LAWES AIMING TO EARN START
Last chance for hurting Lions to stake claim for start in second Test match
COURTNEY LAWES will aim to put himself in the Lions Test selection shop window today when the tourists complete their schedule of midweek matches.
With Lions head coach Warren Gatland likely to make changes in the pack following last Saturday’s first Test defeat against New Zealand, England lock Lawes could be among those who force themselves into contention.
Backs Liam Williams and Elliot Daly both made the first Test team after impressing against the Chiefs a week ago, which has upped the ante for those players involved against the Hurricanes at Westpac Stadium.
Lawes’s trademark physical approach – either in the starting line-up or off the bench – could be exactly what the Lions need after New Zealand dominated the collisions and physical battle in Auckland three days ago.
“Gats (Gatland) has always said we have a chance, and the Test team will change from week to week and we have a chance to impress,” said Lawes.
“He said to keep your head on and keep on putting in performances.
“I said before I came here that I wanted to be in the Test team, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get myself into the first Test.
“But (against the Hurricanes), I am just going to do what I’ve been doing all season.
“I don’t think you get to this level without having a certain level of physicality. That is an area of my game that is up there, I suppose. But will it get me selected? We’ll see.”
Only twice before – in 1899 and 1989 – have the Lions won a Test series after going 1-0 down, and if they fail to strike an equalising victory on Saturday, then the All Blacks series will be all over one game inside the distance.
“It’s a final,” 58 times-capped Lawes added. “There is no second chance for us.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily that we got absolutely dominated up-front (in the first Test) and they smashed us in the scrum and whatever.
“They’ve got really good footwork, and they hit good lines. That meant they got over the line – they didn’t necessarily just knock us over left, right and centre.
“But of course, we don’t want them getting anywhere near the gain-line, so that is something for us to sort out – probably technically as much as physically – and also in terms of attitude, as Gats said. That is something we will have a look at in a lot of detail this week.
“Everyone wants to get off the line and hit people, especially when you’re in that kind of game. It’s about being able to create the opportunities for yourself and people around you to make big hits and not let them get over the back-line.
“We are not happy with a loss at all. There were patches of that game where we were doing well. If a couple of passes had stuck, it could have been a different outcome, but that’s rugby.
“But we are looking to put it right this weekend.”
Steve Hansen, meanwhile, has reacted angrily to Gatland’s demand that referees clamp down on New Zealand’s “dangerous” targeting of Conor Murray by phoning a radio station to call him “desperate”.
All Blacks boss Hansen called Radio Sport directly to answer British and Irish Lions head coach Gatland’s call for greater protection of scrum-half Murray.
Gatland was frustrated by what he felt were deliberate tactics from the All Blacks, claiming they were diving “blindly” at Murray’s standing leg whenever he launched a box kick in Auckland on Saturday.
The Lions boss raised the issue chiefly out of safety concerns, but Hansen took such exception to those comments that he called a radio station to hit back.
“It’s predictable comments from Gatland, isn’t it?” an irate Hansen told the radio show.
“Two weeks ago it was we cheated in the scrums, last week it was blocking and now he’s saying this.
“It’s really disappointing to hear it, because what he’s implying is that we’re going out there to intentionally injure somebody and that’s not the case.
“I guess he might be a bit desperate.
“We’ve never been like that and as a New Zealander I’d expect him to know the Kiwi psyche.”
Lions assistant coach Steve Borthwick refused to be drawn on the issue, other than to insist he had never had any experience of one set of players deliberately attempting to injure another.
Asked if he had ever seen that behaviour between opponents, Borthwick said: “I’ve certainly never experienced that, no.
“Rugby at the top level is an intense competition where both teams are trying to apply as much pressure on the opposition as possible.”
We are not happy with a loss at all. We are looking to put it right. Courtney Lawes on the task facing the British & Irish Lions this weekend in Wellington.