GAT’S LIONS ARE ALIVE & KICKING

But lack of cutting edge exposed again against under-cooked Maori

WARREN GATLAND was cock of the walk last night in New Zealand, insisting that on the back of this comfortable dismissal of the Maori, a potentially fantastic, exciting three-Test series is now in store against the All Blacks.

He could be proven right. It would be wonderful for the sport if he was. Alternatively, though, it would be rash to join the sudden fanfare that these tourists have a genuine chance of casing an upset.

There is no denying they did so much right in Rotorua. They had an exemplary skipper in Peter O’Mahony, a potent scrum, reliable lineout, breakdown snarl, halfbacks that linked well and a placekicker whose boot was unerringly accurate.

However, the nagging feeling in the aftermath was these Maori were blown up into being something they never were and the reality was this generous win was actually no surprise.

Think about it: if lack of preparation has been a constant Lions whinge since their May 31 arrival in the country, spare a thought for the Maori, another transient, invitational side who only had a week to get their act together.

They failed miserably in that task, their only moment of positivity stemming from a self-inflicted Lions wound, the out-of-sorts George North gifting Liam Messam his 12th-minute try with a botched tidy-up that was the stuff of nightmares and should cost him his place in the Test side.

But why the misplaced expectation for the Maori to be a dangerous foe? This wasn’t 2005, the year when they memorably ambushed Clive Woodward’s circus in nearby Hamilton. This was June 2017, just seven short months after a XV containing seven of the exact same starters in Rotorua were washed away in the Limerick rain by an understrength Munster team whose best players were playing for Ireland the next day.

In other words, they were no great shakes and when the Lions’ performance is viewed through this prism, the confidence which Gatland was trying to spread about the place in the aftermath doesn’t sound so convincing.

This was a contest the Lions dominated. However, this control wasn’t translated on the scoreboard. Their execution was stifled in the opening half and they only managed to reach the interval two points ahead, Leigh Halfpenny knocking over his kicks when required.

In fairness, they were ravenous in winning the 10-minute spell after the break where the Maori were left a man short 14-0. Tawera KerrBarlow was yellow-carded for clattering Halfpenny high with no arms short of the line, his temporary expulsion the prompt for the Lions pack to roar, a penalty try and a score from the irrepressible Maro Itoje secured within three minutes of each other.

However, despite those scores deciding the result with 25 minutes to play, it was disappointing the Lions couldn’t stitch anything more than that together.

Gatland was in defiant form afterwards, taking on all-comers critical of his regime, but the absence of a cutting edge outside of their pack must be a worry as they will need more than two tries to humble the All Blacks.

Lack of width remains a major issue, the Lions rigidly sticking to a forwards-orientated game plan where the half-backs put up kicks for the chasers or invite a midfielder to bash on the crash ball.

There was again little or no variation to these tactics against the Maori, reinforcing Steve Hansen’s jeer that the only thing Gatland has got up his sleeve is his arm, not a playbook of dinks and shapes to catch the All Blacks by surprise in seven days’ time.

At least their route-one approach is working to a certain extent. The eight that started in Rotorua will be the Test-starting eight next Saturday and what could be invaluable, outside of the increasing cohesion generated by combining four Saracens with two Munster and a stray apiece from Leinster and Bath, is the rapport O’Mahony built with Jaco Peyper, the referee who will be on the first Test whistle.

It takes skill to get yourself properly heard by an official. Just last year Rory Best twice couldn’t get Peyper’s undivided attention, Ireland’s defeats away to France and at home to New Zealand pockmarked by incidences of lack of protection and disputed decisionmaking from the South African.

Yesterday, O’Mahony chose his moments of interaction well and the result-defining yellow card was always coming, the skipper gently reminding the ref on a few occasions how the penalties were mounting in the 22 and sanction was needed.

The pair need to be on a similar wavelength next weekend or the Test series might not be as fantastic as Gatland is hoping.