Plenty to Ponder
A scrappy match in Otago served the British & Irish Lions with their second loss of their tour of New Zealand, against a stubborn Highlanders side.
Under the “glasshouse” roof of the Forsyth-Barr Stadium, the men in red looked promising in parts, only to crumble when put under pressure, particularly at the breakdown.
There was some back and forth in the opening 10 mins. Rhys Webb breaking well, and Waisake Naholo, butchering a 3 v 1, was tackled well by Henshaw. Highlanders 10 Lima Sopoaga put the home side in front with a penalty after 4 minutes. Dan Biggar replying with a penalty of his own on the 15 minute mark.
The game began to open up a bit more, and the Super rugby side were the first to notch a try – All Black winger Naholo with an easy run in after Henshaw missed his first-up tackle. The Ireland centre complained he was impinged by lock Alex Ainley, but referee Angus Gardner was not interested. Sopoaga added the 2 points with a straightforward kick. England lock Courtney Lawes, a powerful presence up til then, took a nasty head knock trying to stop Naholo, and his game was ended, Alun Wyn Jones coming on in his place.
The Lions put pressure on their own restart, and 4 minutes later, Jonathan Joseph crossed the whitewash. Dan Biggar played a smart penalty advantage, and released the backline with England’s Jonathan Joseph touching down after dexterous offloads from both CJ Stander and Biggar. The Ospreys 10 duly slotted the extras from left of the posts.
With the game poised at 10-10, and half-time approaching, Harlequins tighthead Sinckler made an astonishing break through midfield on the halfway line, but it came to nothing and the ref blew for the half.
The Lions needed a good start to the 2nd half, and after 2 minutes they got it. Scotland wing Seymour, who had a poor first 40, rose magnificently to steal a Sopoaga cross field kick and race away. Biggar pulled the touchline conversion to the left, but the Lions were starting to show some urgency in defence and attack. Webb made another clever dart, before being hauled ashore. A mixed bag from the Welshman – running well, but kicking poorly.
Sopoaga made another penalty to bring it to 15-13, but the Lions were still in the ascendency. As has been the theme of the Lions attack so far on tour, several waves of red forwards battered the opposition line, before eventually a mistake let captain Warburton through under the posts. A well taken try, although Alun Wyn Jones may wish to claim an assist after effectively taking two would be defenders out of the game by clearing one out, and scragging another’s jersey. After the Naholo try, it seemed like some sort of justice. Once again, Biggar potted the extras from right under the posts.
Warburton touches down
Thereafter however, the story changes. The Lions began to ease off, and to concede more penalties at the breakdown and at scrum-time. Silly errors when kicking from hand compounded, when Biggar missed touch with a penalty. The Highlanders drove for the corner with a penalty of their own. Iain Henderson produced a magnificent piece of counter-rucking to turn over the ball, and Laidlaw cleared well. Elliot Daly, on for Jared Payne, took a mark from the ensuing Highlanders clearance, only to also miss touch.
The Highlanders claimed another penalty, this time for offside, and kicked to the corner. A superbly clinical lineout maul followed, and Liam Coltman fell on the ball to give Marty Banks a simple conversion to make it 20-22.
Owen Farrell came on after a solid shift from Biggar, and his first act of the game was to miss a very easy kick by his standards. The miss proved to be crucial, as Marty Banks slotted a penalty to make it 23-22 to the Highlanders with 7 minutes to the horn.
Elliot Daly very nearly landed a huge penalty to win it, before the Lions wasted another backline move – Farrell throwing an unsympathetic pass to Joseph coming on a hardline. That was that, and the Highlanders took a deserved victory on their home ground. For the Lions, far from disastrous for a team shorn of most potential test starters. However, there are many elements that will leave Warren Gatland scratching his head ahead of the next game against the Maori All Blacks this Saturday.
Gatland’s Conundrums
Discipline & Accuracy
After improved discipline against the Crusaders, the Lions looked to have regressed; they were pinged 12 times during the game, the majority of which were for infringements at rucktime. Other silly offsides against Alun Wyn Jones in particular, were incredibly frustrating to watch from a Lions perspective.
Not for the first time on tour, the Lions were left to ponder a lack of clinical accuracy when presented with scoring opportunities. Rhys Webb and Tommy Seymour amongst other, who were held up on or close to the line. You get a feeling that Warburton’s try would never have materialized had AWJ not “cleverly” held on to the defender set to tackle the captain. While 3 tries is not to be sniffed at, the reality is for the Lions attack so far that there is plenty of huff and puff, little penetration or clever boxing.
A series of missed touchfinders led directly to the Coltman try. Loose kicks to touch are exactly not what you want to feed an All Black back 3 with any combination of Dagg, Savea, Naholo et al.
Naholo will punish any errant kicking in a Test
Backrow
Throughout the game the balance of the backrow seemed off. Haskell is the definition of a midweek player, industrious but lacking in any specialised skills. Sam Warburton took his try well, but still looks to be off the pace in terms of match fitness. CJ Stander carried as bravely and selflessly as ever and produced one crucial turnover, but one can’t but feel that he doesn’t quite impose himself on the larger kiwi frames as he does in the Pro12 or the 6 Nations. Then again, it has been a long season for the Munster man. Regardless of selection, there seems to be an issue with discipline at the breakdown for this Lions team. Justin Tipuric made very little impact when he came on for Warburton. A real shame in a game crying out for clever link play for the Lions.
Fullback
Jared Payne is a wonderful fullback, with a great read of the game, and an uncanny ability to find space where there appears to be none. However, the former Auckland Blues man is simply not match-fit or match-sharp. Several uncharacteristic dropped balls at key moments tell the tale, as well as the severe shortness of breath to be seen at various breaks in the game.
It has so far not been a tour for back 3 play purists (poor Stuart Hogg must be frustrated by his tour-ending injury). One wonders, with Farrell missing easy kicks, and Payne dropping easy balls, perhaps Leigh Halfpenny does in fact have one hand on the test 15 jersey.
sockymonster 