Clive goes back to the drawing board

LIONS COACH Clive Woodward has ripped up a year of planning and strategy to perform radical surgery on his test team in a bid to rescue the series against the All Blacks.

Having spent the last four weeks preaching the virtues of preparation and the value of solid, set-piece rugby, only to see it all swept away in the Christchurch rain in the first test, Woodward has gone back to the drawing board and made sweeping changes for Saturday’s second instalment.

This weekend’s showdown with rival coach Graham Henry at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium will see a new-look Lions side showing 11 changes from the first test, seven new faces and another four tactical switches, only two of which were forced by injuries.