Liam bounced back in champion style
LIAM WILLIAMS’ week summed up life as a professional rugby player. One moment you’re down and the villain of the piece, the next you’re helping your team to a vital victory. After picking up a silly yellow card just minutes after coming on in the defeat to Auckland Blues, I’m sure Liam would have been down in the dumps. He was given an immediate chance to make amends and I thought he was excellent in the win over Crusaders.
I know the Lions bombed another couple of tries in Christchurch and Warren Gatland will know that can’t happen against the All Blacks. But on the whole, I was very impressed by the display at AMI Stadium. It was much, much better and a real statement of intent.
Like many, I’ve watched the three Lions matches so far with a close eye on the backs. Not bad, but could do much better would be the way I’d describe it and I’m sure others would agree with me.
That said, against Crusaders, who have been ripping up Super Rugby, I thought the Lions played much the better rugby and looked more dangerous than their opponents. Let’s start in the back three and with Liam. For me, I just get more and more impressed each time I see him.
His sin-binning against the Blues was needless and wouldn’t have been the way he’d have wanted to mark his Lions debut. But he bounced back with a bang and was a livewire on the wing. He looks equally comfortable either out wide or at full-back and if the final pass had gone to hand, he would have played a crucial role in a couple of tries. I think Liam is pushing hard for a Test place, I really do.
Jack Nowell didn’t have his best game against the Blues and Tommy Seymour looks likely to play against the Highlanders. I’m sure this is a chance Liam is relishing and we all know having seen his displays with Wales over the last year or so that he usually stands up on the big occasion. I’m sure the Lions will be criticised for not scoring tries, but the most important thing for me was that they created chances. And you have to remember, they had some unfortunate injuries to deal with.
Stuart Hogg’s was just plain unlucky after he collided with Conor Murray and I’m worried he might miss the opener with New Zealand as a result. Jonathan Davies is in the same boat and I was disappointed to see him go off because he started well by making a
line break in just the first minute. We all know how good Jon was for the Scarlets at the end of last season and I was looking forward to seeing that continue. Both he and Stuart have head knocks and you can’t mess around with concussion. We’ll have to wait and see how they recover, but I was impressed with how the Lions coped in their absence.
Anthony Watson came on at fullback and really made an impression. I’m sure Warren considered moving Liam to 15 and bringing Anthony on to the wing. He didn’t do that, and the decision was justified. I’m not sure either Stuart or Leigh Halfpenny have made a firm case to be first-choice fullback and the way Anthony played on Saturday means I think he must be considered for the shirt.
His kicking game might let him down, and that’s why I think Leigh will get the nod for the Tests, but Anthony’s running ability is right up there. He doesn’t look the quickest, but he’s deceptively sharp and knows where the try line is, as we saw in the first game of the tour. At the very least he’s pushing for a spot among the replacements for the opening Test.
I also liked the way Owen Farrell and Johnny Sexton combined when Jon went off. It showed two playmakers is still an option and I was impressed by Ben Te’o’s move to 13. He’s not the one-trick pony many make him out to be. Murray and Farrell were sensational on Saturday and I think they’re nailed on to start as half-backs. I’m hoping Jon is going to be OK after his head knock, because for me he should wear the 13 Test shirt with Te’o inside him. That leaves two wing spots and the full-back.
Is George North deserving of one of those positions? I think he probably is, but he had a quiet game in Christchurch. To be fair he did his basics well and his defence – which has been poor in the past – was solid. But he’s in the team to score tries, and George didn’t get much ball. I’d still pick him for the first Test, though for me his workrate could improve in terms of the number of touches he gets. I’d like to see him coming in as a second receiver off Farrell and fixing the opposition defence occasionally rather than sitting out wide.
If that happens, he’ll get his hands on the ball more and even if he doesn’t, his presence will give others space to move into.
With George and Liam as my Test wings, that just leaves the full-back spot. Hogg’s head knock looked nasty to me, but I think Leigh just has the edge over him at the moment anyway. I played with Leigh and he’s the ultimate professional. He might get criticised for not hitting the line as much as he should do in attack, but his ability to marshal space defensively is second to none. He covers so much ground it’s untrue and we saw in Australia in 2013 that he does have a try in the locker. It’s not all just kick, kick, kick. Leigh and George are quite similar in that they both cop their fair share of criticism. I don’t think they’re appreciated as much as they should be, even in Wales, not that it will bother them too much. Helping the Lions to a series win in New Zealand wouldn’t be too bad a way to earn some credit, and on the whole the game with the Crusaders has left me feeling pretty positive.
A win like that against such top opposition will do wonders for confidence and the tries will start to come in time, I’m sure of it. How can they not when there’s so much talent in the squad?
If you take a step back and analyse the tour so far, the Lions could have been unbeaten after three games, but only one brilliant offload from Sonny Bill Williams means they are two out of three. It could be better, but it could be worse and I’m excited about what’s to come. This was a victory which showed what the Lions can be all about.
“I’d still pick George North for the first Test but his workrate needs to improve”