“Pour encourager les autres – to encourage others” – Voltaire may not have worn a scrum cap but the French man of letters captures the essence of a Lions tour, working your backside off not for yourself but for your mates. Setting good examples. Lifting the mood. Creating the vibe. Putting everyone in fine fettle. And all the more so if you find yourself in what used to be called the dirt-trackers, the midweekers who have to commit to the collective cause more than any.
If there is one trait of a successful Lions tour it is to be found in the spirit of the back-up squad. As much as Andy Farrell espouses the musketeer gospel of one-for-all, pledges Test spots are still up for grabs, the reality is the players themselves pretty much know who is going to get the nod and who is not. Of course, there are two or three places still undecided, or at least for public consumption, but there would be something seriously wrong with Farrell’s selection decision-making if he did not know who he wants to send out to face the Wallabies in the first Test at Suncorp Stadium.
That is why Saturday’s all-consuming victory over the Aussie/Kiwi invitational XV was so important, not just in its own right but also for setting the tone for what is the most important period of the tour by some distance.
There have been many words about what the Lions mean, some true, some marketing guff, but there is no doubt the mood created in camp is the be-all and end-all. Performances such as this one in Adelaide matter in giving everyone a gee-up, make them realise that the secret to success lies not in clever plays or held-back ploys but in sheer, unbridled lust for victory. That can’t happen if there is even a sliver of doubt in camp, if there are one or two slices of bad apple, those thinking first and foremost of themselves. Of course, everyone wants to be in the Test match XV or 23. But the prime ambition has to be for the Lions to win the series.
These boys did the badge proud, playing with a crackle from first minute to last. Just as there was a visible uplift in the ranks when the 1997 dirt-trackers went to Bloemfontein prior to the first Test and did a number on the opposition, the manner of this victory will be just the prod the squad needs as they get down to the proper business of the tour.
The pre-match hype as to how good this invitational XV were would have made boxing’s legendary master of hype, Don King, blush.
Of course there are caveats. Glaringly obvious caveats, in fact. Notably, the opposition were underwhelming. Australia may have much to offer as a land of plenty, just not in its rugby union resources. New Zealand and South Africa test your very being as a rugby player. Australian sides are training run-outs by comparison. There has been a lack of thunder and edge and quality across the board. And that is worrying as far as future tours here are concerned. (Come on down a tour of France for the Lions? A wonderful thought but probably pie-in-the-sky).
The pre-match hype as to how good this invitational XV were would have made boxing’s legendary master of hype, Don King, blush. There were talented individuals on show but you’d have thought the Lions were going to face a combination of John Eales’ World Cup-winning Wallabies interspersed with sundry top-end All Blacks such as Jonah Lomu and Dan Carter. As the Lions had discovered themselves, scratch sides take time to come together. This was a team of Baa-Baa individuals clutching at shadows. It was tepid fare, devoid of jeopardy.
The Lions played a huge part in making them look a cobbled-together team who were never allowed to find any concerted rhythm or pose any meaningful questions. Farrell’s side now has that sense of identity. And that’s the best of a bad job. They got to know themselves better. They feel the need to fight for each other. Significantly their work at the breakdown was much improved, ferocious as well as accurate. Without this step up in intensity and cleverness, the Lions would have been doomed. The Wallaby back-row is high-end: now the Lions know they have the wherewithal to compete. These players have shown the way, not that there was any secret to it, more tuning their radars to each other and growling in unison.
As for the personnel to send into battle, that’s where Farrell earns his big bucks. Can his main men perform with the same vigour and rigour? Of course they can although it will be fascinating to see who gets the No.7 shirt.
Jac Morgan was relentless, so too the prodigious Ben Earl alongside at No.8 while the most irritating man in the world for any opposition, Henry Pollock, also showed once again why is one of the finest prospects in world rugby, blessed with the skill to match the hoopla. Pollock has got a huge engine as he showed when being in the right place to hound the AUNZ defence to distraction and get a touchdown which had echoes of Ieuan Evans preying on cock-up Campo all those years ago.
Owen may only have had a 30-minute cameo off the bench but if the prime function of an understudy is to show he is ready to step at a moment’s notice on to the big stage then Farrell’s audition couldn’t have been better.
Pollock should feature on the bench. There were others who have either played themselves into contention or hardened up their presence in Farrell’s thinking. One of them is his son. Owen may only have had a 30-minute cameo off the bench but if the prime function of an understudy is to show he is ready to step at a moment’s notice on to the big stage then Farrell’s audition couldn’t have been better. Even though he hadn’t played in 10 weeks all the hallmarks of what made him such a performer at elite level were there – presence, attitude, awareness and decisiveness. He did the simple things well, a far harder thing to implement than it sounds. Farrell, too, should be in the match-day 23, all the more so now Garry Ringrose has been ruled out. Luckily, Huw Jones, is on fire. It’ll be tough on Bundee Aki but a Scottish midfield now looks set to go.
The Lions have no excuses (apart from the piddling quality of the opposition). They have been together for a long period of time and although they have picked up injuries that is the nature of the beast as Joe Schmidt has found out with the cruel blow which has deprived him of Noah Lolesio. The Lions now have a statement performance in the locker as they gear up for their key final preparations, free at last of the stop-start nature of travelling.
They have enough personnel at their disposal to get the job done. The final call in the various positions – tighthead, flankers, centres and full-back – do not actually matter that much. This display has shown there is proper depth in the ranks as well as proper attitude. Hugo Keenan stepped up while Mack Hansen’s work rate will cause the Farrell brow to furrow as he chooses between him and Tommy Freeman. Scotland scrum-half, Ben White, enhanced his future prospects. Poor old Luke Cowan-Dickie will miss out through concussion, although if he has no memory of the clown on the PA blaring out ‘Sweet Caroline’ as he lay semi-comatose on the Adelaide turf that will be no bad thing.
Mercifully, Cowan-Dickie rose from the prostrate position. The Lions are back on their feet across the board. In the City of Churches, prayers were offered up the series will bring us fierceness and edge, a test of head and of heart, a proper contest that lives up to its billing. It’s about time.
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