The power and the glory
All Blacks deliver a masterclass in first Test – leaving the tourists with a mountain to climb
Gatland tells his squad to toughen up after defeat Warburton in contention as coach ponders changes
Warren Gatland accused his players of allowing the All Blacks to bully them as the world champions comfortably defended a 23-year unbeaten run at Eden Park when beating the British and Irish Lions 30-15 in the first Test.
The Lions did score the greatest try witnessed at that venue since that defeat by France in 1994, Sean O’Brien rounding off a length-of-the-field effort inspired by a devastating solo burst by full-back Liam Williams, but it was the inability of the forwards to quell the might of the New Zealand closequarter challenge that most exercised Gatland in the aftermath. The Lions head coach was all too aware that history is now against his side – only two Lions teams have ever won the series after defeat in the opening game, the Lions coming back in 1899 and also 90 years later, in 1989, both in Australia.
Gatland is giving his team a muchneeded hurry-up.
“We need to be much more physical next week,” said Gatland. “That was disappointing. We need to improve that. We need to be honest and toughen ourselves. The All Blacks sacked us very well. We need to negate that. We know what to expect and we have got to prepare ourselves physically.”
The Lions wasted several openings, prompting Gatland to declare that the issues were ‘fixable’ for the second Test in Wellington on Saturday. The Lions play the Hurricanes in the same city on Tuesday with Gatland stating that places are up for consideration ahead of the team announcement on Wednesday night. It is clear that he needs to boost the energy of the forward pack, making it likely that locks Alun Wyn Jones and Maro Itoje will trade places between the starting line-up and the replacement bench. Tour captain Sam Warburton will also come into the selection equation with the need to improve the Lions’ efficiency at the breakdown. Munster back row Peter O’Mahony led the team on the night but Warburton could slot in at that position with Sean O’Brien remaining on the openside.
Gatland insisted that there was no reason to be despondent.
“Absolutely [it will be a close series],” he said. “I thought we created some great chances, played some lovely rugby and scored some nice tries. There were a couple of golden moments that we could have taken and we just switched off when they caught us on a quick tap penalty. The All Blacks haven’t played champagne rugby and thrown the ball all over the place. So we need to fix those things for next week but they are fixable.”
There was no disguising Steve Hansen’s delight at the manner of his team’s victory, particularly the way in which they had set the Lions forwards back on their heels in the close-quarter exchanges. New Zealand negated the Lions’ vaunted rush defence by striking hard and often round the fringes, playing off scrum-half Aaron Smith.
“You don’t become the No1 side in the world without having a quality tight five,” said Hansen. “I always find it amusing when people tell us they are going to beat us up in the tight five. We can play down-and-dirty rugby if we have to. We felt that we could hurt them if we could get in there.”
Hansen could not resist a dig at the Lions for not throwing caution to the wind in their counter-attacking play, given the manner of Williams’s fearless run from deep. “When they can score tries like that first one, you’re thinking they should probably do it more often,” said Hansen who did acknowledge the quality of the score. “That was one of the best Test tries I’ve ever seen.”
New Zealand had to replace two players in the first half but overcame the disruption with ease. Full-back Ben Smith had a head knock and will be reviewed while centre Ryan Crotty faces a battle to play any part in the series after going off with a hamstring injury.
There were standout performances from All Black captain Kieran Read, as well as novice 20-year-old wing Rieko Ioane, who scored two of New Zealand’s three tries on his first Test start. Read was playing his first game in seven weeks following a thumb injury.
Hansen insisted that there was still much to do if the series is to be clinched. “The job isn’t done. It’s a three-match series. Winning one gives us an advantage.”