Opening salvo from the Lions opens the door for theWelsh Test hopefuls
THE jet-lagged Lions started their tour with an unconvincing effort against New Zealand Provincial Barbarians, coming from behind to take a 13-7 verdict in Whangarei. Where does the performance leave the Test prospects of the 12 Welsh players in Warren Ga
Leigh Halfpenny There are two specialist full-backs on tour and one of them, Stuart Hogg, started with a performance that might have prompted Warren Gatland to wake up in the middle of the night bathed in cold sweat.
It was the first game of the trip so perhaps we should cut Hogg some slack, but there are people who play in Division Three West Central who would have fancied their chances of executing the two-on-one with Anthony Watson that the Scot botched.
Never mind glimpses of fast footwork, the first job of a No.15 is to inspire confidence in those around him and Hogg also struggled on that count.
Halfpenny will believe a good performance in his first game will give him an early advantage in the battle to start in the Tests. Liam Williams Anthony Watson looked sharp enough in attack, albeit on a meagre diet of ball, and scored the first try of the tour, but there were a couple of missed tackles on the ledger, too. Tommy Seymour had the odd encouraging moment with ball in hand, while he did the basics well in defence.
So, they were par performances from both wings – decent enough, but nothing special.
For Williams, the challenge is to apply pressure by playing as he did in New Zealand last summer. Do that and he should be there or thereabouts when it matters. George North North is in a similar position to Liam Williams, knowing that he can steal a march on the wings who played in the first game by hitting the ground running.
Like his Wales team-mate, he has credit in the bank from the tour of New Zealand a year ago, when he threatened virtually every time he had the ball in the opening Test, making six clean breaks. Read that again: six clean breaks.
Get anywhere near that form and North will be one of the first names on Gatland’s team-sheet for the Tests and the big Super challenges. Jonathan Davies Jonathan Joseph had a poor game against the Provincial Barbarians, making limited impact in attack and looking brittle in defence, missing three of his eight tackle attempts and finding himself turned over twice.
He is better than that, but the problem is on a Lions tour opportunities can be few and far between and chances need to be