Healy a loss to the tour and the team

WHEN does a tour really become a tour? The first match? The first bust-up? The first grind-it-out victory?

For a lot of Lions on tour in Australia, it’s when the big coaching decisions start crystallising themselves. The players will scarcely have noticed they rolled over inferior Barbarians and Western Force sides. The opposition doesn’t mean much because the vast majority are so individually goal-driven at this juncture, they’re not bothered whether the opposition challenges them or not. Nobody’s thinking ‘I can have a handy prep here because we’re playing a weakened side’. They’re just concentrating on themselves, putting themselves in the coaches’ thoughts. That’s not selfish. It’s human.

A few issues have moved quickly into focus. Other plots, like the back row, thicken.