Dismiss these mind games, it’s penalties that will count
“The minds Gatland wants to win are those of the referees and he has subtlely tried to influence perceptions”
Hearts and minds time as the Lions approach the first Test; that’s what the coaches really have to win if they are to have any hope of making this a successful tour. Warren Gatland must win the hearts of all of his players if they are to move on from the levels they have achieved so far on this tour. As I wrote last week, Gatland said he wanted to give everybody a game and he has done that, so now is the time for him and his coaches to stop the propaganda and pick the strongest side.
The excuses have been made time and again, even before the players stepped onto the plane, with all agreeing that New Zealand is a tough place to tour. Agreeing because New Zealand teams play for 80 minutes and keep playing until the final whistle, they are harder to beat.
Well it might sound like a good excuse especially after the recent losses but the truth is the last Six Nations should have been more than enough of a lesson to most of the Lions players that a game isn’t over until it’s over.
Wales’ dramatic loss to England, virtually as the final whistle was being blown, when Elliot Daly touched down, and Greig Laidlaw’s 81st minute penalty that secured Scotland’s victory over Ireland, should have been timely enough reminders for all.
With yesterday’s selection for the Maori game giving the first serious clue to Gatland’s thinking towards the Test side, he and his coaches now have a hard job keeping the squad together and focused on the job ahead. Some would have seen yesterday’s selection as the end of their tour with nothing to look forward to but the endless slog of the mid-week games and perhaps the odd place on the bench.
Those rested or injured would know their fate is still in the melting pot with those who took their chance yesterday, but it is how Gatland handles the first group that will define this tour.
If he can persuade them to put their heart and soul into the mid-week team with little or no hope of a Test place, he will achieve something that many coaches have in the past failed to do and keep his squad from splitting into two factions.
If he succeeds in achieving that and the mid-week team produce some attractive ‘running rugby’ victories, he will win the hearts of not only the travelling fans, but some of the locals as well.
Winning the minds is a bigger job and one that has been the focus of Gatland since the win against the Crusaders and the loss against the Highlanders.
Mind you, it’s not so much the minds of the Test players that he wants to win as the minds of the referees, and he has set about subtlety trying to influence their perceptions of his players.
From the simple comment after the Crusaders game where he joked it would be nice to have a French referee for all the games and that the All Blacks front row cheat by ‘preloading’ the scrum before the ball comes in, he is inferring that Mathieu Raynal got the scrum calls right and the Southern Hemisphere referees do not.
There is no doubt that referees interpret scrums differently in the south but there are also major differences between referees up here.
French referees are different to English, as are the Welsh and Irish. In fact, all referees interpret the scrum differently and part of the front row’s job is to adapt to what the referee wants.
Gatland’s comment that the All Blacks ‘preload’ the scrum is nothing new, it has always been a tactic only it used to be called a pressure ball – and there is nothing illegal about that if it is done correctly. All forward coaches have their own little tricks to try and upset the opposition and gain an advantage, one of Graham Rowntree’s favourites is the slight off-set.
This is where your front row move slightly off centre so when the engage is called it makes the opposition loosehead look as if he is angled in.
It is very difficult for a referee to pick-up and is against the spirit of the laws of the game (cheating) but it can result in a penalty that could be the difference between winning and losing the game.
It has been a mantra since the beginning of the tour that goal kicks will not be enough to win this series but I think this was also part of Gatland’s plan.
By trying to take the focus away from the penalty kicks and concentrate attention on try scoring, Gatland has tried to affirm in the minds of the referees that his side are not trying to win penalties.
Against Crusaders, with a French referee, he succeeded and the Crusaders concededten penalties including two against All Black prop, Joe Moody, twice penalised for angling in against the Lions who conceded seven.
Against Highlanders Gatland didn’t succeed and the Lions lost the penalty count 12-7, including the last minute penalty against Dan Cole that lost the Lions the match.
So despite Warren Gatland protesting the need for tries, it seems to me that actually it will be the number of penalties the Lions can win, and kick, that will decide who wins the Tests and the series.