My message to the Lions: own the experience and convert it into your fuel

The Guardian

6 days ago

There is nothing that can compare to running out for a British & Irish Lions Test for the first time. I was speaking to Andy Farrell this week and I was getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Running out on to the field, the noise, the energy, the stakes – it's completely different from anything those players will have experienced before. It's a new chemical stimulus and in conversation with Farrell I was immediately transported back to Durban and 2009.
For all the sports psychology, visualisation and every bit of preparation you can do, it's still different. It changed the way I warmed up. I made sure I got out on to the field early just to be able to absorb it. You are not a spectator when the whistle goes, you're not looking around thinking: 'This is cool'. That's for the fans, so I would go out early to feel it, to sense it and just get used to it.
It's relevant because so many of this Lions team will be sampling that atmosphere for the first time. Only Tadhg Furlong and Maro Itoje have played Lions Test matches in front of supporters. For the rest, it's a brand-new experience but you can't approach it as if it's brand new. You have to own it and convert all of that energy into something that provides fuel.
The Lions are heavy favourites to win the first Test and in my opinion, whoever wins this one will win the series. It's also worth noting that the five occasions when the Lions won the first Test against Australia – in 1904, 1950, 1959, 1966 and 2013 – they've gone on to win the series.
It's inconceivable that anyone from the Lions camp would be talking about a 3-0 victory if this was a tour of New Zealand or South Africa but that is a demonstration of where Australian rugby is at the moment. We see it all the time during the Six Nations or during World Cups, teams fighting for the underdog status. Let's be honest, it's not much of a fight at the moment, it's been gift-wrapped for Australia and understandably Joe Schmidt has leant into that somewhat.
The Lions are the clear favourites and that's a tag they'll have to wear but I think it's one they'll be really comfortable with. The Lions were the favourites before we saw the squad, even bigger after the team announcements. They're not shying away from it, there are 40,000 fans rocking up, expecting a team to win and I don't think they'll be disappointed.
When I arrived in Brisbane earlier this week, all I kept hearing at the airport was talk of whitewashing the Wallabies. While that would be a brilliant result, it's not good for the tour. What I like as a fan is jeopardy, the level of uncertainty but before a ball has been kicked in a Test match the jeopardy is just not as high. The competition is not as strong.
Australia have been on this really weird journey with Schmidt coming in this time last year, trying loads of different things in the Rugby Championship, but you could see they were building as a team. They looked to have been complete by November, they were fantastic against England and probably should have beaten Ireland, but six months on it feels like there's more uncertainty.
One of the fundamental aspects that the Lions have to get right is a fast start. The next thing is territory. With the half-backs for the Lions and the Wallabies, there's a significant gap in experience there. So I expect the Lions to be able to control territory and control the pace of the game better. I think the Australians are wanting to play unstructured, to make everything frantic. I think the Lions want to keep it in structure. They'd be happy to go from set piece to set piece. They can play a quick game, particularly, with the familiarity they have at 10-12-13 but I think the Lions will look to use their structure and only break out of it when they get the right opportunities in the right areas.
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The aerial battle is going to be massive because I anticipate that the Lions will kick a lot, looking for Tommy Freeman who is brilliant in the air. So is Harry Potter by the way and I'm expecting a big performance from him on Saturday. The Lions will have to be careful with the depth of their kicking, too. If they kick long then the chase needs to be on point because Tom Wright at full-back is the most unheralded world-class player in rugby. If you look at the compilation of tries he scored last year, if you had that across your whole career you'd be very happy and I think he's exceptional.
Another key battleground will be the head to head between the centres. Len Ikitau and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii together are magic but I'm not sure they'll get the same service that Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones will be getting to have an impact. Australia will want to break the game up and use their individual star power to be able to give them footprints into the game and that is how they increase the influence that Suaalii can have on proceedings. It feels like it's going to be a match where pretty much everything is going to have to go right for the Wallabies, though. The Lions are comfortable wearing the favourites tag and they are going to take some stopping.