The British & Irish Lions
eked out a 13-7 victory over the Provincial Barbarians in the first game of
their tour of New Zealand. Having only arrived in Auckland three days ago there
was scarce time to prepare for the fixture, and it seemed to show. A
disappointing performance with a number of individual errors and failure to
finish chances let down the side, yet there were a number of bright lights in
the form of the Lions debutants with Sinckler, Te’o & Moriarty.
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| Lions begin to purr but lack any real bite |
The Lions were taken all the way
by the Provincial Barbarians side who kept them honest in defence and put
pressure on throughout the game. Their expansive and quick paced game epitomised
what New Zealand rugby is all about. For a representative side, they also
played well together as a team, something which was lacking in the Lions.
However, they were let down by a few individual errors, but several of the
Barbarians will be hoping that their performances will have been noticed by
Super Rugby franchises. Indeed maybe the best fly-half of those on the pitch
came in the form of Warren Gatland’s son, Bryn, as he bossed the invitation
side.
The Lions, albeit with a bar set
very high, fell well short of what was expected. There was a lack of
organisation going forward, with players seeming to attack on their own and
support arriving much too slowly. Much like the Barbarians, there were far too
many individual errors. Most worryingly for the Lions, those errors came from
key players in crucial positions as Hogg & Sexton struggled. The defence
was strong in part but too many missed tackles meant that try saving tackles
were needed, and, in credit, they were made when necessary. It was a side that
have clearly travelled half way around the world, and are at the end of an
intense club season. Indeed for some of these international players they will
have only had one month off from competitive rugby last July, in the previous
two years.
There was also a certain level of
insight into the style of play we can expect from the Lions & Warren
Gatland. As expected, it was direct. It was no surprise that big ball carriers
like Moriarty, Sinckler & Te’o stood out as they suit a more direct style
of play. Whereas a frustrated Watson and an absent Seymour had very limited
opportunity with ball in hand. While the squad is still gelling together and
adapting to one another it may be a reasonable style, however they will hope to
add some magic to their attack as the tour progresses. And they will need to,
as the New Zealand test side will not be at all phased by such a direct style
of play.
It was not all doom and gloom for
the Lions. First and foremost, they won. No matter the manner of the victory,
winning was crucial for this opening game as a loss would have brought down the
whole camp. With no less than 13 new Lions in the match day squad, it was vital
experience for those new players and the excitement and passion in playing in
the Lions jersey was most evident in these players. There were a number of
individual performances, as previously mentioned, that also give reason for promise
and are a likely to ignite competition for test places in the squad, which will
only spur on performances throughout.
Fortunately for the Lions there
are still 400 minutes of rugby to be played before the first test at Eden Park.
There were both positives and negatives in individual performances for the
Lions, but that was the problem, they were individual performances. There was a
lack of cohesion. There aren’t any drastic changes to be made. Time is the best
way forward for this Lions side. Time to gel together, understand patterns of
play and work together as a team. However, as the Barbarians made clear, there won’t
be any freebies on this tour, it’s time to get to work.
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