There is so much to love about the British & Irish Lions, and so much to love about what was a hell of a Test, but there is one thing that has annoyed me about it and left a bit of a bitter taste. The penalty to win the match is really frustrating and it is just a shame that such a good contest was settled that way.
It is not the fault of Jérôme Garcès because, to the letter of the law, it is a penalty. It is the law itself that is the problem. Kyle Sinckler jumps just before he is tackled, so what is Charlie Faumuina supposed to do? He is committed to the tackle – is he supposed to try to pull out and let Sinckler make a line-break? The law says it is a penalty but from a purely rugby point of view, it is frustrating. And that’s the game.
You could see Kieran Read was frustrated and he said to the referee that if everyone jumps just before they are tackled, is it a penalty every time? And he’s right. You could be close to the line, take the ball off the No9, jump and then it is a penalty. That is how ridiculous things could get. I could understand his frustration because it was a penalty Owen Farrell was going to nail and I’m sure Sam Warburton would have felt the same way if it was at the other end.
But that is not to take anything away from the Lions. You have to hand it to them, they got themselves into a position where they were nine points down, in some pretty tough conditions, and they clawed their way back to force what will be a thrilling decider.
I have been hearing and reading about how the concept of Lions tours may be dead but how can you not love the Lions? I would love it to be 2-0 to the All Blacks in the series and then a clean sweep on Saturday but from a neutral’s point of view, and in terms of a spectacle, it is set up perfectly. The Lions fans have just been fantastic, New Zealand has bought into the whole idea of it – it has just been amazing.
But as impressive as it was that the Lions managed to keep the series alive, they did not make it easy for themselves. The overwhelming thing, when you take the emotion out of it, is the fact that they had a team down to 14 men – albeit with a sin-bin themselves – and struggled to put them away. From an All Blacks supporter’s point of view, it gives us a lot of confidence that with 15 men New Zealand would not have found themselves in that situation.
The Sonny Bill Williams sending-off was a straightforward decision, though. After the game Steve Hansen, the New Zealand head coach, said it could have been yellow or it could have been red, but it was more red than yellow. It was a bit of a brain explosion: Sonny Bill can have no complaints, but the All Blacks will get around him because I’m sure he will be pretty disappointed.
It was a big call, but the right one, although I do think Mako Vunipola got away a bit lightly from the incident involving him. Again, cocking the shoulder and then making contact with someone who is on the ground – it could have been yellow, could have been red. It was a flip of a coin, really, and it came down against New Zealand.
However, the first thing we can expect from the All Blacks is a reaction. We got one from the Lions after the first Test and I am sure there will be one from New Zealand. Listening to Wyatt Crockett after the match he said there was 10 to 15 minutes of disappointment, as there should be after a game like that, but then the senior players spoke and the attention turned to preparations for next week.
It is a winner-take-all, it is a pressure‑cooker situation, just like the week leading into the World Cup final in 2011. And Auckland is going to be buzzing. On Thursday there is a parade for the America’s Cup – there is going to be huge excitement for that – and then the sea of red will start coming in from Wellington. It is going to be a really pressured situation but it is something that the All Blacks will be used to and I think that gives them the edge.
They will reflect that it was a perfect storm against them. The red card, the weather and the inability to take their chances. Kicks at goal that you expect Beauden Barrett to score were missed and they did not take their opportunities to cross the line. There were a couple of kicks through – Barrett for Read, for example – that would have been tries if they had been a bit straighter. Or Aaron Cruden put a grubber through: a little bit off that and Read scores again. They are opportunities that you expect the All Blacks to take.
On the other hand, the Lions had two opportunities and they took them. Warren Gatland made a brave call to have that 10-12 axis of Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell and it paid off. If it was any other combination in the build-up to Taulupe Faletau’s try – say Farrell and Ben Te’o or Sexton and Jonathan Davies – I do not think the ball would have got there. But it was a good pass from Sexton to Farrell, then a great miss‑pass to Liam Williams, who created that space for Faletau. Gatland needed his playmakers to deliver and at that moment they did.
