Kiwis, Lions look forward after 1st test
Print Edition
THE New Zealand All Blacks and British and Irish Lions allowed themselves only a little time to savor or regret the outcome of the first test at Eden Park on Saturday before turning their attention to the second test in Wellington.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen was emphatic that his players should take time to celebrate their 30-15 win in an extraordinary test — their first against the Lions in 12 years — because of the many hours of hard work that had gone in to its achievement.
Lions coach Warren Gatland was equally adamant that his team should dwell for a short time in the moment, savoring their contribution to an epic match, before concentrating on achieving the improvements needed to win next weekend’s test and to keep the three-match series alive.
While the All Blacks are likely to improve on their performance in Auckland, in only their second test of the season, they expect the Lions also to target areas of upgrade which will make the 2nd test equally competitive.
“The job isn’t done,” Hansen said. “It’s a three-match series and to win it you’ve got to win two of them. Winning one gives us an advantage, but so many times in sport the winning team gets knocked over next week.”
Hansen said sound preparation would be vital in determining the outcome of the Saturday test and deciding whether the series is forced to a decider in two weeks at Eden Park, where New Zealand is unbeaten since 1994.
The Lions have not won a test series from 0-1 down in 28 years. Gatland said they would be able to take a number of positives from their first test performance, then eliminate the lapses in discipline or minor errors which cost them in a test that was closer than the scoreline suggested.
“We played some lovely rugby and scored a couple of nice tries which was hugely positive,” he said. “I’m disappointed that there were a couple of golden moments to score that we could have taken and others when we just switched off for a couple of moments.
“For me (the Lions’ mistakes) are all fixable. The All Blacks haven’t played champagne rugby in throwing the ball all over the place. They were very direct up front, so we have to make sure we’re better in terms of combating them for next week.”
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