Seeds of defeat sown on home soil

THE Lions tour ground to its inevitable conclusion in Auckland on Saturday. Ever since the opening test two weeks ago, it was impossible to visualise anything but a 3-0 series victory to the All Blacks.

The gulf in class between the two sides is exemplified by the fact that New Zealand scored 12 tries to the Lions' three over the series.

At least on Saturday the Lions made a game of it. Their forward unit did extremely well and dominated possession for long phases.

The downside of this however was to expose once again the difference in quality between the teams in an attacking context. It was sad to see that the Lions most potent attacking option was to kick to the corner for five-yard lineouts.

When Brian O'Driscoll was stretchered from the field in the opening minutes of the first test, the Lions' only attacking threat disappeared.

Quite why this should be the case, given the number of quality backs in the squad, remains a mystery. Indeed, over the course of the seven week expedition, not one player emerged that could be added to an all time Lions hall of fame.

It is a sad reflection that the person who dominated the tour for long periods was the PR man, Alistair Campbell.

It has become extremely difficult to achieve the right balance on a Lions tour in the new age. Clive Woodward now knows it is a far bigger challenge that even he appreciated. The fact that for 12 months he proclaimed that this would be "the best prepared Lions tour ever" eventually came back to haunt him.

What did he learn from the experience? When he proclaimed yesterday that if he had to do it again, he would "bring more players, with additional games on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays", I just scratched my head.

So where did it all go wrong? Unfortunately much of the seeds for this failure were sown long before the Lions departed these shores.

The key issues, in my view, revolve around the following:

1. The Itinerary With the exception of the game against the Maori, the quality of the provincial opposition painted a false picture in respect of the Lions strengths.

In particular, the games against Wellington and Otago failed to cement the view, created by the Maori game, that many of Woodward's aging World Cup heroes were past their sell by date. Had the Lions played any of the Super 12 sides, these limitations could have been further exposed before the crucial opening test.

2. Number of Players Despite Woodward's protestations to the contrary, I still believe that too many players were brought on this tour.

A detailed analysis of the number of games played by many of the tour party confirms this view. Also the necessity to rotate players in the key positions of hooker, no. 8, scrum half and out half in the first four games destroyed any effort to achieve continuity of selection.

The luxury of so many players also duped Woodward into making the decision to allow Jason Robinson, Gareth Thomas and Stephen Jones to arrive late on tour. It also facilitated the return of Michael Owen to Wales for the birth of his second child.

In the context of a professional tour, Woodward needed to make the hard decisions and insist that everybody be there from the outset. The fact that both Robinson and Thomas walked into the test side after one appearance must have been a de-motivator for their rivals in the back three positions.

3. Selection It was difficult to discern any coordinated selection policy throughout this tour. The initial decision to select Jonny Wilkinson looked flawed at the time given his lack of any meaningful rugby in the build up to the tour.

His coach in Newcastle, Rob Andrew, said as much and clearly didn't want him to travel. His latest "stinger" injury, sustained in the second test, must cast doubts over the future of a great player.

Nowhere were the vagaries of selection more obvious than the fact that 31 players ended up with Lions test caps. The selection of the side for the first test bore no relation to form in the early games and was cruelly exposed in Christchurch.

The disappearance of Andrew Sheridan as a test candidate, the failure for Tom Shanklin to be afforded any opportunity in the centre and the treatment of Ronan O'Gara on the back of two missed tackles in the opening tour game are just a random sample of some strange decisions.

4. The Intensity of Training Perhaps as a consequence of the perception that we trained hard in the opening weeks of the 2001 tour, Woodward went to the other extreme. There was a distinct lack of contact sessions early on, that surprised some of the players.

However, it was the decision to split the camp in two that deprived the test team of live opposition in training. It is a prerequisite for all teams that their lineout, attack and defensive preparations are conducted under pressure against live opposition.

Yet incredibly the Lions, despite their large number of players on tour, were deprived of this basic requirement.

One must also recognise that even if the Lions preparation had been at its optimum, the chances of defeating this current New Zealand squad was slim.

The insider knowledge generated by Graham Henry, Steve Hanson and Wayne Smith from their time in the UK proved invaluable. They are also fortunate to have at least 6 players who would be automatic choices on any World XV.

While the Lions pride has taken a hammering over the past few weeks, I have no doubt that in four years time the supporters will once again travel in their thousands to South Africa.

It is incumbent now on those who run the Lions to absorb the lessons of the three tours that have taken place in the professional era and come up with a blueprint of how best to tackle the increased demands.

In my view, everything must be done with the sole objective of winning the test series. There is almost a case for splitting the tour into two distinct phases with the abandonment of midweek games from the week prior to the first test.

It may even necessitate the release of some players after a specific period of time. Either way, the logistical demands require an in-depth review at this stage.

And if I had my time again and was forced to choose between Clive Woodward and Graham Henry to coach the side, whom would I pick?...Come on!