FRENCH REFS WILL BE CRUCIAL
In what will be such a tight test series the refereeing will be crucial, and the French refs will really help the Lions. There are slight differences between the way the scrum and breakdown are policed between the hemispheres and so northern hemisphere refs’ interpretations will be more closely aligned to the Lions.
In the first tour game with an Aussie ref the Loons were bemused by many decisions. With the French ref against the Saders the Lions were much more at home.
Referee Mathieu Raynal
TEO FIRMING FOR TESTS
England centre Ben Te’o was a surprise selection for the squad but he is now in the prime position to take the prized No12 jersey in the tests. With his chief rival Ireland’s Robbie Henshaw completely over-shadowed by Sonny Bill Williams on Wednesday night Teo delivered exactly what was required.
Solid in defence and running good straight lines in attack. His combination with Farrell also worked well. He will be very hard to displace.
Ben Te’o
TEST STRENGTH LIONS WILL COMPETE
For the first time on tour we saw many of the key Lions in action – Conor Murray, Sean O’Brien, Jonathan Davies, George North and Owen Farrell (from the start). With these big guns in action the Lions looked more than competitive against the star-studded Crusaders – and in truth should have won by more.
If the Lions can play mistake free rugby, which these experienced players can deliver, they have a (slight) chance against the All Blacks.
Owen Farrell
GATLAND JUMPS FOR JOY
This was a dream scenario for the Lions and completely turns the tour around. This was all about pressure and the Lions handled it better than the All Black laden Crusaders.
Heavily favoured before the match to give the Lions a good pasting the Saders were uncharacteristically subdued, often forcing a pass and allowing the Lions to live off their mistakes. This is exactly what Gatland plans for the tests but for it to work the Lions must play 80 minutes of mistake free Rugby.
Warren Gatland
AND THE MIND GAME BEGINS
The Kiwis will now know they are in for a serious challenge and they will consciously try to unsettle the tourists. The attack will come in two prongs – firstly coaches and commentators will say the Lions play boring rugby and challenging them to open up. Ignore it.
Secondly they will start to put pressure on the French refs – this will come from Steve Hansen himself – saying they are killing the game with their rulings. The French refs must stand strong but they will now be besieged and it will be tough not to buckle.
Steve Hansen