A BLEAK, black night for the Lions at Jade Stadium here. Defeat by such a margin amid wind and rain straight from Antarctica has left the squad without their captain and with a grim fortnight left if they are to restore any semblance of respectability to this tour.
They were beaten in every facet of play, playing into the wind or with the conditions in their favour in the second half. Their lineout was systematically dismembered, their scrum could make no impression on New Zealand and at no stage did they threaten to cross the All Blacks line. Even when they secured lineouts relatively close to the line, both were lost and the momentum that Sir Clive Woodward has talked about all tour died at birth.
There can have been few more disastrous starts in the history of Lions tours: within 25 minutes they had conceded six points, lost Brian O’Driscoll with a dislocated shoulder and Richard Hill with a damaged knee, and Paul O’Connell had been dismissed to the sin bin. That they turned round only 11 points down was a tribute to their scrambling defence and the problems incumbent in playing in such dire conditions.
The Ireland centre had tackled Leon MacDonald but then appeared to be overturned by Keven Mealamu with the ball spinning in the opposite direction.
Advertisement
The Lions made clear in New Zealand last night that they expect disciplinary action to be taken against Tana Umaga, the All Blacks captain, and Mealamu, over the incident. Whether any will be taken is in the hands of the citing commissioner but O’Driscoll’s departure did not affect the overall display.
Hill’s injury came after a tackle on Ali Williams, when his left knee - he was out for most of the domestic season after a reconstruction on the same joint - gave way. O’Driscoll will take no further part in the tour, nor will Tom Shanklin, the Wales centre, who is struggling with an inflamed knee, while Hill’s immediate future must be in doubt.
In theory, though, the Lions should have been capable of fighting their way back into the game. In practice, they could recover no initiative whatsoever, conceding 10 points within eight minutes of the game resuming after the interval which left New Zealand in complete control. In truth, though, the All Blacks were in control from start to finish, thanks to the wonderful effort of their tight five forwards who weighed their opposite numbers and found them wanting.
Whatever the Lions have been doing in training, they suffered for lack of match play and by poor selection. Jason Robinson showed few signs of the player he has been in former years and was switched from full back to the wing before being replaced; Jonny Wilkinson and Stephen Jones tried hard to share the burden of pushing their side forward but at every twist and turn they found themselves sheltering from a black hailstorm. But any set of backs would have struggled to perform with such shoddy possession as their forwards provided.
The Lions had scarcely settled into their stride before the motorised buggy was on the field to remove O’Driscoll, giving Will Greenwood the international place he has waited two previous Lions tours for. There was a momentary flutter when Dwayne Peel broke from a tapped penalty and Martin Corry charged down a clearing kick but the All Blacks, through Daniel Carter and Justin Marshall, broke clear down the left and forced a penalty out of the Lions defence.
Advertisement
Carter chipped over a 15-metre goal and minutes later a grubber kick by Aaron Mauger left Robinson trapped on his own line. The referee played advantage and then handed O’Connell a yellow card after entering successive rucks offside. Carter’s penalty was as easy as his first and it could have been worse had not Robinson managed to pull down Sitiveni Sivivatu as the wing hurtled towards the cornerflag on the end of a wide-ranging All Blacks attack.
That same attack had left Hill stretched prone near the left-hand touchline and Ryan Jones joined the fray but he could make little difference to the shambles that was the Lions lineout. “We were completely outplayed there,” Andy Robinson, the forwards coach, said. “We got our communication wrong, Williams read our movements well.” Indeed it was the New Zealand lock who stole a Lions thrown some ten metres out and lunged forward powerfully to score his side’s first try.
On such a night both sides used a variety of kicks to attack, several rebounding off opposition players and this gave the Lions their best opportunity of the first half, Martin Corry and Shane Byrne linking down the left and forcing a lineout eight metres out. But New Zealand’s midfield defence coped easily and posed a more potent threat when Tana Umaga kicked through and the ball skidded away from both Sivivatu and Gareth Thomas.
Wilkinson, kicking into the wind, pushed a penalty attempt just wide before half-time and then had to watch as Carter, from a lesser distance, added his third penalty after Chris Jack was taken out in the air at the first lineout of the second half. Worse was to come: Mauger made a half-break and Umaga, on a delightful angle, accepted the off-load and sent a wide pass to Sivivatu who had the space and speed to beat Josh Lewsey and Robinson to the line.
Wilkinson recovered three points with a 24-metre penalty after New Zealand were offside at a ruck but a raft of replacements left the Lions no better off. The remainder of the match was played out in midfield as the conditions became even worse, New Zealand confident that the Lions would not stage a rally. Carter pushed a final penalty attempt wide and the Lions, for all their outward confidence that they could repair the difficulties of this match before the second international in Wellington next Saturday, must now work something akin to a sporting miracle.