Samoa the potency of their attacking game when they are on the front foot and are able to play an unstructured game, but the Lions’ ability to shut down the Maori backline with a suffocating ruthlessness will give Gatland’s men hope that a similarly aggressive defence can have a similarly destructive impact.

“I am not going to be intimidated by any one of them and I’ll look forward to it,” said George. “I feel there is much more to come,

I really do. In the teams I’ve played in, [from] the Crusaders to the Maori game, we have made huge progression. You’ve got to look at the way we defended against the Maori.

“We felt very comfortable in defence. We are trying to put teams under as much pressure as physically possible and I thought we did that. I thought the centres were fantastic in leading the defence. Ben Te’o and Jon Davies were unbelievable and you just have to try and follow their lead. I thought we put them under a lot of pressure barring the try, which was [down to] the bounce of a ball.”

The impact of Te’o and Davies was shown by the staggering fact that their opposite numbers, Charlie Ngatai and Matt Proctor, made just one metre with the ball in hand. Te’o and Davies made 141 metres between them, but one metre against demonstrates how effective their line speed was.

Discipline

Discipline has been a constant problem for the Lions in New Zealand, with the number of penalties conceded in dangerous positions being a major factor in their defeats by the Auckland Blues and the Otago Highlanders. Against the New Zealand Maori, a similarly profligate pattern appeared to have emerged when Itoje conceded two penalties in quick succession, with one costing the Lions three points.

By half-time, however, the tourists had only conceded four penalties and would not add to that total throughout the second half. The Maori, in contrast, were forced into conceding 12, allowing Halfpenny to convert six of them. This will have delighted defence coach Andy Farrell and the Lions must be as parsimonious next Saturday.