Pressure will ramp up as Lions prepare for 'unofficial Fourth Test' against Maori All Blacks

The time is now: Leigh Halfpenny can nail his place
Getty Images
Alan Dymock16 June 2017

In terms of Test selection, things are starting to take a bit of shape in New Zealand. Tomorrow’s much anticipated match against the Maori All Blacks here in the Maori heartland of Rotorua provides an incredible opportunity, not only to in terms of players cementing their Test places but, following the midweek defeat against the Highlanders, also in terms of getting things back on track with a much-needed tour win.

Make no mistake, with this being dubbed the unofficial Fourth Test before the full All Blacks team quickly come into focus, ignore all of the previous talk of X-factor and entertainment — with six games left, half of them against the No 1 side on the planet, it is all about weekend wins from here on in.

Head coach Warren Gatland has spoken previously of how former Wales coach Graham Henry, the man who led the All Blacks to a World Cup win in 2011, “lost” a lot of his Lions team during the 2001 tour of Australia by setting up a first-choice squad and a “dirt trackers” midweek side from the start.

This time the Lions have bent over backwards to integrate all of the squad, to make sure there is no sense of separation or a first- and second-choice team during the early exchanges.

However, by this stage it is becoming clear the Lions are forming the core of a first team, while there are some players who have only endured midweek action — and losses. We have seen one Lions side beat Super Rugby’s finest, the Crusaders, and they are playing again against the Maori, while many players have only started in losses to the Blues and Highlanders. Much like a cross-trainer, as one side has advanced the other has gone backwards.

So while some will have suggested that there is no certain selection now, it has become clear that up to six replacements will be parachuted into the Lions squad. On the eve of the clash with the Maori All Blacks it is notable that some players have been held back before it, so they are fresher for this vital build-up to the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park.

As it stands, centre Jonathan Davies, wing George North, full-back Leigh Halfpenny, flanker Sean O’Brien, and scrum-half Conor Murray have all played 80 minutes of rugby or less. You could argue that in some positions within the squad there are places totally up for grabs — and in particular we are talking about the back three.

It is not so much a case of Welshmen North and Halfpenny blowing away their tour mates, but that they have had less opportunity to throw chances away. Yet this is not to be a negative thing. Okay, it is ironic to lean on those well-worn rugby clichés of “learnings” and “work-ons”, but this is a fresh opportunity for those players in a privileged position.

Take the example of Halfpenny. So much focus has been on the ever-reliable Owen Farrell dropping out of the match squad with a grade one quad strain, if only because some had written off Johnny Sexton.

The Irish fly-half has his “mojo back”, according to Gatland, and he has the glowing support of those who know him best. But as competent a kicker as he is, Halfpenny is a sure bet for bisecting the posts in the absence of Farrell. In fact, with the nature of Farrell’s injury, if he were to recover from a strain in time to start at Eden Park, would Gatland really want to risk aggravating it with kicking duty?

Halfpenny is the ultimate safe port in a storm, as he has proved throughout the season for his club, Toulon.

This is the biggest test so far, and a proper signifier of how built-for-purpose this top Lions squad is. With exciting Maori selections like World Cup 2015 star Nehe Milner-Skudder, box-office full-back Damian McKenzie, All Black old-stager Liam Messam and the electric Ioane brothers, the Lions should find out just how well they cope with an emotionally charged atmosphere. It won’t all be about theatrics — as mentioned above the Lions need a win and will not care how ugly it ends up being.

The top team will have two Tests at Eden Park, where New Zealand have not lost since they were overcome by France, 23-20, in July 1994, and one in-between those two bouts at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium. Those occasions will be enormous, with much more atmosphere and pressure than they have played through so far on tour. They need something fierce to prepare.

The Lions will also have watched the All Blacks batter through a blow-out against Samoa today, well aware that the First Test against the world champions always presents the best opportunity to mug them.

There were holes for Samoa to exploit in that one, and the Lions know now that they need to generate emotional energy of their own; something to build upon.

Some menace is required, and considering how much stick the Lions scrum has received Down Under, and how good the defensive effort was against the Crusaders, there will be a level of expectation for the Maori outing.

While there is always talk of “physicality” before watershed matches, the Lions could do with putting on a performance that suggests that the Lions are unashamed about breaking up teams who try to play a lot of rugby.

The Lions will need tries, of course, but so far the results on this trip have been decided by whether or not the Lions can see a game out.

Rotorua is the perfect place to display some guts.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in