Reds to provide the sternest test yet as McKenzie eyes unique Lions scalp

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS TOUR:

The Reds, led by maverick fly-half Quade Cooper, are undeniably the toughest challenge yet for the Lions in this third game of the 2013 tour, their captain one of nine Test-capped Australia players in Ewen McKenzie’s side.

And while they may be missing Wallabies of the calibre of Test captain James Horwill and scrum-half Will Genia, there is enough talent in this Queensland side to pose serious questions of Warren Gatland’s latest tour XV.

The previous two games have produced 17 tries yet while this contest promises to be a more evenly balanced affair, Lions backs coach Rob Howley does not want his players to stop creating try-scoring opportunities, nor waste them when they occur.

“Our conversion of line-breaks is very good, we’re talking over 80%,” Howley said yesterday. “But when it comes to Test matches it has to be 100%. You only get one or two line-breaks per game and you have to be clinical and ruthless. It’s important we have intent and ambition. We want good players on the ball making good decisions and putting other players into space. When you look at the skill set of our 6, 7 and 8s we want them on the ball. When you look back at the last two games, what great markers (No.8s) Toby Faletau and Jamie Heaslip have put down.

“Competition is a wonderful thing in a rugby team and it’s important we keep creating that competitive edge.”

Cooper, in his last chance to impress Robbie Deans before the Australia coach adds six more players on Monday to his squad for the Lions Test series, will test the mettle of today’s all-Welsh Lions back row comprising Dan Lydiate, captain Sam Warburton and Faletau, particularly around the edge of the rucks where Wednesday’s opponents, the Western Force, scored both their tries from quick taps.

Cooper is an exponent of such improvisation and as Queensland captain there will be no hesitation to snipe around the fringes if the opportunity arises

The Lions back row must be on their guard yet what they do with the ball in hand is just as important and the first start of the tour for Warburton following a knee injury will give the captain all the impetus he needs to pick up the baton handed to him by rival opensides Sean O’Brien and Justin Tipuric.

Competition for places is really hotting up now with the first Test just a fortnight away and only four games left including today’s to impress Gatland and his coaching staff. Which means that for all the dangers Cooper poses, the Lions will still be focused on their own agenda as Warburton and front rowers Tom Youngs and Matt Stevens all get their first starts on tour opposite an all-Test Reds front row.

This is not the strongest XV of the three chosen so far by Gatland but it still looks to have too much about it for Queensland, the last provincial side in Australia to beat the Lions, in 1971.

McKenzie, who played against the Lions in 1989 and was on the Wallabies coaching ticket in 2001, was encouraged by the way the Force contained the tourists initially and could have posed more problems if their set-piece had not let them down at crucial times on Wednesday. McKenzie, who is set to leave the Reds at the end of the Super Rugby season, sniffs an opportunity to make history today, citing Munster’s victory over the All Blacks.

“I look at the one-off opportunities, when you can do something that other people don’t,” the Queensland coach said. “I put the pressure on and get the group excited about bits of history. The Reds’ history in the last four years has been about grabbing trinkets along the way. We’ve done the best we can in terms of grabbing firsts and little bits of history. When you look at the Lions, they’re only here every 12 years so that is a fantastic piece of history that can be grabbed.

“The (New Zealand) Maori did it (in 2005) and Australia ‘A’ did it (in 2001), but not many sides have done it outside the Test arena. Those two teams were basically national representative sides in a different context, so in terms of a provincial team... we never hear the end of Munster beating the All Blacks and those sort of moments so if you can take your chance on the night, the excitement of sport is all about things that aren’t meant to happen.

“There’s nothing I’ve read this week that you guys have written that doesn’t tell me that we’re supposed to lose tomorrow night, so we’re excited about the prospect of maybe proving a few people wrong.”

Or maybe not. The Lions will be tested, that is certain but there’s motivation for them also, not least trying to go unbeaten over 10 games this summer. There’s too much at stake for them, personally and collectively, to slip up.