O'Sullivan considers merits of shorter tours

Eddie O’Sullivan tonight admitted there could be a logic behind future British and Irish Lions trips becoming Test-only tours – if that is the only criteria for success.

The Lions go into tomorrow’s third Test against New Zealand 2-0 down and staring at a first series whitewash since 1983.

While Lions head coach Clive Woodward has hailed the tour a success in terms of organisation and planning, most people will forge their opinions based on the Tests and equate it as an expensive failure.

O’Sullivan, part of Woodward’s coaching staff during the past six weeks in New Zealand, has described the issue as “a big question” facing subsequent overseas missions.

“If you are going to judge the whole outcome on three matches (Tests) at the end of the tour, there is a logic to saying if that’s what it is all about, then just come down and play three games,” he said.

“It does beg the question. If a Lions tour is based on a successful Test series, and that is the only thing that matters, then maybe you should just play a Test series, but that wouldn’t be a traditional tour.

“It is a big question, going forward, for the Lions, and maybe the lessons of this tour and the last tour (Australia 2001) tell us a lot.

“This is my first Lions tour, but I think the way the game has changed in terms of the amount of preparation that goes in and demands on the players, that you would have to question trying to play two games in a week. It is a huge demand.”

The Lions are just about limping over the finishing line in New Zealand, and they will fly home on Sunday, desperately trying to avoid a demoralising clean sweep.

Despite losing injured backs Jonny Wilkinson and Gavin Henson from their plans though, O’Sullivan says preparations have gone well.

“The mood in the camp has been quite exceptional. I would have expected that at the end of a long season, the guys might feel a bit down, but they are not and there is a spring in their step,” he added.

“They want to go out tomorrow and finish this tour on a high note.

“There has been a good buzz in training all week. There was no point in over-working the players. This week was about getting a new headset on for a new game and training probably as little as we had to.

“You want to avoid losing 3-0, obviously – 2-1 is better than 3-0, if you lose – but at the same time, I think the team would like to prove they are good enough to win a Test match in New Zealand.

“We came here with hopes of doing that. We haven’t done it yet, but there is still one more opportunity, and that is the focal point now.

“You have to say that you are impressed with every aspect of the All Blacks at the moment. They are playing great rugby, and we haven’t got to that level on this tour, it is fair to say, but you would like to think there is a game in us still.”

Like the Lions, New Zealand have also suffered their share of injuries. Fly-half magician Dan Carter, centre Aaron Mauger and flanker Richie McCaw are all sidelined tomorrow.

Rookie Luke McAlister will wear the number 10 shirt, skipper Tana Umaga moves to inside centre alongside Conrad Smith and a reshuffled back row sees Rodney So’oialo lining up at openside flanker, with Sione Lauaki at number eight.

Whatever the outcome, and the Lions should run New Zealand a good deal closer than in Christchurch or Wellington, lessons must be learnt from an 11-game trip that found the tourists out when it really mattered.

“The international game now is a really intense physical game, but also a fast game,” said O’Sullivan’s Lions coaching colleague, England chief Andy Robinson.

“This ability to play under pressure at pace and with some width is something I think we’ve got to look at when we go back home.

“I think the New Zealand forwards, in terms of their ability to carry the ball, to pass and play has been the difference, I think, in terms of continuity.

“You always learn and you are always picking up things, and the ability to play with that width and pace is something we have strived for in the series and not really got to yet.”

Lions captain Gareth Thomas, who was declared fully fit today after recovering from a virus, believes the battered tourists can still achieve “something pretty special” this weekend.

Thomas insists it is not a time to throw in the towel, even though New Zealand hold an unassailable series lead, having racked up 69 points and seven tries, including last week’s 48-18 masterclass in Wellington.

“At the end of the day, we lost by 30 points, but it felt quite harsh, given the way we performed,” he said.

“For us as players, we’ve bonded well and it has been an amazing experience. Yes, we want to do it for the Lions history, the jersey and everyone else, but also, I want to do it for us as a group of people together.

“It would be great to give something back to us as players. The guys realise they can do something pretty special tomorrow, even though we have lost the series. By sticking our heads in the sand, there is no way we are going to achieve it.”