about RWC 2019
“Between now and the 2019 World Cup, Six Nations teams will face New Zealand with renewed confidence”
grubbers – and took great support lines in attack. In defence his rush tackling was brilliantly timed and brutal, and his chase back to cut down Ngani Laumape in the last Test was a priceless statement of intent, as well as superior speed. Gatland has yet to record a win over New Zealand as Wales coach, but with Liam Williams, Rhys Webb, Leigh Halfpenny, Dan Biggar and perhaps a rejuvenated George North ready to have another crack in Cardiff on November 25, he will be wanting to turn a millstone into a milestone. It was more of a mixed bag for Ireland. Although Conor Murray reaffirmed that he is level pegging with All Black rival Aaron Smith for the world’s best scrum-half title, punishing New Zealand with his try-scoring break in Wellington and pinpoint box kicks throughout, he only had Johnny Sexton, Sean O’Brien and Tadgh Furlong for regular company in the starting 15. Where O’Brien and Furlong were cornerstones in the Test campaign, bringing heavy duty physicality to the contest, other Irish forwards like Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander, Rory Best and Iain Henderson were more peripheral – and the same was true of backs Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne.
O’Mahony’s fall from grace was the most pronounced, when, having been made captain for the first Test, the Munster blindside was jettisoned for the remainder of the series.
It was a harsh call, and contrasted with Gatland’s perseverance with Sexton after the fly-half made a stuttering start. However, it paid off with Sexton and Farrell paired for the last two Tests as dual 10-12 playmakers – most notably in clinching the win in the final quarter in Wellington.
While the Irish do not get another tilt at New Zealand this autumn, Scotland do. This will be an opportunity for the Scots to make an incontrovertible statement about their lack of representation on the tour. However, having Tommy Seymour, Greg Laidlaw and Stuart Hogg – whose tour was curtailed by his head clash with Murray – in the Lions squad means at least they will know what’s coming.
As for New Zealand, the country seemed to develop a split personality in the aftermath of the drawn series. One side of the split seemed unable to come to terms with a controversial refereeing decision that – for once – did not favour the All Blacks. The vilification of French referee Romain Poite was almost instantaneous, and recriminations over his accidental offside decision in the closing minutes was still raging a week later.
The other side of the divided Kiwi psyche was one of captivation at a knife-edge series that saw the All Blacks pushed to the brink with the outcome in doubt until the final whistle of the third Test.
With New Zealand habitually putting cricket scores on most opponents over the past 20 years they wanted a challenge – and they got it from a Lions side that dug deep to finish with five wins, two draws and three losses despite facing a murderous itinerary.
Their competitiveness, and their tactical variations – including a rush defence then gave New Zealand and its Super franchises a serious headache – meant they were box office, with 342,000 fans attending the ten matches. Among them were 25,000 Lions fans who had jetted in to help swell the NZRU’s tour coffers to £17m.
The flip side of the coin was that double World Cup success has made some New Zealand rugby supporters incredibly arrogant – and this includes large segments of the New Zealand media, who have adopted the role of cheerleaders rather than objective observers.
The idea that a sporting team visiting your country is given a modicum of respect does not appear to tally with them. The Lions and their coaches were pilloried from the start after an inauspicious, jetlagged opening display against the NZ Barbarians.
The fifth columnist attacks continued with head coach Gatland under continuous fire, with unjustified attacks ranging from him knifing skipper Warburton to continuous accusations of his limitations as a tactician who could only play crash-dummy ‘Warrenball’. The Lions were also warned continuously that any criticism of the All Blacks – such as blocking or Jerome Kaino’s targeting of Murray’s standing leg – would result in retribution on the pitch, as in, ‘don’t poke the bear’.
In the end, it took until July 4, two days after the Lions had beaten New Zealand 24-21 in the second Test, before the country’s biggest daily newspaper acknowledged in its editorial that the Lions had won New Zealand’s respect.
That respect for a visiting sporting team with a history like the Lions should have been unconditional. Given what the 2017 ‘Remarkables’ achieved, the next time the Lions visit New Zealand hopefully it will be.