Lions must put down a marker now
As promised, all available players have been offered a start in the opening three games in order to press their claims for test inclusion. From tonight’s game onwards, the emphasis will be on completing the blanks in the test line-up and developing a strategy for beating the Springboks.
The side taking the field against the Sharks this evening has a distinct Test feel about it while a few players have been offered a further opportunity of grabbing a jersey. In that context, Ronan O’Gara and Luke Fitzgerald have a lot at stake. At least O’Gara is being afforded the chance of playing with test certainty Mike Phillips at half-back in a bid to hold off the challenge of Stephen Jones.
To me it looks like jersey numbers ten and 11 are the only ones still up for grabs in the back line at the moment with Phillips, the centre pairing of Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll and Ospreys duo of Tommy Bowe and Lee Byrne already looking certain to start the first test. Up front Paul O’Connell partners Alun Wyn Jones for the first time in a pack that is also very close to test strength.
The problem for the Lions at the moment is that there is a lot of shadow boxing going on with Springbok coach Pieter de Villiers holding back all his front line internationals from the provincial games, replicating what New Zealand did four years ago. This has left the Lions short of the full frontal assaults that will certainly prepare them for the test arena. As a result it is difficult for the Lions management to gauge exactly how their side is progressing at present. The Sharks are severely under-powered tonight with eight of their Super 14 side unavailable. Their pack, however, is still strong despite losing its entire front row while their back line, with the exception of veteran full back Stefan Terblanche who many feel should be in the Springbok squad and impressive scrum half Rory Kockott, is young and inexperienced. It could still prove the Lions most difficult provincial game.
De Villiers is taking a risk because some of his front liners may be slightly under-cooked for the opening test. He is also allowing the Lions to build momentum should they arrive back in Durban unbeaten a week on Saturday. With the majority of his side coming from Super 14 champions the Blue Bulls it is a chance he is willing to take.
The biggest challenge facing the Lions is competing with the physicality of the Springboks at the breakdown. The fact that the IRB are again tinkering with the laws prior to the series will also have an effect. All season the South African players operated under 25 ELV’s where most offences only attract a free-kick while the Lions players in the northern hemisphere played under different rules (only 13 ELV’s) and sanctions.
On May 23rd it was decreed that three more of those ELV’s would be dispensed with, including the withdrawal of the ability to collapse the maul, and the return of the law where the team throwing at the line-out dictates the maximum number that can partake.
The biggest change however, as the Lions found to their cost last Saturday, is the adjustment where the tackler, or the third man in on the tackled player, is entitled to continue his fight for possession when the ruck is formed once he has his hands on the ball even if it is on the ground. The only caveat is, of course, that he is on his feet and can support his own body weight. Prior to this once the referee called ‘hands off – ruck’ he was obliged to stop competing for possession. It is a licence for the traditional open sides like Richie McCaw and George Smith to cause havoc. From the Lions point of view they will need David Wallace and Martyn Williams in particular to get up to speed on this change.
Last Saturday, Cheetah’s open side Henrich Brussow caused major problems for the Lions maximising the effect of the law change. It is a massive relief to the Lions management that this guy has been deemed surplus to requirements for the Springboks after a superb season of Super 14 rugby with the Cheetahs. His one cap against England last November means he won’t be selected either for the Emerging Springboks as they have decided to select uncapped players only. If Schalk Burger is playing better than Brussow then the Lions could be in serious trouble.
The contact area is crucial to the outcome to this series. Against the Cheetahs Welsh No 8 Andy Powell was far too upright and constantly looked to drive through opponents. That will not work against South Africa. They will invite you in and smoother you to death. The net result will be a turnover or a penalty for not releasing. The Lions must be smarter, attack the space, free their hands and off load – easier said than done against good defences.
The biggest disappointment of the tour has been the sparse attendances with a combined total of fewer than 50,000 turning up to the three games so far. This is very strange for a country that is besotted with rugby and must be slightly disconcerting for the tourists when they run out to half-empty stadiums. While that will change for the test series one hopes that tonight’s game in a traditional rugby hot bed in Durban will offer the type of hostile atmosphere that the Lions will certainly face there on Saturday week.
IT IS always nice to sample a winning feeling in a ground that hosts the most important game of the whole tour from the Lions perspective – the first test. Victory tonight and the tourists will return with positive thoughts in ten days time. The strong combination on show coupled with the number of quality internationals that are missing from the Sharks line up makes this a must-win game for the tourists. What the Lions must do is eradicate the type of inconsistencies that characterised their two Saturday performances to date. In possession the Lions have looked very dangerous. Their problem has been that when the opposition have the ball they do not look as convincing. It is as important tonight that Paul O’Connell’s men make a bigger statement with their blitz defence to the watching Springbok squad, most of whom will be in attendance. They need to go home with a clear message that defensively the Lions are near impregnable.
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