SCAPEGOAT!
O’Mahony carries can for first Test loss but Sexton gets an SOS
PETER O’MAHONY has been dropped by Warren Gatland for the second Test against New Zealand, despite captaining the Lions last weekend, but Johnny Sexton will start at out-half in Wellington as the tourists launch their desperate attempt to keep the series alive.
The dramatic axing of O’Mahony — tour skipper Sam Warburton is promoted from the bench — is one of three changes by coach Gatland after the Lions were blown away by the All Blacks at the breakdown five days ago in a 30-15 in Auckland. Sexton (left) and second row Maro Itoje are the other pair promoted from the Eden Park replacements, with Ben Te’o and George Kruis the fall guys in a rejig that will see Owen Farrell move to inside centre to accommodate out-half Sexton
and Seán O’Brien and Warburton fill the flanker jerseys where they will combine to try and wrest control of the breakdown. It’s a bold gambit by Gatland to axe his First Test skipper, who bore the brunt of UK media criticism for the loss when he was far from the most outplayed forward on show. The Lions were still very much in the Auckland contest, trailing by only 13-8 when O’Mahony was hooked on 54 minutes. However, despite Gatland’s postmatch claim that Warburton had played well in his 26-minute appearance, the tourists lost that part of the match 17-7 with the Welsh flanker having assumed the captaincy from the Irishman previously praised by the coach. ‘Never giving up and playing for each other, that is what you are looking for and it is what Peter will bring to the team,’ said Gatland beforehand. There will be four Irish players in the starting XV – the same as last Saturday – as Sexton, who should have been the first Test starting 10 due to his performance in the previous week’s win over the Maori, gets his chance to prove Gatland wrong for that omission. Sexton arrived into last weekend’s Test fray for Te’o four minutes later than Warburton, shunting the uninspired Farrell into the No12 role. It’s a tactic Gatland now wants to stick with, hoping the Sexton-Farrell axis, which performed well for 51 minutes of the early tour win at Crusaders, can help combat the All Blacks’ playmakers and engineer better dynamism. There will be no major complaints at this selection. However, his decision to pair Itoje with the out-of-sorts AlunWyn Jones will leave him open to accusations of favouring those from his own Wales team. The Jones-Itoje combination hasn’t been tried much all tour, playing just 18 minutes together in the win at Crusaders. Jones had very little rugby coming into the tour due to injury and has been well off his usual high standards, but he keeps his spot.