If the Lions are to beat the All Blacks in the first international on Saturday - and a sense of optimism grows by the day - then it will be because they gained the upper hand at the breakdown. It is an area that has been the main topic of debate in recent weeks in New Zealand where the open - side flanker is held in higher esteem than the fly half, but for both Neil Back and Richie McCaw, two of the world’s great exponents of the dark arts at the tackle area, little has really changed. In their eyes it is merely the media’s current hot topic. The goals of any No 7 worth his salt remain the same: to ensure clean quick ball for his own side, to prevent the opposition slowing down your ball, and, when the opposition has possession, doing you utmost to slow down their ball. It sounds straightforward enough but if only it were that easy, particularly in the suffocating intensity of an international.
What has changed though is the reliance solely on the No 7 to achieve such aims. The evolution of the game has been such that it is now up to the nearest player to the breakdown to be able to perform similar duties and help to clean out forwards from rucks. It is perhaps where New Zealand from No 1 to 15 have proved themselves more adept than sides in the northern hemisphere who have tended to rely on the forwards to carry out those responsibilities. The inability to compete effectively was evident in the early stages of the tour not least against the Maori. “The Kiwi is a bit more streetwise but I think we have adapted game on game ,” Back said. “We can compete. It is not a a question of just committing more players to the breakdown. That is what they want you to do. It is about doing your job effectively and accurately when you get there. You can win a ruck with one or two players if they do their job correctly.
“But New Zealand teams get the nearest player there very well. They also second ruck very well. If you do not commit or if your body position is not right they will send another wave in and seek to turn you over. They are very predatory. That’s the competition we have got at the weekend. We have done well in patches on this tour but now we have to do it for 80 minutes. It will be very competitive. We have to win that battle. It will be the key to success. If you can’t retain possession you aren’t going to play with the football and you aren’t going to score points. We want to win the ball, turn them over, they want to do the same. They will not want this Lions back line to have quick ball. That gainline battle, that physicality, winning those collisions, getting on the front foot is key to both sides. On Saturday we go head to head and we’ll see who wins.”
McCaw, who has faced Back once before in June 2003 when he admitted the Englishmen gave him a “real lesson”, said: “Back is a smart player at the breakdown. He knows how to get in there and get his hands on the ball when you don’t want it. It is something we will have to stop. The breakdown is always big. Always my main focus is to make sure we get nice clean ball and this week is no different. You have to make sure you remove the threats and the Lions are good at slowing the ball down; but we try to do that too. In the rugby I have been playing it has always been the area which determines whether you do well or not.”