GREAT BRITAIN LIONS TOUR WOUNDED LIONS CAN’T AFFORD TO SULK

Hall warns Bennett’s men to bounce back from Tonga defeat in time for Kiwis

RYAN HALL has warned Great Britain of the danger of dwelling on disappointment.

The Lions suffered a shock defeat to Tonga in the opening Test of their four-match tour Down Under.

But winger Hall (right) says it’s vital they move on quickly ahead of Saturday’s showdown with New Zealand in Auckland.

The 31-year-old has been capped 38 times by England and knows how easy it is for opening defeats to eat away at a squad.

He said: “I have experienced opening wins and defeats and it’s important that we get our mentality right.

“It is human nature that if you get a disappointment then you are obviously going to get some negative emotions.

“But if we mope around this it will compound itself and it will be twice as bad next weekend.

“That is the challenge we have got now. It is important that we get buoyant as soon as we can and attack the Kiwis.”

Great Britain created few real attacking chances, apart from the move that resulted in John Bateman grabbing a late consolation try.

Tonga – playing under the banner Tonga Invitational X111 because of political in-fighting in the country – scored twice in the first half to take control.

But Hall, who plays for Sydney Roosters in the

NRL, insists the Lions can roar again this week.

He said: “There were some parts we are encouraged by, such as our defence which remained unweek penetrated apart from those two tries from kicks. If you look at it in that bubble it was pretty good. But our gamemanagement needs to improve.

“There were too many times we were carrying the ball out from our goal line which suggests we were making it a bit too easy for them to make too many yards.

“We were also on their line a lot but when you do not come up with points it can put pressure back on ourselves.

“Everyone expects to score because we are down there for so long and if we don’t people get frustrated and try to do things differently, instead of sticking to the things we have practised. But that is what touring is all about. We will learn and get better next Saturday.”

Wayne Bennett is expected to hand a Lions debut to Jake Connor following a tour-ending injury to Oliver Gildart.

Hall said: “It’s really upsetting for him and he will be a very big loss. But we have got strength in depth – and it looks like we will be calling on it sooner than we thought.”

Luke Thompson was also expected to be ruled out with a rib injury. But scans have shown it’s not as serious as first feared.