Boring? Reality is Lions will have to chisel out the wins like ‘71
When you are surrounded by hype and experts real or selfappointed – as you are 24/7 on a Lions tour of New Zealand – it can be incredibly difficult to think straight and stay true to what you truly believe works. All of which is going to make the next four weeks very interesting.
For me, the Lions got it dead right yesterday – strong set piece, wolf pack type defence and Owen Farrell kicking the goals – and the only fault in their game was not putting away a couple of try scoring opportunities. But to be honest it wasn’t a great spectacle, interesting rather than compelling, and will almost certainly be labelled as boring and one dimensional by the Kiwi Press.
We’ve been there before, you know the routine. Two tries in three matches, when are you guys going to play some footie? Why come all this way to shut up shop?
To be fair the highlights reels was a tad brief, but it’s not that long ago that Saracens used to get called boring and one dimensional. And kept winning. Panache and x-factor are all well and good but they are not always the precursors of victory. They are the add-ons when you have done the hard graft.
In one way there is a genuine frustration here. Although not agreeing with the hype which suggests this is the strongest Lions tour party ever, there is no question that if this same group was currently touring South Africa and Australia they would absolutely rip into the opposition by playing total rugby. It would have been spectacular. They would back themselves to blow the opposition off the pitch – those hard, dry and firm pitches – and my hunch is that that they would achieve that in historically memorable style. Two or three of the backs might be hailed for their virtuosity and become legendary figures.
But this is New Zealand in the middle of their dark winter with the toughest itinerary in history against Kiwi sides who would love nothing more than for the Lions to take them on in a game of Super Rugby. Deep down you still wish the Lions would slip the leash a little and perhaps, in extremis come the Tests, they will have to, but they should also consider the experience of the one Lions team to succeed in New Zealand.
There is no need for me to eulogise about the extravagant allcourt skills of that 1971 side and their all-star back division but consider this. Even with that alltime back division from the gods, the Lions scored only six tries in the four Tests and one of those was a charge down by Ian McLauchlan and the other a short range effort from Peter Dixon.
And there is a very good reason for this. The Lions won 45 per cent possession top whack and it was their Tigerish 80-minute defence and resistance that underpinned their triumph. They might have run riot against the Provinces and produced one of the great attacking displays in the history of rugby to dismantle New Zealand champions Wellington, but it was sheer grunt and determination and defensive resolve that saw them home in the Tests.
Go online and search for the 1971 Test series on YouTube – there are 40 minutes of edited
highlights for each of the four games – and see how that series was won. Mike Gibson might have been a genius attacker but by far his biggest contribution was his incredible tackling and defence.
JPR’s main attribute early in his career was thought to be his attacking skills but this was the tour when his frightening physicality came to the fore. David Duckham is remembered for his bewildering swerves and steps but it was his defence that saw him selected over John Bevan. Chico Hopkins won his only Lions cap in the first Test coming on early in the first half for Gareth Edwards and it was his swarming defence and harrying that played a big part in seeing the Lions home.
In the two Tests the Lions won, they didn’t concede a try and scarcely gave New Zealand a kick at goal. The first Test was a Rorke’s Drift defensive effort and the second half of the third Test was the same. It was also heroic defence – and JPR’s 50-metre dropgoal – that earned a draw in the final Test.
The 1971 Lions actually produced barely 40 minutes of consistent attacking rugby in the entire series. In the second Test they were already 22-6 down having leaked five tries having been lured into an all-singing alldancing type of game, when they let rip a little and scored a memorable try from Gerald Davies and had another disallowed.
Then in the first half hour of the third Test they poured it on and stormed over for tries from Davies and Barry John. And that was pretty much it. Back to heavy duty defensive duty. That, in the real world, is how you chisel out wins over New Zealand on their own patch. To imagine you might take them apart with 80 minutes of attacking brilliance is LaLa Land.
So yesterday was a much more encouraging performance than say an epic 45-28 win for the Lions in a game that might have had us reaching for the superlatives. In 314 Super Rugby games in their history the mighty Crusaders have only once scored fewer than three points, against the Highlanders eight years ago, the only time in their professional history they have been nilled.
Andy Farrell has already got the Lions defence working as a unit, the line speed is excellent and yesterday was very disciplined. The only slip I can recall was when the promising Jack Goodhue got through Farrell junior.
Father and son will be annoyed at that but Goodhue is capable of doing that to any defence. The fact that it was the only Crusaders’ attack worth recalling is immensely encouraging.