Dealing with pressure the key: Woody
“The pressure on players and coaches is huge,” Woodward said. “Some people thrive on it and some people think they thrive on it - and when it really comes they are not really as good as they think. That is why I am pleased with the Lions team. We have very good people who have won World Cups and the Welsh last year in the Grand Slam really delivered. They played 40 minutes in Paris which I think is the best 40 minutes of rugby I have ever seen.
“Pressure was really on a few of the players and Stephen Jones, (Dwayne) Peel and Gareth Thomas just went like that. That was when I knew that the Welsh revival was really on. They have got some really scary people who have really come on.
“I just think that you are at your best when the pressure is at its greatest and that is the true definition of champion sportspeople. It is about playing under pressure and the importance of this game is huge.”
Woodward knows that defeat tomorrow could spell the end of the road for his team’s ambitions of repeating the unique success in New Zealand of their 1971 predecessors, the only touring party to have come home with a series win.
“We have been down to your country ten times and lost nine,” Woodward told a New Zealand television interviewer. “So I am not putting us under pressure for that because we are not expected to win.
“I can understand why, because you have to throw a team together at the last minute and they are all different. They have their quirks, their strengths, weaknesses, especially the English. To get them in a room and know you are going into a very hostile environment is a challenge.
“I think romantic is a good word because it’s romantic what we are trying to do in a way, because common sense says we should not win. New Zealand have been developing as a team and we have just thrown this together.
“But I know I’m here with a very well-prepared team with the best players from four countries and I think we have half a chance.”
There are parallels with 1971 side, though they’re not too obvious. Carwyn James was a mercurial coach who was never appreciated in his homeland of Wales. And while Woodward is little appreciated outside of England, no-one could accuse him of being anything less than a maverick in his approach to professional rugby.
But if he loses this Christchurch Test, there are not many who will favour him to turn the ship round in Wellington and Auckland, making Southampton FC an extremely attractive next port of call.
How that opening victory will be achieved seems clear from his starting XV, however. With Jonny Wilkinson at inside centre and Stephen Jones at fly-half, there is no doubt that both place-kicking and goal-kicking are the order of the day in attack and stopping All Blacks outside-half Dan Carter is the chief priority in defence.
The controversial omission of Gavin Henson and subsequent comments from Mike Ford indicate that it was the Welshman’s deficiencies in the tackle rather than going forward which cost him a place, although there is a chance Woodward could spring another surprise.
What is also apparent is that the All Blacks too realise the enormity that this series carries. “This is large, very large,” New Zealand captain Tana Umaga said. “They only travel over here very 12 years and we feel very fortunate to be playing against them and we want to make the most of the opportunity. This is a once in a lifetime chance, something for those that are fathers to tell their kids about and to join those great All Blacks who have played against the Lions.”
Of course, with such a game plan, everything rests with the forwards and the Lions are confident they have what it takes to provide a platform for victory from the set-piece, from Shane Byrne’s lineout throwing to a powerful front five at the scrums.
“We’ve got an outstanding scrum and a top lineout and I don’t see a weak scrummager in the squad, it’s very powerful,” Woodward said, while forwards coach Andy Robinson added: “It’s a very important part of our game and an area we’ll be looking to take on New Zealand in.”
New Zealand’s pack star Richie McCaw certainly believes the Lions will offer a very different challenge than the one he and his team-mates have been used to in the recently ended Super 12 season.
“They (Lions) put a bit more emphasis on set pieces than we do in Super 12, although we have recognised that in the last 12 months and put in a lot more work into it. But it seems to be quite evident that they play for field position and then use their lineout as a weapon or their scrums. That’s something we’ve got to challenge.”
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