Inside story of how the mighty Lions came back from the dead
It is a toss-up as to which hemisphere learned the most from this compelling and entertaining series, and in truth we won’t know for sure until the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
there is no doubt the Lions struck a blow for both British and Irish rugby and the northern hemisphere — and will have seen the way forward in how to beat the All Blacks on a more regular basis.
But the last two weeks will have also been a reality check for New Zealand. In the short term, there is not the slightest doubt who will be the more pleased. the Lions may have been a little subdued immediately after the final whistle on Saturday. When they surfaced yesterday, however, I am sure they will have been glowing with pride at a job well done.
It’s a frustration that we will never know quite how good they might have become, but that is the fascination of the Lions and all we can do is salute Warren Gatland’s team for sharing the series against the world champions.
ALL BLACKS LOOKED VULNERABLE
the All Blacks will be angry at themselves for their profligacy and a series of untypical errors which demonstrated that there is still much work to do. With a rugby championship around the corner, Steve Hansen and his think tank will stage a huge debriefing.
New Zealand’s main goal is more World Cup success in Japan and the one thing they know is that there has been a huge power swing from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere since the 2015 World Cup.
the All Blacks are clearly not quite as good as we thought they were, but their raw potential and talent is still amazing.
Beauden Barrett is a very fine player but he is not Dan Carter yet and neither is Sam Cane a Richie McCaw. Replacing those two iconic players was never going to be simple. the All Blacks had injuries and suspensions at centre but none of the newcomers are a Conrad Smith or a Ma’a Nonu, the other two big retirees since 2015.
the other thing that struck me is how the pressure got to New Zealand, highlighted by the red and yellow cards, and especially in the final minutes of the last two tests which hints at vulnerability we haven’t seen for a while.
I have no idea why they didn’t go looking for a dropped goal in the final three or four minutes to close out Saturday’s game, particularly with the last play.
THE LIONS HAVE MADE THEIR MARK
the second test was a Road to Damascus moment when a new generation realised that the All Blacks were beatable. British and Irish rugby can now match New Zealand and we are possibly in for a golden era.
Never again should we discuss the difference between northern and southern hemisphere rugby, and never again should we allow the four World Cup semi-finalists to be from the southern hemisphere like in 2015. Four Six Nations teams in the semi-finals should be the goal.
Warren Gatland, Robert Howley and Neil Jenkins have a massive southern hemisphere scalp under their belts. that Wales trio and all the Welsh players will return home knowing there is no reason why they can’t beat New Zealand. Ditto Andy Farrell, who once again is showing what a brilliant coach he has become, and the Irish boys and Steve Borthwick and the England lads.
It’s a great shame that no Scottish coach could be included on the panel — Gregor townsend was approached but felt he could not delay his start with Scotland, which was the correct call. But the Scots are making great progress and the Six Nations will have them motivated like never before due to their lack of representation on this tour.
England coach Eddie Jones faces some interesting calls. Jamie George is now a Lions test veteran but Dylan Hartley shows no sign of slowing up; Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes had great tours but George Kruis will be disappointed and Joe Launchbury will no doubt still be perplexed by his omission. Ben te’o showed his quality but does Jones abandon the George Ford/Owen Farrell axis to accommodate te’o at 12? I think not.
For the Lions, generally, it was a confirmation of their importance and it banished ridiculous talk of their future. But things must change. the clubs need to start co-operating to ensure more time for preparation, and this talk of shortening the tours must stop. A ten-game tour is the minimum but the Lions must start listening to those who pay the wages of these players.
I don’t go along with Graham Henry’s suggestion that the Lions should occasionally host a tour from the All Blacks. I can see the financial implication but the Lions raison d’etre is as an overseas touring side. take that away and I don’t believe the magic would be the same.
BANISHING MY 2005 DEMONS
Spending time in New Zealand has banished a few demons from 2005. Shaking hands and chatting with former All Blacks tana Umaga and Kevin Mealamu for the first time in 12 years after the Brian O’Driscoll spear tackle was, for me, an end to it. Did either of them do it deliberately, absolutely not. Was it a red card offence, absolutely. twelve years on, it was also startling but gratifying to read in the New Zealand Herald that it was time to acknowledge the wrong that was done to O’Driscoll in 2005 and that an apology was long overdue.
Sonny Bill Williams’ red card no doubt changed the course of this Lions tour. Discussions did re-emerge that night over the O’Driscoll incident but it has felt good to finally move on from 2005.
... AND FINALLY WARREN GATLAND
Last Friday night I bumped into Warren and his wife in a restaurant and we enjoyed a quick chat. I congratulated him on a job done brilliantly. He scarcely missed a beat and did British and Irish rugby proud. One of the things he said was that he now appreciates why I brought such a big squad down in 2005.
A tour of New Zealand is now impossible without a minimum of 46 fit available players. You don’t run two teams but the reality is that you must run two match-day squads and that, in test week, the responsibility for the midweek team has to be handed over to a senior coach. there is just too much else to do and without doubt there should have been another game during the last week of the tour.
I hope for the sake of the Lions that the movers and shakers listen to Warren’s end-of-tour report.
the true value of the tour, I hope, will be seen in Japan in 2019 for the Home Nations teams but I have a feeling that the Lions may just have poked a hornets’ nest in New Zealand.
there is a saying in New Zealand: ‘Go hard or go home’, and we can expect the Kiwis to be going very hard indeed over the next two years. It’s up to the Home Nations to go even harder.