>> Guscott: We have to learn how to walk in tries
For the British and Irish Lions to beat the Maori All Blacks yesterday was good – but the Lions have little chance of beating the All Blacks if they don’t start scoring the ‘walk-in’ tries they are creating.
It was great to regain momentum so close to the first Test and it also continued the winning record of the Saturday team. That was incredibly important.
But as we’ve been hearing since the start of the tour, the attack needs improving and it’s still even more crucuial now with one week to go before the Test matches.
The Lions have had a really good base at the set piece to work from, especially on Saturdays, but they have to turn linebreaks into easy tries.
Ben Te’o, Jonathan Davies and Johnny Sexton have been able to make some good linebreaks but the support play after that has been really slow.
The options available to the line breaker have been minimal and people have rightly criticised that – but what’s more important for me is what happens next.
The Lions disorganised the Maori defence and had the opposition at their mercy but yet the Lions then struggled to regain an attacking shape that would have seen them walk in a try.
They did it three or four times against the Crusaders and even if there weren’t as many chances yesterday, they should have scored a try on two occasions.
They haven’t improved on reshaping, readapting and reloading the attack to calmly walk that try in which they should be able to do at this level. If that isn’t rectified before next week, there’s little chance of the Lions beating the All Blacks.
That’s how England in 2012 and Ireland in Chicago last October have managed to beat the All Blacks. They took those opportunities and scored four or more tries from them. Unless it’s really wet, you’re looking at three or four tries to beat the All Blacks.
It’s hard to guess the forecast at Eden Park next week but if I was playing, despite being the attacking outside centre I was, I’d hope for a little rain next Saturday.
It would suit the Lions more than the All Blacks because it would make the set piece more important. It would make the game more organised and the All Black don’t want that.
The only organised thing the All Blacks want is chaos. They thrive off organised chaos and you get the feeling after that demolition of Samoa on Friday that their passes will stick and they will finish 70 per cent of their chances.
The Lions won’t be able to take their eyes off the ball for a second. A simple error, like the one George North made that led to the Maori’s try in the first half yesterday, will be punished by the All Blacks.
All in all, it was a predictable performance from the Lions and I think there is now a clear picture of how they are going to play. It’ll be about set piece dominance and working from those position.
The danger of that, however, is that while the set piece has been decent, I don’t think it’s going to smash the All Blacks. It’s going to slow them down somewhat but the All Blacks have rarely been exposed or seen as being deficient at the scrum.
They’re technically very good there but they only see it as a way to restart the game. They don’t want to spend too much time hustling and tussling against any team let alone the Lions who like that arm-wrestle and will look at wearing the All Blacks down.
The lineout and the driving maul worked well and were well-controlled
but again it’s what you do after that. It has to be explosive. It has to be executed well. It has to be done at pace.
They have Ben Te’o to get over the gainline. I think he can make ground against the All Blacks provided he gets the ball with momentum.
But you have to be dynamic for that to work and yesterday Maro Itoje and George Kruis were guilty of being static when they got the ball.
They won’t be able to do that against the All Blacks because you instantly lose the gainline.
You can concede turnovers from there and the All Blacks are the best
The Lions haven’t improved on reshaping and reloading the attack. Unless they do, they won’t win”
side of playing off that scenario with their counter attacking.
I still think the Saracens locks will start the first Test and so will Te’o at No.12. In fact, I’d go for the same XV that took the field yesterday and that means leaving tour captain Sam Warburton out of the squad.
Warren Gatland hinted this week that Warburton was a great competitor but he’ll accept whatever’s decided and that tells me he’s not going to be in the starting lineup.
Out wide, George North didn’t get involved as much as Anthony Watson on his wing.
Fortunately for him, I don’t think he’s being overly challenge by the other wingers in the squad – Tommy Seymour or Elliot Daly haven’t done enough to stake their claim for that No.11 jersey – and that’s why he and Watson will start next week.
North made that mistake for the try but did really well after that to chase back and beat two Maori, Charlie Ngatai and Damian McKenzie, to the ball. He managed to get away and carried the ball five or six metres to allow his teammates to recover and clear the lines from the next phase.
Then, instead of getting up and chasing Murray’s kick he seemed to be happy just dusting himself off thinking that was a job well done. He was a little switched off yesterday and you can’t be like that in a Lions shirt.
But he is a great player and I’m sure he’ll raise his game against Waisake Naholo and the All Blacks who have a dream back three if you put Julian Savea on the other wing and Ben Smith at full-back.
I’m sure Watson will be up for the challenge against Savea. He’s still a bit raw but no doubt he’ll relish the challenge with some nervous excitement.
The guys who played yesterday have to support the mid-week team against the Chiefs on Tuesday.
In a rugby-mad country, if they lose on Tuesday, it creates a negative vibe. The media, the crowd and New Zealand people in general will get on their case.