SLOPPY LIONS MUST SHARPEN UP FAST
ONLY your very best will ever beat the All Blacks, especially at Eden Park, and frustratingly we didn’t see the best of the 2017 Lions yesterday. Yes, we did see a try to compare with any in Lions history and a couple of near misses but we also witnessed too many mistakes and silly errors at key times. Ultimately, the Lions were second best by quite a distance.
It was a well selected and prepared Lions side that underperformed on the one day they would have desperately hoped to step up a level.
What disappointed me most was the speed of thought. It was New Zealand that showed razorlike instincts with quick line-outs, tapped penalties and reacting the quickest to penalty advantage. That’s what I badly wanted to see from the Lions to complement the promising aspects of their play we have seen in recent weeks.
The Lions’ inability to finish off try chances also cost them dear, as it has all tour. There was a real chance early in the first half, which ended with Elliot Daly going close, and again early in the second half when Liam Williams, Jonathan Davies and Anthony Watson
combined up the left
The Lions’ inability to finish has cost them dear, as it has all tour
touchline. Either — or both — might have given the Lions the momentum they needed at key moments and taken the wind out of New Zealand’s.
Tactically the Lions overdid the box kick in the first half. It can be a good tactic and Conor Murray is one of the best, but the All Blacks’ back three weren’t rattled by it and eventually the Lions were just ceding hard-earned possession to them and denied themselves a chance to make a dent through their own runners. We had seen right from the outset that the Lions backs could pose a threat and they needed a few more opportunities to strike.
The Lions line-out was good, with one caveat I will come to, but the scrum wasn’t the dominating force it had been against the Crusaders and the Maori, while the Lions came off second best in the contact area where Sam Cane had an outstandingly physical game.
The bottom line is New Zealand were immense, tactically astute and continue to play the game half a yard quicker than anybody else. The wonder is that they have been doing that for a century or more. Nothing changes.
The All Blacks don’t just have golden generations here and there, they do it all the time and it makes them arguably the greatest sports team in the world. Remember, they lost two of their frontline backs in the first half and had to move Beauden Barrett to full-back and bring on a new fly-half. Yet you would scarcely have known.
They are such clever thinkers. Not many teams in the world would ignore the talents of Julian Savea, but they knew that the Lions would try to test them with their kicking game and there are few better under the high ball or chasing and clearing than Israel Dagg. They had that covered from the start.
And they had been forwarded about the scrum, particularly given that four of their front five were in the Crusaders team that came off second best in that department and elsewhere to the Lions that day.
Two things happened to turn that around. Firstly, the All Blacks’ think tank, having been given prior warning, had two full weeks to turn that around in training and, secondly, never underestimate the influence of the remarkable Brodie Retallick, the Chiefs lock.
Retallick was injured when New Zealand lost to Ireland in Chicago last autumn, but the All Blacks immediately returned to winning ways a couple of weeks later when they met again at the Aviva Stadium. He is an immense all-round forward, a dominating second row, a wondrous passer and runner for such a big man and a master of the turnover. What more could you possibly ask for from a modern-day front five?
New Zealand had also done their homework at the line-out. Showing great discipline, the All Blacks didn’t interfere with the Lions jumpers — so the Lions stats are good — but on a number of occasions they sacked the jumper the moment he returned to ground, disrupting the Lions’ rolling maul.
So the Lions face a massive week ahead if they are keep this series alive in the second Test in Wellington. And, bear in mind, we probably haven’t seen the best of New Zealand yet.
I would want to study the match tape a couple of times before thinking about possible changes. Like I say, it was essentially a well-selected Lions team and if they could keep the good while eliminating the bad, there is every chance of a much stronger performance. Eliminating that bad stuff is just as important as possible changes in personnel.
Continuity for the Lions now they have a Test under their belts is another factor, but the reality is that there will be places up for grabs.
The midweek team have a chance to put their best foot forward against the Hurricanes on Tuesday and one or two on the bench yesterday will be wondering if they might start.
It’s going to be a tense and possibly snarly week in camp. The Lions need to bare their teeth.