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| The Lions put in a grizzled performance against the Crusaders, but there is still plenty to work on before June 24th. |
Clinical Finishing
It was well established prior to the tour that the All Blacks are utterly ruthless when try scoring opportunities arise and that the Lions would have to match them on the ability to finish. It has been showcased plenty during Super Rugby with the Hurricanes setting new records for tries scored, the Crusaders scoring an average of five tries a match too, so the threat was very real.
The bad news for the Lions is that after three matches they have scored a sum total of two tries and only one from phase play. It is a concerning feature of series so far, granted that for two games the Lions were struggling to put together any real chances or control on the game, but it seemed that anytime someone produced a bit of magic, or a line break, the move would break down the chance would go begging.
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| Stander was one guilty party of letting a try go. |
Yes, the Lions are still coming together and learning how each other play, but for international quality players some of the handling ability and decision making has been below par. A couple of instances against the Crusaders come to mind: Ben Te'o passing to Liam Williams, and CJ Stander dropping a pass from Sexton. Both opportunities were well crafted, but the final piece of skill was lacking.
The basic skills should be there and it is perhaps just a little bit of pressure and the ability to know where your teammates are going to be when. Additionally, the Lions need to be able to have the confidence to take the contact after a Lion break, not force the issue, produce quick ball and allow their playmakers to calm it down a little bit and pull off the final play. Just a bit less rush and a bit more heads up will produce the scores.
Scrummaging
Ask me a month ago and I never would have thought the scrum would be an area the Lions needed to work on prior to the first test (June 24th), yet here we are. I'm not saying that the scrum is a weakness that needs to be addressed, but considering Gatland and co. were coming to New Zealand with the belief that their set piece - scrum especially - would be their main source of strength against a Kiwi side not famed for its scrummaging props.
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| Furlong was many's first choice for the Test series, but hasn't shown his scrum prowess much. |
There are hints of this supposed strength for large periods of the game against the Blues it was a steady and aggressive supply of possession and penalties, and again against the Crusaders plenty of penalties were obtained. Although in the instance of Saturday's match most of those penalties came about before a ball was put in, so before any real drive had appeared. On the times the ball did enter the scrum the Lions back didn't look dominant, in fact, on at least three occasions Faletau has his work cut out at the back just to get the ball let alone make yards.
The battle against the Crusaders at set piece is one well worth studying with the Canterbury outfit likely to provide four of the starting tight five for the first test - Brodie Retalick joins from the Chiefs. Graham Rowntree will be studying the tapes for any sign of weaknesses to exploit and problems to fix for his own charges. The strongest scrummagers in red so far have been Joe Marler and Dan Cole, neither of which provide much of an added dimension. So the question is does Gatland pick his props to win the scrums outright, or does he hope the likes of Vunipola and Furlong can up their game in the tight to complement their open play game?
Attacking Confidence
It is expected that the All Blacks will score minimum two tries in each match against the Lions, personally, I expect it to be an average of three per Test. So with that thinking in mind, even if Beauden Barrett has one of his off kicking days, the Lions are going to need six successful penalty kicks at goal to keep in touch. Yes, the Lions possess Halfpenny and Farrell, two 85-90% goal kickers, so maybe seven kicks within range are going to be needed.
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| The Lions' goal kicking is fearsome, but is it being overused? |
Obviously trying to win by penalties is not the answer - even if it did work against the Crusaders - so tries will need to be scored. To that end why are the Lions taking kicks at goal most of the time they are awarded a penalty? Where is the adventure, where is the brazen show of confidence that they have the ability to score? It is not like Farrell and Halfpenny need the practice for kicking at goal, what does need practice is the Lions ability to put away chances and to connect with players they aren't used to playing with when the pressure is on.
No one likes to lose so you can understand the Lions wanting to win every match they are playing in - it's what the Super Rugby sides are doing - but they have to switch their mentality. It is all very well winning the warm-up games with a plethora of penalty kicks, but if when it comes to the Tests and the All Blacks do what they do best and produce a 10-minute blitz of two or three tries, then you're going to be left with no way back. There are three games left, systems should be bedded in and players know their roles, now is the time to kick to the corner and back yourselves.
Test Team (on form)
Backs: L Halfpenny, G North, J Davies, B Te'o, A Watson, O Farrell, C Murray
Forwards: M Vunipola, K Owens, D Cole, AW Jones, G Kruis, P O'Mahony, J Tipuric, T Faletau
Bench: J George, J Marler, T Furlong, M Itoje, CJ Stander, R Webb, J Sexton, L Williams
The backline is still very much up for grabs, Henshaw is talented enough, Nowell isn't as bad as Rieko Ioane made him out to be, and Hogg hasn't had the chance to impress much. Locks are the toughest call, Kruis' lineout skills and Jones' defensive aggression wins the starting, Itoje will have a bigger impact from the bench. The back row could be lacking a physical ball carrier hence Owen's selection at hooker. Stander on the bench provides a change of emphasis to the athleticism of the starters. Warburton misses out due to injury and sub-par performances, but one good game against the Highlanders would see his inclusion.
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| Warburton is struggling to prove his selection, Gatland will want his captain to start, but a performance is needed over the next three games. |
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