Gatland geared for week of Lions baiting
For a side short 10 regular starters, Michael Cheika’s side deserve credit for the manner in which they played and again identifying areas that need to be fine-tuned by the tourists before the big one next weekend. The concession of two tries will not please the Lions management.
At times the Lions looked exhilarating in possession and buried the early impressions created by some sections of the Australian media who describing the squad as gigantic “lumps of meat”.
Without question, there are some big units available to Gatland behind the scrum but while explosive power was always going to be a key component of the make up of this side, an impressive degree of subtlety was added to the mix on Saturday, even without the mercurial skill set that Brian O’Driscoll brings to the table. Deft lines of running and lightning quick off-loads from Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies in particular, added even more to the Lions potency.
At least that was the case before Roberts limped out of the contest with 10 minutes to go with a strained hamstring. Given that Gatland replaced seven players in one fell swoop on 60 minutes — I have never seen that at this level of rugby before — and Roberts wasn’t one of them, it makes his injury even more unfortunate. Factor in also the rumours that were circulating around the stadium about George North’s hamstring, confirmed later when Gatland said he had a less than 50% chance of making the first test, and you begin to understand why the Lions have struggled to win more series than their available talent would suggest they are capable of.
There are a number of reasons for that but chief amongst them has been injuries to key players at vital moments and that, in a nutshell, represents the challenge on a tour of this nature. It is always a race against time to get unfamiliar combinations working together. One that Gatland was banking on reviving was the midfield partnership of Roberts and O’Driscoll that combined so well in South Africa four years ago. Now on the eve of the test, it looks as if he may have to start all over again as Roberts looked decidedly unhappy leaving the field on Saturday.
The same thing happened out here in 2001 after injuries to Mike Catt and Will Greenwood propelled Rob Henderson from being an outsider to partner O’Driscoll in all three tests. The difference then was that they already had a good relationship and understanding from playing with Ireland. Now O’Driscoll may be required to form an immediate understanding with either Manu Tuilagi, who is still carrying a damaged shoulder, or Davies who excelled on Saturday.
The bizarre scenario tomorrow, with a completely new three-quarter line, made up of players flown in from all over the globe over the weekend, is unprecedented, even within the context of the Lions. Is it any wonder I always say it’s a complete waste of time predicting the make-up of the test side in advance of the tour?
What odds would you have got only a week ago on a back line made up of Brad Barritt, Christian Wade, Billy Twelvetrees and 36-year-old Shane Williams, who was travelling to Australia this week as part of Talksport Radio’s panel for the test series? That quartet now find themselves charged with protecting the Lions’ unbeaten run after a single training session.
If they achieve anything like the impact Simon Zebo made over the weekend then the Lions might just pull off a win over a very talented Brumbies outfit. With Tommy Bowe out and North in trouble, Zebo could well come into the equation for a start on the left wing despite playing just one game on tour.
Twelve years ago the Lions were forced to call in Scotland’s Andy Nichol, who was out following the tour as a supporter, two days before the deciding test to sit on the bench when injuries to Rob Howley and Austin Healy reduced the 2001 party to one fit scrum half.
On a positive note, apart from the feelgood factor of remaining unbeaten with the tour already at the halfway stage, the big plus from Saturday’s outing was the form of Alun Wyn Jones and Tom Croft, both of whom have now done enough to complete two more pieces of the jigsaw up front.
Croft was superb in the line out, an area where once again the Lions underplayed their hand by throwing 80% of their ball to the front where the Leicester man was unbeatable. That is a well proven aspect of his game at this stage but it was also very encouraging to see him show his blistering pace to good effect. His performance was bad news for Sean O’Brien who now looks consigned to an impact role off the bench. In the second row, Wyn Jones’ work rate was incredible and he matched that with some outstanding carries. That should secure a test slot for him.
Off the field, the baiting has kicked off bang on cue. I did warn you some time ago of the time-honoured Australian practice of some former coach or player coming out questioning the legality of some aspect of the Lions play. That it happens to be Bob Dwyer shouldn’t surprise either but on this occasion he has covered all bases from the binding of the props, to sealing off at the ruck, blocking at restarts and questionable use of decoy runners. There isn’t much left after that. My only surprise is that Dwyer appears to have fired all his bullets in one go. That only means that someone else will be rolled out over the next few days to rubbish the Lions in some other way. Fair dues to Gatland who dealt with the allegations of cheating from Dwyer brilliantly at the post-match press conference.
The tourists will be up against it tomorrow in Canberra even if the Brumbies are understrength themselves due to the demands of the Wallabies. The one ace still in the bag for the Lions is the power of their set piece and given the complete lack of familiarity behind the scrum, expect a limited and very direct game plan from Gatland on this occasion. If this Lions team manage to eke out a win in these trying circumstances it would offer an enormous boost to the squad for the immediate challenges ahead.
