DALY , WILLIAMS IN , NORTH AND HALFPENNY OUT AS GAT PICKS LIONS ON FORM
Jumper George set to rant & rave at All Blacks in a bid to psyche them out at set-pieces
RUTHLESS Lions boss Warren Gatland last night showed his ruthless streak as he picked a side he hopes can beat the All Blacks. Out go captain Sam Warburton and fellow Wales stars George North (right, top) and Leigh Halfpenny (bottom) for Saturday’s first Test. Instead, Gatland opted for in-form Elliot Daly and Liam Williams, who he believes can score tries against the world champions. “We have continuously been strong at set-piece and have been good defensively in the last two or three outings,” he said. “But to
GEORGE KRUIS has warned the All Blacks that the Lions intend to literally roar their way to victory.
The tourists are out to avenge the memory of their last visit to New Zealand, in 2005, when their lineout was humiliated in the First Test – and the tour never recovered.
It followed the calamitous decision to change their calls on the eve of battle, for fear that the All Blacks had cracked their code.
The move backfired, with the confused Lions losing 10 line-outs on their own throw and forwards coach Andy Robinson confessing: “It looked as if they could read our moves before we threw.”
Twelve years on, Saracens’ set-piece king Kruis is charged with ensuring there is no repeat.
He is not only ruling it out, he has revealed a plan to sabotage the All Blacks’ own line-out by screaming at them during the throw.
“You’ve got to put pressure on players somehow and that’s one way of doing it,” he said. “The ideal thing is to get in the air and contest, but we want to be a complete pack, so we’ll try everything. If we think there’s anything in it, we’ll pursue it.”
The Lions’ real strategy is rather more technical than that and, having captured 23 of 24 line-outs in commanding Saturday wins over the Crusaders and Maori All Blacks, Kruis insists they’re coming to the boil nicely.
There is enormous respect for the world champions, but there is a potential weak link to attack as the All Blacks’ star hooker Dane Coles is injured and understudy Codie Taylor has only four starts to his name.
“Good teams have come down here and won the ball, but not provided great delivery to their No.9s and 10s,” Kruis said. “We want to win ball, get good delivery and be a great team.”
The Lions are taking no chances and are having their hotel rooms regularly swept for listening devices to remove all risk of spying.
Kruis believes their line-out codes are uncrackable.
“Everyone has systems,” he added.
“You could learn the mechanics of those systems, but there are so many different ways to call a line-out.
“You’ve got verbals, non-verbals and the idea is to create a system that is tough to recognise and durable under any circumstance.
“We’ve played six games now and we’re starting to learn the scenarios.
“We can improve on the pressure moments, which are only going to get tougher in the Tests. But we’ve shown we’re there or thereabouts.”