We are capable of winning the next game and going on to clinch the series, says defiant Faletau
No8 remains optimistic despite first Test defeat Daly admits to costly error for All Blacks’ opening try
Taulupe Faletau insists the British and Irish Lions will not panic in the wake of the 30-15 defeat by the All Blacks and said the tourists believe they can still win the three-Test series.
The Lions squad will travel to Wellington today to begin preparations for their final midweek game against the Hurricanes on Tuesday, with coach Warren Gatland confident he can lift his players ahead of the do-or-die second Test next Saturday.
While Faletau admitted the All Blacks “capitalised on our errors better than we did on theirs” the Wales No8 said the squad still believed they would win the series.
“The spirit in camp is fantastic,” said Faletau. “We’ll keep going to the end. We still believe we are capable of winning the next game and getting what we want out of this tour, which is the series win. We’ll go back to the drawing board, work on what we need to work on.
“There’s no need for us to panic. We know the game was there for us to win. We just need to get our basics right; hold on to the ball. It’s tough, we’re against the world champions, it’s not going to be easy. But we’ll work hard for it.”
Elliot Daly, who had a mixed night, admitted he had “gone to sleep” for the All Blacks’ opening try by Codie Taylor when he was exposed after Aaron Smith opted to tap a penalty instead of going for a shot at goal.
“We have to be up for it all the time and expecting everything, for the first try I probably fell asleep a little bit,” said Daly.
“It was probably a lack of discipline and how clinical we were in the 22 when we did make line breaks, it [our lack of finishing] cost us a little bit.
“I didn’t think we were that far away. They just took their chances, they had three good chances and took them and we will have to look at how they got that and got into those situations.
“I think in large parts of the game they played well. I think we will look at it and see what we need to work on next week.”
Daly, like Faletau, said the errors could be fixed in time for the second Test and that the series could still be salvaged, highlighting the stunning try finished by Sean O’Brien as an indication of their potency.
“I definitely feel this series is still alive,” Daly added. “We’re really looking forward to building as a team. We know we’ve got to go there and win now. It’s still a good chance for us.
“We were thrilled with the [O’Brien] try. It has given us the belief that we can do it. You’ve got to attack the All Blacks. When we did in large parts we played well when we got through our phases. We just have to look at opportunities where we can score a few more tries.”
Mako Vunipola, the Lions prop, said the Test squad would not have a problem lifting themselves to go again on Saturday.
“The best advice is that we have another chance next week,” said Vunipola.
“It’s just a case of we have to go back and take the learnings from this game. Hopefully then you can improve for the next game. We’re going to need to as well. We’re all very experienced players, we’ve all had highs and lows before so we know that we have to come together quickly. Like I said, we’ve got to take some learnings from this, but we’re also excited to get the chance to go up against them again next weekend.”
Captain Peter O’Mahony, meanwhile, felt the margin of victory was harsh on his side.
“We’re happy with some of the opportunities we created but our discipline probably wasn’t where it should have been at,” he said.
“We’ve been put under pressure by a seriously good side at times but we’ve got to be more clinical. We’re making some good breaks and we’ve just got to finish them off.
“We left at least two tries out there so I don’t think 15 points is a good reflection.”