The Lions, who regroup on Tuesday to take on the Hurricanes, need a win that will help bring confidence back to the squad ahead of the series-defining second Test at the same venue on Saturday.
If the Highlanders, Maori All Blacks and the Chiefs previously had to play without several of their best, the All Blacks coaches have decided to allow a few All Blacks squad members to play for the Hurricanes.
This means that with the exception of scrumhalf TJ Perenara and flyhalf Beauden Barrett, the Hurricanes will take the field with a strong backline that includes Jordie Barrett, Julian Savea, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Super Rugby’s most potent attacking midfielders Ngani Laumape and Vince Aso. Laumape and Aso are the competition’s top try scorers to date with 14 each.
But to be able to do what they do best, these fast and elusive backs must be given decent front-foot possession by the forwards, led by backrower Brad Shields – but missing All Black Ardie Savea.
If the Lions manage to choke the Hurricanes’ forwards, fans can expect to be deprived of the attacking rugby the Hurricanes are known for, unless there’s enough turnover ball for the hosts to exploit.
Incidentally, someone should remind Lions coach Waren Gatland, who took issue with the way the All Blacks played to beat his team last Saturday, that the tactics adopted by his boys in three of their four wins so far were no different than before, and an approach any smart team would take so long as it achieves the result it wants.
The Lions’ team for Tuesday is understandably different from the Test team, but a good performance could push a few players into Test consideration, as happened to Elliot Daly and Liam Williams for the first Test.
There are the usual differences of opinion after what happened in the opening Test, with some saying Gatland needs to change tactics, while one or two are calling for personnel changes. Even if Gatland agrees with the latter, no one is expecting more than two or three to the starting 15.
For the All Blacks, the changes will most likely be forced by injury to fullback Ben Smith (concussion) and centre Ryan Crotty (hamstring), both of whom are not expected to recover in time for the Saturday game.
So how will the All Blacks play this Saturday, with or without Smith and Crotty? Will we see more of the same in Wellington?
There’s no doubting that the physicality will always be there. This is, after all, a game of rugby, a Test between the world’s top team against the best Britain and Ireland can offer.
The Lions will want to at least match the physicality of last Saturday, but they also cannot attempt to play the All Blacks way, because the rugby in the country is in many ways different from the rugby in the northern hemisphere.
On the other hand, the All Blacks do not usually take the field with the same tactics over two consecutive matches. They keep you guessing and would have realised by now that the Lions will be more physical this Saturday. There has to be another way to gain the upper hand over their opponents, and this we will only know as the match progresses.
In the other Tests played last week, Samoa came close but lost 17-19 to Wales; Fiji shocked the Scots 27-22; Japan went down for the second consecutive week to Ireland, this time 13-35; South Africa made it 3-0 in the series by beating France 35-12; Australia had the better of Italy with 40-27; while Argentina beat Georgia 45-29.
The last two Tests between the All Blacks and the Lions bring the mid-year Test calendar to a close, before reopening with the Rugby Championship on Aug 19, with the Wallabies hosting the All Blacks.
Keywords: Rugby, Hurricanes, Lions, All Blacks, Highlanders, Chiefs, Waren Gatland, Wallabies