A trivia question: who was the last team to beat New Zealand at Eden Park, the stadium that hosts two of the three Tests against the British & Irish Lions? The answer is, of course, France in 1994 in a match best remembered for Jean-Luc Sadourny’s “try from the end of the world”.
Contrast that unforgettable moment in rugby union history with Dan Cole’s quip last week that, “the quickest line to the tryline is a straight line”.
Considering he once went 60 Test matches without scoring a try, Cole is perhaps not the most qualified member of the Lions squad to pass judgment on the subject but his pithy assessment is accurate, if showing disregard for aesthetics.
The fact remains though that the Lions have managed just two in three tour matches and while it is a cause for concern, rather than panic after restricting the Crusaders to just a penalty, it can be said with certainty that they will not end the All Blacks’ unbeaten run at Eden Park without scoring tries. Sam Warburton has said the Lions need to score at least 20 points to beat New Zealand but in their last four defeats the All Blacks have averaged 33 points against and while the 12-3 win over the Crusaders has alleviated the pressure brought on by the Blues defeat, the attack needs refinement.
Warren Gatland has accentuated the positives – whereas chances against the New Zealand Barbarians and the Blues were minimal, the Lions created openings against the Crusaders and would have at least doubled their tally for the tour with slightly cooler heads. Gatland has also pointed to the 13 line-breaks in Christchurch while their try in Whangarei was taken with a simplicity – Anthony Watson’s sharp spin and finish notwithstanding – that belies their subsequent scoring problems.
But it is CJ Stander’s try against the Blues that should be more instructive as to how the Lions can improve their scoring rate, in a manner in keeping with Cole’s analysis. For whether it is a lineout drive or a dazzling, length of the field score such as Ihaia West’s, they are still both worth five points and the rolling maul ought to be among the Lions’ most potent weapons.
Against the Crusaders, on more than one occasion Farrell kicked aggressively into the corner but the Lions were unable to capitalise. The home side’s defence takes its fair share of credit for that but with Jamie George and George Kruis linking so well at the lineout, as they do for Saracens, the Lions’ inability to drive over the line was surprising.
Indeed, it has been said that the Lions would be well advised to copy Saracens’ style – an argument given added currency after the way that they strangled the Crusaders with Owen Farrell to the fore and a pack containing three of his club-mates, with Maro Itoje coming off the bench. But perhaps a more effective blueprint for scoring tries would be that of Exeter. The Premiership champions scored 86 tries last season and they finished the regular campaign with a record eight consecutive bonus-point wins. There is also no side in the country more effective than scoring from a driving lineout that the Chiefs.
Add in the fact that while Crusaders followers have vented their fury with Mathieu Raynal’s interpretations of the laws, the Lions are confident of at least parity at the scrum against the All Blacks – as Gatland says: “Our scrum will be very strong by the time it comes around to the test” – and the Lions will hope to have ample opportunity to kick for the corners. It may not be as eye-catching as, say, West’s try but it should not be confused with negativity. When it was decided that Farrell would kick at goal in Whangarei rather than to the corner, it was a negative decision, only compounded by the fact he struck the upright. It was the wrong choice and a wasted opportunity to fine-tune their driving lineout.
For while Gatland and his coaches have sporadically hinted that the Lions are holding aspects of their attacking game-plan back for the Tests, it is a stretch to suggest that is why the maul, in a try-scoring sense, has not been used to any great effect as yet. More likely, as with their inability to finish when Watson burst through against the Crusaders, or when all Jonathan Davies needed to do was find George North outside him, it requires polish and as frustrating as those missed opportunities were last Saturday, perhaps the most disappointing chance to go begging was the late lineout against the Blues.
The Lions face the Highlanders on Tuesday under the Forsyth Barr Stadium roof and so it will be the hardest, fastest pitch that they encounter throughout the tour, against a side who will be hell-bent on breaking the shackles imposed on the Crusaders. For Tommy Seymour, who starts on the wing, it is an opportunity to cure the Lions’ white line fever. “Once these passes stick we’ve got individuals that can create things out of nothing from 80 metres let alone finish from five metres out,” he said. “Sometimes it can be a bit like a tidal wave and they all come after that.” He is no doubt right to say that the Lions will find their try-scoring rhythm sooner or later but it would pay to remember they do not all have to come from the end of the Earth.
