Getting selection right acid test for Woodward

EVEN the best coaches have a blind spot, and Clive Woodward is no exception.

Two weeks ago, having seen the Lions beaten by the Maori and struggle through some more games in New Zealand, I dared a friend to bet €5 on the All Blacks winning the first test.

I backed the Lions, but regretted it a week later when I saw the composition of Clive’s team.

A few years back, Woodward picked Iain Balshaw (whom he also originally selected for this Lions tour) at full back for England against Ireland.

At the time, Balshaw was playing for Bath and the club selectors wouldn’t pick him in the number 15 jersey, instead preferring Matt Perry.

Woodward believed he knew more, threw Balshaw into the fray at Lansdowne Road and both got burned. Badly burned.

This Lions tour has been notable for a number of reasons, not least the fact that Woodward has turned it into the biggest sporting circus of all time.

In a sense, by selecting so many players and so many back room people, Woodward made it difficult for himself. Too many cooks, too many coaches, and maybe one or two hiding behind the apron strings and the spin doctor.

The head coach takes the praise (little enough of that) and the flak. He is also master of his own destiny and plotter of his own downfall.

Because, quite frankly, his team selection for the first test was a disgrace and an affront to some very fine players who had done enough to merit inclusion. He based his selection on sentiment, not on form, believing that the devil he knew was better than the one he didn’t. It’s one of Clive’s greatest weaknesses and it will probably come back to haunt him.

Jason Robinson is a case in point. What, one might ask, had he done to deserve donning the number 15 jersey ahead of Josh Lewsey or Geordan Murphy?

What had Jonny Wilkinson done to deserve playing at number 12 alongside Brian O’Driscoll? Again, nothing.

Woodward went into the test knowing that the Lions had to win line out possession to have a chance. He picked Ben Kay before more vigorous contestants Danny Grewcock or Donnacha O’Callaghan and then, apparently, changed the calls the day before the game.

Not surprisingly, there was confusion in the ranks and the normally accurate Shane Byrne shipped a big part of the blame for the Lions’ problems in this area.

In sporting terms, this Lions Test tour is fast becoming like the Titanic, a sinking ship, without the requisite heroes ... or enough lifeboats.

Woodward’s blushes were spared somewhat yesterday when the Lions hammered Manawatu out of sight. For the first time on tour, despite the physicality of the Manawatu side, the Lions went out to play positive rugby and sent a message to Woodward.

After last week’s Christchurch disaster, places are up for grabs. Now, he has to move fast, be brave and recognise that this weekend’s match is the last chance saloon. He only has one shot at this. And he cannot, under any circumstances, exclude Shane Williams, who scored five of the 17 Lions tries in Palmerstown North.

The chances remain that All Blacks will win the series 3-0 but Woodward could save some face by being honest with himself and with the players.

He should also realise that sentiment does not win matches, that past glories are just that, in the past, and that guys like Donncha O’Callaghan, Ryan Jones, Williams, maybe even Gordon D’Arcy/Ollie Smith, Ronan O’Gara and possibly even Chris Cusiter could do enough to put this tour back on track.

You could say that former All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick may be playing mind games when he suggested yesterday that the Lions should make six or seven changes, but I believe he is genuine.

England had a poor season and Woodward should put all the previous silly thinking to the side. If so, he will take more calculated risks (what makes D’Arcy at 13 any worse then Wilkinson at 12 or Robinson at 15?) and pick an appropriate team for the second test.

At least they will have some strike runners and pack a punch from the bench. At the very worst, they will go down fighting.

Conservative selection ain’t going to win this Test.

MY TEST XV: J. Lewsey, G. Thomas, G. D’Arcy/O. Smith, G. Henson, S. Williams, R. O’Gara, D. Peel; G. Jenkins, S. Byrne, J. White; P. O’Connell, D. O’Callaghan; R. Jones, M. Owen, N. Back.

Replacements: C. Cusiter, S. Horgan, G. Murphy, S. Thompson, M. Stevens, M. Williams, M. Corry.