Lions’ cream starting to rise to top

WITH the opening phase of this eagerly-awaited tour now successfully negotiated, the next 10 days will prove pivotal to the success of the upcoming test series.

With three weeks’ collective training and three games played, the Lions management will have an in-depth knowledge of their players’ strengths and weaknesses. Up to this, opinions have been formulated on the evidence of games in the domestic season.

Now that they have lived and trained together for a period of time one gets to know the character of the individuals.

Understandably, in all the games to date, there have been periods of both excellence and mediocrity from the tourists.

The two games in New Zealand have provided sufficient evidence to suggest that success in every game will be extremely hard fought.

The intensity of the professional season has resulted in shorter Lions tours. As a result, one is always fighting the clock in an effort to achieve game time for your test combinations.

On the tour to South Africa in 1997 and Australia four years ago, both itineraries contained a character-building week featuring three quality opponents in a row.

In South Africa, the Lions tackled the Blue Bulls, Transvaal and the Natal Sharks in the week prior to the first test. Similarly in Australia, we faced the Queensland Reds, Australia ‘A’ and the New South Wales Waratahs in an equally demanding seven-day period. On both tours the Lions lost one of those games but generated sufficient information to select a test combination strong enough to win the vital opening test.

Similarly, the challenge presented by the New Zealand Maori, Wellington and Otago in the next week will be of sufficient quality to separate the wheat from the chaff. The Lions will do extremely well to emerge unbeaten from this triumvirate.

The two provincial games to date have followed a similar pattern, with the Lions’ physical conditioning and superior reserves bench overwhelming the opposition in the closing 20 minutes. Against Taranaki the inability of the Lions forwards to retain possession in the opening half was again a major problem. In two of the three games to date Lewis Moody has played at open side, but his talents are far more suited to the No 6 jersey. Even with Martyn Williams at No 7 against the Bay of Plenty, the Lions were guilty of turning over too much possession.

One of the key elements in winning the test series will be achieving the right balance in the back row.

Last Wednesday both Martin Corry and Michael Owen made significant contributions when the Lions overwhelmed Taranaki in the second half.

Given the requirement for pace, it is unlikely both of these will combine in the test arena.

It is more likely that they will fight for Lawrence Dellaglio’s vacant No 8 shirt along with Simon Taylor.

The Scot makes his long awaited first appearance on tour tomorrow. It is a huge game for him. With Jonno Gibbs and Marty Holah in the Maori back-row, the Lions are set for another battle royal for possession at the breakdown. This has been their Achilles heel in the games so far.

The other area that requires immediate surgery is the scrum. To generate a decent attacking platform they must achieve superiority in this area. To date they have struggled.

Tomorrow’s combination of Andrew Sheridan, Steve Thompson and Julian White start a game on tour for the first time. They are a massive unit and have been held back for a reason. At this stage, White and Thompson look certain to line out against the All Blacks. Prior to the tour, Gethin Jenkins was favourite for the loose head spot. However, against the Bay of Plenty he looked uncomfortable at times.

The introduction of Sheridan and Thompson in the closing period coincided with a major improvement in the scrum.

Yet Sheridan is a converted second row and has limited experience in the front row. Whether his dominance was due to the fact that the Bay of Plenty forwards were out on their feet remains to be seen. Tomorrow he is in direct opposition to the likely All Black tight head, Karl Heymans. This will prove a massive contest.

To date the performances of the Lions’ front five has been somewhat disappointing. Players like Danny Grewcock, Graham Rowntree, John Hayes and Gordon Bullock have failed to capitalise on the opportunities presented to them thus far.

With just two weeks to go to the opening test, the Lions forwards must leave their mark tomorrow.

In this respect, Malcolm O’Kelly’s replacement, Simon Shaw, has a huge role to play. A good performance in tandem with Paul O’Connell could catapult him into test contention.