STANDING FIRM
Warren Gatland’s tourists must stick to their strengths and not be lured into All Blacks’ trap
Gatland didn’t help himself by slipping into self-pity
AS A marketing lure, the Stoics is, admittedly, not as attractive a title as the Lions.
But if the tourists are to have a fighter’s chance in the Tests against New Zealand, it will be thanks to the sober, abstemious principles that guided them in Christchurch yesterday morning.
Stoicism as a philosophy encouraged fortitude and self-control as a way of taming self-destructive notions. Against the Crusaders the Lions looked a team who had subdued their wilder emotions in favour of a more pragmatic plan. They were all the better for it. Making peace with one’s circumstances has been a fairytale staple for centuries.
It is one of those life lessons we are meant to absorb early and save us years of heartbreak later on. Learn to love yourself, then the world will follow after.
Maybe Warren Gatland is accepting his Stoics for what they are. Rather than trying to beat New Zealand with a style of rugby most of his players are incapable of implementing, hopes of success, faint as they may be, must rest elsewhere.
The Ireland example is one to follow here. Yes, the win against the All Blacks last November was flavoured with moments of derringdo, but it was sourced in doing the basics perfectly.
The first place to look for the Lions’ hopes is in the set-pieces, and they ate the Crusaders alive in scrums and lineouts.
The breakdown will be vital, too, and Peter O’Mahony was effective here, but Justin Tipuric is essential and should start the Tests.
Owen Farrell brought reliability off the kicking tee, and is now an immovable first choice, probably in the No10 shirt.
That will not be good news for Johnny Sexton, but too much should not be invested in how he and Farrell synched when Sexton came on for Jonathan Davies.
While they linked smoothly, more encouraging again was the relationship between Farrell and Conor Murray in the first quarter of the match. Murray was the outstanding player on the field, and with Farrell he brought a certainty to the Lions’ play that was almost entirely absent in their first two outings of the tour.
Collegiality is said to be as important to the hopes of the tourists as any tactical nuance. That might hold within the squad but beyond it, we watch the matches fired by the gimlet-eyed nationalism of Nigel Farage.
From that perspective, it was cheering to watch the Irish contribution yesterday.
Murray led the way, Sexton improved, but Tadhg Furlong was excellent also.
He should now start the first Test in 13 days’ time, along with the rest of yesterday’s front row, Mako Vunipola and Jamie George, which will do nothing for the ambitions of Jack McGrath and Rory Best.
In fact Gatland (left) should be tempted to transplant the entire tight five and place them into the team to play the All Blacks.
Alun-Wyn Jones is a mighty battler of the type a group can gather around, and George Kruis is a good mix of abrasive and athletic.
There are three positions where the selection issues intrigue, and they involve Irishmen.
The first is blindside flanker. O’Mahony works like a stevedore but he leads as well, and would balance a unit that had Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau at No 8.
However, if Gatland picks Jones and Kruis in the second row the clamour for picking Maro Itoje at blindside will be difficult to ignore.
The other positions are the centre slots and, if Farrell starts at out half, as he must, then Ben Te’o will be at No 12. Robbie Henshaw is in competition for that shirt, but Te’o has been very good.
Jared Payne’s chances could have improved with Davies sustaining a head injury.
Payne is said to have impressed the coaches with his organisational skills, and in defence coach Andy Farrell he surely has a champion inside the selection group.
And if Gatland is to pursue what must be the clearest route to Lions success, Payne has a part to play. If the style is to prioritise function over improbable ambition, his steadiness will appeal.
The biggest challenge now faces Gatland and it is to ignore divergent reactions to how his team won yesterday. Sky led the excitable response to victory, predicting the start of great things but only if the Lions introduce more daring in attack.
They don’t have the players or the skills to compete with New Zealand at that game, and this is a lesson better absorbed now than after a 20-point battering in the first Test.
A more sour reaction will emerge in New Zealand.
Perhaps it is because they are so accustomed to winning but All Blacks’ supporters are rotten losers. Every opposition win is begrudged, and the limitations in the Lions’ approach were quickly pointed out after this result.
Gatland didn’t help himself by slipping, not for the first time, into self-pity when telling a radio show after the Crusaders game he was the subject of targeted attacks in the New Zealand media.
He needs to keep quiet and continue an approach that finally worked on this tour.
A good Stoic would shrug and soldier on.