Hansen eases pressure gauge

Calm the heck down everybody, this Lions test decider is not the big deal you’re all making it out to be.

Smokescreen or brutally honest revelation? You be the judge, but that was the somewhat surprising message from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen yesterday ahead of their last major training hitout of the week.

Tomorrow night at Eden Park – a ground where they haven’t lost in 23 years, and 39 tests – the All Blacks will try to avoid becoming just the second New Zealand team in well over a century to lose a series against the British and Irish Lions. They will do so with two rookies making their first international starts, and without the weight of the world on their shoulders, if Hansen is to be believed.

The All Blacks coach was once a policeman in a former life, and loves to use his previous vocation for perspective at times like this when a situation threatens to squeeze the life out of his side. Given the history, given last week’s shock second-test defeat in Wellington, and given the massive northern hemisphere media attention, the Eden Park showdown qualifies as one of those occasions.

‘‘It’s not the first time we’ve lost,’’ declared Hansen in response to a fairly innocent question asking how he was feeling. ‘‘I’ve read a lot of stories this week and you would think the All Blacks had never lost a game and that the sky is falling in.

‘‘Every week there’s pressure. We’re expected to win every test and when we win, we’re expected to win well. You’ve got to embrace that, you’ve got to walk towards that, and life tells you that we’re really only playing a rugby game.

‘‘Real pressure is when you’ve got to spend half an hour giving someone CPR and trying to save their life, and when that doesn’t work, telling their children of their father or mother that ‘sorry, we haven’t been able to save them’. What we’re doing is playing a game of rugby.’’

Hansen is right, of course. But clearly he had an agenda behind his emotive ‘‘it’s just a game plea’’. He needs his All Blacks to be themselves and to get back to doing what they do best to put this series away in the manner expected. He needs them to feel less pressure, not more.

Last week in Wellington, playing 56 minutes with just 14 men, they entered grind-out mode, by necessity, more than inclination. It did not suit them, and ultimately they lost (24-21) against a side that played all the rugby in the last 20 minutes, and scored the only two tries of the match.

That stung more than they have let on. This was not the All Black way: the message this week has been emphatic that they can’t die wondering a second test in a row.

‘‘We’re a young side in the infancy of where we’re going,’’ added Hansen. ‘‘Is there any more pressure this week? No because we’ve [still] got to win to win the series. So just enjoy it. Is there a little more angst? Probably, because we lost and we don’t like that. But the formula hasn’t changed.’’

What has changed is the backline personnel. In comes 24-year-old Ngani Laumape to start at No 12 and 20-year-old Jordie Barrett at fullback. Both have played a test apiece off the bench, Jordie 17 minutes against Samoa, and Laumape 54 minutes last week in the wake of Sonny Bill Williams’ feckless red card.

You could call the selections bold. Hansen has never been afraid to throw his young Christians to the Lions when instinct has told him they’re ready.

Both his rookies are ready for what’s coming, the Gaffer says.

On Barrett: ‘‘He very good aerially, he’s a good defender when he gets his positioning right and he’s a very skilful rugby player. He comes from fairly good stock so I’m picking he’ll go all right.’’

And Laumape: ‘‘Last week was a difficult situation. The guy he looks up to gets red-carded, and he played a lot more minutes that he expected. The big thing he’s got to trust are his instincts, because his instincts are what got him here.’’

That might well be the collective message. It’s just a game, so go out and play like it.

‘‘Real pressure is when you’ve got to spend half an hour giving someone CPR and trying to save their life.’’

Steve Hansen