These All Blacks aren’t invincibles that they are cracked up to be
Nick Cain says Lions coach Warren Gatland is the man to convince his squad Kiwis are beatable
“They must be ready to get their retaliation in first in terms of legitimate aggression”
By the time the Lions get to face the All Blacks on the field in the first Test at Eden Park, my greatest hope is that the overhyped pomp and circumstance surrounding Wednesday’s squad announcement at the Syon Park Hilton in West London will have been replaced by something more steely.
It will have to be if they are to become the first Lions side to beat New Zealand since 1971. All the video clip hype we saw in the preamble to the squad announcement will be redundant. Instead, it will be about whether by the time the three-Test series starts in Auckland, the 2017 Lions have morphed from 41 names read from the team sheet to a flinty-eyed, cold, calculating big match outfit convinced that they can beat the crew in black.
That conviction is the bedrock that this British and Irish Lions tour party must have – and given the strengths of the squad that Gatland has picked relative to the New Zealand side they will face, there is every reason for them to believe that they can win.
Too much of the hype surrounding the Lions toys with sentimentality and glorious failure, relating to tours where the odds were always stacked heavily against them. However, while that might have washed in the amateur era, in a professional sport it is misplaced.
Part of the problem is that it dwells too much on investing opponents like the All Blacks with almost superhuman capabilities. Sure, New Zealand are not any other team, and they have not been beaten at Eden Park for a zillion years – but let’s not do their propaganda job for them. Especially, as they have made an art form of convincing opponents – and match officials – that any team playing them is as good as beaten before they take the field.
Instead, let’s demystify what the Lions face. There is nobody better placed to do that than their head coach, Warren Gatland, who was an All Black himself. Who better to point out to the Lions that they are up against other rugby mortals – and Kieran Read and his team will be under such unbelievable pressure that it could easily undermine them if the Lions can find the fissures in their game?
It is a given that the All Blacks are rarely less than a very good side, and that remains the case. However, my belief last season was that New Zealand were not the new invincibles they were cracked up to be.
I was not convinced that the way they went through a depleted Wales and then their Rugby Championship opponents like a buzzsaw was the stuff of greatness. It seemed more like the other lot had a bad case of woodworm. South Africa and Australia were not the powers of old – a view confirmed in the autumn series – and Wales were knackered. As for Argentina, well, the Pumas caused New Zealand serious problems, especially in Hamilton.
It should be remembered also that half the18-match record-equalling winning run put together by Read’s outfit post McCaw had actually been achieved during the 2015 World Cup when “King Richie” was still on the throne.
The trouble Argentina gave New Zealand through the middle of the ruck proved to be no mirage, and Ireland exploited it even more effectively when they outplayed New Zealand in Chicago. Sure, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock were absent from the NZ boiler-room, but great teams usually have enough depth to make do and mend.
However, what we witnessed in Dublin the following weekend was the old Kiwi habit of hitting back with everything bar the kitchen sink – legal or illegal – to level the account. The clothes-hanger late tackles were no accident. They were meant to send a clear message to the Irish – and the Lions – that there will be more of the same if they have the temerity to think they can threaten the All Blacks on home soil. As in, remember O’Driscoll, mate.
That is why Gatland’s main message to this Lions tour party – like the mantra of the 1971 pack led by Willie John McBride – is that they must be ready to get their retaliation in first, meeting fire with fire. The difference is that instead of the all-in brawls of that era, it must be expressed in terms of legitimate aggression and combativeness. However, the Lions must be primed to fire first, because the safest assumption of all is that the New Zealanders will be looking to take a chunk out of the tourists from day one.
At the squad announcement Gatland took a more softly softly approach. He emphasised how important it was to get the New Zealand public onside through the Lions doing their civic duties and engaging with Kiwi culture, in a way that did not happen under Clive Woodward’s watch in 2005. The Lions head coach said that there were bridges that needed rebuilding.
There is no question that the Lions should visit hospitals and schools in New Zealand, although it is worth pointing out that the All Blacks are not particularly active in this area when they are on tour in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is also important that the Lions are respectful of New Zealand’s cultural totems. However, what they should not do is genuflect to everything the Kiwis say is sacred, otherwise they might never get off their knees.
Another area where the Lions cannot afford to be on their knees is at the breakdown, where New Zealand traditionally tend to outplay their opponents. Last week Peter Winterbottom and Dick Best, both of them veterans of the close-run 1993 Lions series against New Zealand, highlighted the importance of having back row forwards with exceptional physical presence.
Gatland obviously shares the same perspective, because in a side bristling with all-round talent, he reaffirmed breakdown specialist Sam Warburton as captain, and included
an impressive cohort around him.
Gatland said of Warburton: “He is a winning Lions captain already... He is a quality man, and he is selfless, it is about the team first. I know also that referees that have officiated him against Southern Hemisphere teams admire the way he is close to a Southern Hemisphere No.7, like a McCaw or Pocock, in terms of competing over the ball.”
Warburton will want to live up to that glowing endorsement. The New Zealanders will know that breakdown battle will intensify further with three Irish scrappers of the quality of Sean O’Brien, Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander heading their way, while a fast link man like Justin Tipuric gives the Lions another variation. Add the power of Billy Vunipola and the athleticism of Taulupe Faletau and Ross Moriarty, and Read and company face a genuine threat in an area where they expect to rule the roost.
My only misgiving about a squad that boasts true strength in depth in every area is that the Lions did not expand the squad to 43 to include an extra hooker and scrum-half, as advocated by Best. Given the demands of the itinerary the Lions cannot afford men in key positions, in which there is high attrition, to be playing midweek and benching Saturday.
Scrum-halves in particular carry a huge burden, and are the legs and lungs of the team because they have to visit virtually every breakdown. A fourth scrum-half like Greig Laidlaw should have been seen as an essential component rather than an added extra, because the work rate required of these specialists is massive. Furthermore, Laidlaw is another captain and goal-kicker, both of which are worth their weight in gold.
The current vogue with hookers, where many coaches replace them ten minutes into the second half, also means that with only three in the squad, the Lions bench or starting hooker will almost certainly have played for 30 minutes three days earlier. With a contingent of four hookers the Lions would stand a much higher chance of being able to start each match with two of them fully rested – like their Kiwi opponents.
However, those logistical defects are offset by one big bonus. The bookies have made New Zealand odds-on favourites to win the series. There is no better cloud cover to help the Lions slip under the radar than that ringing endorsement of a New Zealand team which is regularly touted as unbeatable, especially at home.
The Lions should remind themselves daily that the team in black is mortal – the Irishmen in the squad can vouch for that – and recognise that the pressure and expectation heaped on them at home by their own fans could force them to buckle. Especially if the Lions add to the load.