Johnson focus on nailing basics as he addresses Lions
British and Irish Lions great Martin Johnson urged Andy Farrell's side to nail the basics and seal the series win as he addressed the side for Saturday's second Test against Australia in Melbourne.Johnson became the first man to captain the Lions on consecutive tours when he captained the side in Australia in 2001, four years after leading the legendary 1997 tour of South Africa.As the current crop attempt to win a series for just the second time this century, Johnson spoke to the squad on Thursday night and presented the matchday 23 with their Test jerseys."What a privilege to have him come in," Lions assistant coach John Fogarty said on Friday."He had a really nice presence to him. He spoke about the small margins in the biggest games and he talked about the fundamentals - doing those things properly. It is going to be the smallest of margins."For this group and for him as a player, mentality wasn't an issue. It was compounding errors, these are the things you need to make sure you are on top of during the match."He handed some jerseys out, and it was a cool moment. In a tour of loads of cool moments."
The whole Lions squad visited the MCG on Friday, taking part in an impromptu game of cricket on the famous outfield, when prop Finlay Bealham's shot-making on both sides of the wicket were a highlight along with fitness guru Aled Walter's trigger-happy umpiring.As the players soaked in the surroundings, Fogarty has urged them to embrace to the occasion on Saturday."What a stage. What a game it's going to be," he said."We need to make sure we are rising to the occasion but not letting it take us out. It is such an iconic stadium and there is already excitement building within the group."We are expecting an absolute battle, a war, and I believe there are 95,000 supporters coming, so it is all mounting to be a huge occasion for both teams."We have got to deliver now. It's a massive game for them. It's a massive game for us."
Fogarty has also paid tribute to the travelling hordes of Lions fans, with more than 30,000 Lions supporters expected in Melbourne on the weekend."There are so many travelling supporters," he added."The cost, the time, everything that goes into coming over to support a Lions tour, is not lost on us either."What a privilege just to be here and have this game in front of us. To be able to do something special would be amazing."
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