Lions sweat as fears grow over Farrell...
Quad strain means No10 a doubt for Test opener
IN A week which started with the loss of Stuart Hogg, the news that Owen Farrell is struggling to be fit in time to face the All Blacks in the first Test was hardly the morale boost the Lions were looking for.
The influential No10 strained a thigh in training and has pulled out of tomorrow’s game against the Maori All Blacks.
Farrell is expected to play a crucial role in the Test series, which starts a week tomorrow, but Johnny Sexton will play at No 10 in the latest tour encounter, with Dan Biggar on the bench. The Lions have resisted calling up cover but Farrell was sidelined for a month in 2014 with a similar injury and
Sportsmail understands Finn Russell is next in line if it is deemed long-term.
Speaking before the injury, Warren Gatland said Farrell was going to be on the bench tomorrow anyway, so the Lions did not reveal too much about their tactics.
‘We’ve got to make sure we’re not fully showing our hand,’ said the head coach. ‘We’ve got to keep some combinations back and keep the All Blacks guessing a little about what the final squad might be.’
Even so, the build-up to the series opener against the world champions at Eden Park is destined to be punctuated by daily bulletins about the state of Farrell’s quad.
He is an ultimate competitor and big-game player. A one-man reassurance that the Lions will fight the good fight against these peerless opponents. If he loses his race for fitness, it will leave a gaping void.
Doubts about this English playmaker will mean that it is time for an Irish one to step up. Sexton has the pedigree, as the man who pulled the strings so impressively when the Lions beat Australia 2-1 four years ago.
Gatland and his assistants will need to see that vintage version of the Leinster fly-half again tomorrow.
For so long in the months leading up to this tour, there was speculation about the prospect of a Sexton-Farrell alliance at 1012, before a combination of injuries and a loss of confidence cast doubt on the first half of that equation. Sexton then struggled badly in the tour opener and was not much better in the loss against the Blues last week.
However, the 31-year-old showed heartening signs of a revival in the victory over the Crusaders six days ago when operating in tandem with Farrell.
Gatland said yesterday Sexton has his ‘mojo’ back and it will help that, against the Maori All Blacks tomorrow, he will resume his Ireland halfback partnership with Conor Murray. That canny double act plotted the All Blacks’ downfall in Chicago last autumn. Amid the uncertainty about Farrell, it helps that the Lions have Biggar as a third No10 in good form after he performed well in defeat by the Highlanders on Tuesday. The fact that he is on standby to act as a bench reserve, along with Ospreys side-kick Rhys Webb, provides the tourists with the safety net of another established partnership.
Away from the No 10 turmoil, the side named by Gatland to face the Maori has the look of a likely Test line-up. Tour captain Sam Warburton is playing catch-up in the tussle for back-row places, with tomorrow’s captain Peter O’Mahony and Ireland team-mate Sean O’Brien the current favourites to occupy the flanker places.
However, a good show off the bench by Warburton may yet prompt a late debate.
‘Sam’s aware of the competition that is there,’ said Gatland.
‘One of the reasons we selected him as captain is that he is a quality player but this tour isn’t about Sam Warburton, it’s about putting the squad first.
‘If he’s not involved in the first Test because of the performance on Saturday, he’ll understand.’
Further forward, the front five could all start against New Zealand, although Ken Owens and Alun Wyn Jones may yet put pressure on Jamie George and either Maro Itoje or George Kruis. With Ben Te’o and Jonathan Davies auditioning together to confirm their selection as the Lions’ Test midfield pair, the other major focus is on the back three.
This has been a problem area. Few of the candidates have made strong cases for Test inclusion.
Anthony Watson ran amok from full-back after coming off the bench early in Christchurch, but betrayed a lack of confidence when shunning a scoring chance.
He’ll start on the wing tomorrow and he and George North must provide a greater aerial presence, to make the most of kicking.
Another man under scrutiny is Leigh Halfpenny. If Farrell is ruled out of the series opener, the Welsh full-back will surely assume the goal-kicking duties, but the coaches want more than that — as Gatland made clear.
‘We know how strong he is defensively, but it’s the attacking threat we’re looking for on Saturday,’ said the head coach.
The stakes are high against a strong Maori team with several All Blacks, including wings Nehe Milner-Skudder and Rieko Ioane. The Lions need players to hit their stride, combinations to click and selection confusion to be dispersed. But they also need to win.
After the loss in Dunedin, the result matters. But they would probably take a defeat in exchange for a fit Farrell by June 24.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen believes Gatland will soon turn to reinforcements and claimed they are needed to support a two-squad policy.
‘I think there is a clear difference between their two teams — their midweek team and their Saturday team,’ said Hansen. ‘There is a difference in the way the two are performing. I think Gatland is about to bring a few extra players out to give himself the ability to play two squads. He’s at the stage where he wants to do that.’