CLUTCHING AT STRAWS
Gatland is out on a limb to save skin
SO much to do, so little time left to do it. Game nine of the 10match tour and Warren Gatland has changed tack, hitching his Test series-saving plan on a combination he vowed pretour he wouldn’t resort to.
Johnny Sexton at out-half and Owen Farrell at inside centre wasn’t a ploy he favoured utilising, insisting time and again the duo were rivals for the same No10 shirt, not anything else.
Yet, three weeks after the pair were forced to combine in that undesired 10/12 axis for 51 minutes in Christchurch due to Jonathan Davies’ concussion, Gatland has torn up his original blueprint for conquering New Zealand.
He now believes the presence of two playmakers on the pitch at the same time is the best way to attack the imperious All Blacks.
It’s a desperate development, recognition that the attempt to mould Ben Te’o as an inside centre who would drive the hosts to distraction failed to work.
Gatland’s selection tweak highlights an intolerable waste. Te’o started three matches before last week’s opening Test, time that could have been far better spent coming up with a craftier plan to tax the Kiwis.
The Lions boss is clutching at straws, hoping his gamble might work because in the limited time the tourists had quality possession in Auckland, he felt they asked some questions.
Now Gatland wants the Sexton/ Farrell tandem to ask even more, provided of course his forwards turn up this week and don’t allow themselves get bullied at the allimportant breakdown.
‘They haven’t started together but they have had quite a bit of time together. The combination against the Crusaders was good and they had a bit of time last week.
‘It gives us two ball-players, two kicking options… we are happy with the mix,’ said Gatland on a day of drama in Wellington as the Lions made three selection switches — Sam Warburton for Peter O’Mahony, Maro Itoje for George Kruis and Sexton for Te’o
The All Blacks also had to rejig because of injuries — Waisake Naholo and Anton Lienert-Brown replacing concussed Ben Smith and Ryan Crotty (hamstring).
‘All we can ask from the players is to try and have an attitude. In fairness to the All Blacks they played exceptionally well. They were very direct in the way they played. They played a bit of Warrenball, didn’t they, whatever that is,’ Gatland added.
‘We are aware of how physical they were, so we have got to match that. They were excellent and deserved their win. We played some good rugby and when we could keep the ball we did put them under pressure. We have just got to make sure we keep the ball for longer periods.’
That is something that has been lost in the rush to crucify the Lions and find a scapegoat in the unfortunate O’Mahony, who deserved better that being axed from the team he led six days ago. The Lions were competitive for 50 minutes in Auckland and gave us a Test match to savour for that period of time.
It doesn’t mean they will now go on and rescue themselves the same way those on the 1993 tour to New Zealand did, that particular pride bounding back against similar odds to win in Wellington in the second game and square the Test series.
Gatland’s persistence with outof-form Alun Wyn Jones remains a mystery while there are no indications Warburton can rise to this task. However, history tells that for 80 minutes all the rancour that has surrounded the 2017 escapade should be left to one side to see what exactly unfolds.
The legendary Josh Kronfeld is a rarity in the New Zealand media, and the former All Black back rower believes Gatland’s Lions aren’t the kittens they have been made out to be by so many of his fellow countrymen.
‘I guess you can see some likeness to 24 years ago,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘No one is expecting to see the Lions get that second Test win. Especially here in New Zealand, our media have been forthcoming in taking a negative vibe in some ways how they play the game.
‘But I have loved the series so far, loved the way the Lions have continued to grow under an immense amount of pressure and very little time to do it.
‘We’re heading for another amazing Test. Last week was superb and maybe the scoreline flattered the All Blacks a little but, wow, it was horrific to watch the contacts and the level of the speed the game was played at.’
That was a point Gatland reiterated yesterday, how last Saturday’s referee Jaco Peyper commented the pace and intensity was above anything he had ever dealt with before.
The presence of a Frenchman, Jerome Garces, in the middle tomorrow will leave the Lions hoping for a few European-style refereeing nuances to go their way, but they have to make that happen by winning more possession as Garces generally favours the team with momentum when it comes to breakdown adjudicating.
Can the Lions do it? Realistically, no. But their failure shouldn’t be for the want of trying, the expectation being some rugby to savour can materialise.
‘No one here is expecting the Lions to win’