When the British & Irish Lions set out a month ago this was the weekend they knew would define their tour. Could they be ahead in the series or at least in contention going into the final Test? The unpalatable third option – 2-0 down with one to play – was always lurking in the shrubbery but the 2017 squad, from day one, have refused to entertain the possibility.
It has been the same all around New Zealand as the Lions have set about earning respect in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Rotorua, Hamilton and, now, the nation’s capital. They have not always found it but Kiwi cafe owners and camper van rental firms would happily have the red-shirted fans and their wallets back every year. The All Black captain, Kieran Read, is also among those baffled by talk of the Lions concept dying: “I don’t think that will happen, mate. It’s just been so exciting being around the country the last couple of weeks. I’m sure it will continue.”
Interest will certainly spiral off the scale if the Lions can somehow win the Second Test on Saturday in the Cake Tin, the cylindrical metal doughnut that doubles as the local theatre of dreams. Passion, rarity value, tradition, antagonism … a competitive Lions tour is a level above almost anything else in sport. Even Ryder Cups and Ashes Tests cannot match the total physical commitment, nor the widespread desolation when a series slips out of reach.
Keeping that do-or-die imperative in mind, put yourself inside the Lions dressing room. For all the talk of taking more of their chances, it is up front where the Lions simply have to roar and no one is ducking that reality. “We’ve talked all week about it being the biggest game of our lives – and it is,” said Mako Vunipola after the team’s eve-of-match captain’s run at the picturesque Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua. “There is no bigger honour for us than to play for Lions against the best team if the world. If you don’t have the right emotional energy it will show.”
The elemental force required to blow the All Blacks off their pedestal simply has to come from within. Ireland had it when they defeated New Zealand in Chicago last November and so, in turn, did the world champions when they won a shuddering rematch in Dublin. The Lions, whether because of early nerves or slight unfamiliarity, could not quite summon the necessary intensity at Eden Park but it will be in their kitbag here.
Vunipola, who was born in Wellington and spent his early childhood running around wanting to be Jonah Lomu, confirms Warren Gatland has already been issuing pointed messages on the subject of dented pride: “We are going into it wounded. For me, a bit of pride is on the line after what Gats said, both as a person and a player. Hopefully that gives us the edge. It’s up to us as a forward pack to prove him wrong and put a statement out there. I know we will be ready for it – we have to be. As pack, we know how big a challenge it is.” The not inconsiderable need to keep Johnny Sexton, Owen Farrell and Conor Murray off their backs is another motivational factor: “If we don’t give them the clean ball they want, we’ll get a bollocking. And we don’t want that.”
It will not even require this week’s gloriously-timed story about a consignment of British Weetabix being seized and impounded by New Zealand custom officials to ensure the sharpest of edges to Andy Farrell’s pre-match rhetoric. In Australia four years ago it was Farrell who exhorted the team to enter the “hurt arena” before the final Test against the Wallabies and the exact same venue is beckoning now. “Simmering” was the word used to describe the players’ mood by Farrell, no stranger to red-hot occasions in his playing days. “It’s about character this week for us,” emphasised the former Great Britain rugby league captain. “It’s about manning up and putting everything on the line. It’s do-or-die and these guys are a little hurt about the manner in which the game went last week. We will see what we are made of this week.”
There is scant talk, in short, of frills or delicate nuance. The local weather forecast is equally grim, with rain and, perhaps more significantly, gusty winds forecast. The ideal Lions scenario goes something like this: a swirling high ball in the opening moments, an All Black fumble, a dominant scrum or lineout drive and a 7-0 advantage before the hosts have fully switched on. With Sexton at 10 and another excellent kicker in Owen Farrell at his elbow, it would be game on then. The All Blacks and their crafty coach, Steve Hansen, would not be human if they failed to experience a scintilla of creeping disquiet.
It may not unfold quite like that, of course, but if it does Farrell Snr will demand the Lions ruthlessly drive home any early advantage. Nothing has nagged away at the management more than the period after half-time at Eden Park when the All Blacks were rocking but got away with it. The need to rectify that shortcoming has also been a recurring theme this week. “I didn’t think our energy was good enough last week,” Farrell said. “We were our own worst enemies. The amount of times we had the All Blacks exactly where we wanted them and then let them out far too easily with a penalty, an offside, a dropped ball, whatever – we didn’t manage our energy well enough and the physicality went backwards on the back of that.”
There will still be a need, clearly, for discipline to be maintained, for respect to be constantly shown to this fine All Black side, for the returning Sam Warburton to establish a positive rapport with the French referee Jérôme Garcès. There is a sense, either way, that the Lions’ huge collective desire – and fewer nerves – will make the visitors tougher opponents this time; a single-figure winning margin, for whichever side, would be no surprise. Perhaps the single-minded Lions will narrowly be denied their cherished third Test decider but they could do with silencing those who make Dad’s Army’s Private Frazer sound an optimist. The Lions may be doomed in this series by full time but a measure of pride will hopefully have been restored.
