Expert Witness: Nick Evans on the Lions

With the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand just starting to gather momentum, our first Expert Witness this June is Harlequins, Highlanders and New Zealand fly-half, Nick Evans.

A stuttering win versus the Provincial Barbarians and a better showing but an ultimate defeat and the hands of Evans’ former club, the Blues, has provided a salient lesson in the strength of rugby in the Land of the Great White Cloud.

Nick Evans, a gifted fly-half, believes New Zealand’s sportmen needed to get at least one thing right this weekend.

Singing the Blues

“With my two other favourite sports being cricket and sailing, our lamentable performances in the Champions Trophy and then America’s Cup made you wonder if bad things happen in threes!” he quipped.

“But the Blues did us proud last night in a special moment. For a Super Rugby side to take the scalp of the legendary British and Irish Lions is the stuff of dreams for many of those young lads and it was a win built on resilience and determination.

“The Lions have nothing to be ashamed of and could have easily taken the spoils, but already I’m starting to wonder about their thinking and methodogy in some aspects of the game.

“Let’s take the first 20 minutes; a period of huge dominance for the Lions. They battered and muscled their way to the try line but each time couldn’t get over. They sought to use contact and power to bosh their way over but the Blues were so much lower in the contact  area and so quick off the defensive line that the big Lions carriers were being hammered back.

"I can’t emphasise how big the gulf was in the height of the sides at contact. The Blues can’t be shifted when that low, whereas the Lions were going in with high heads and shoulders. Do that against the All Blacks and they’ll take the ball off you all day.

“Further, to open up that ruck defence, you need to have two attacking players clearing out almost laterally so in to out, so that a hole opens up for the a carrier to get through and they didn’t have the nous to execute this.

“To compound this, the lack of creativity in the midfield was severely lacking. Once the Blues realised that line breaks were few and far between, they were happy to let the Lions play with the ball, into the middle third of the field and then simply allow turnovers and mistakes to win them the ball.

“NZ sides thrive on deconstructed turnover ball and we saw two hammer-blow tries, which still needed to be executed, from the Lions losing possession of the ball. Yes, Sonny Bill Williams’ offload will long be remembered but it was the pressure of the defence that allowed him to strut his skills,” concluded Evans.

No Plan B

Gatland’s Lions appear to have already reverted to type, with the obvious game plan being to allow big hitters to create holes and for shoulder runners to support for offloads. The unkind amongst us often refer to this as 'Warrenball' and it appears that yet again, it’s here to stay.

“It’s all very well attempting to play the big power game, but that does not remove the responsibility of others to react in skilful ways to underpin that game," explains Evans.

“A great case in point was Jared Payne’s disallowed try; he did as much right there as he could but the issue was the pass from Daly beforehand; Daly’s shoulders, when receiving the ball were open towards Payne, tight to the touchline. Daly needed to step half a metre inside and then pass, thus creating the extra metre of room Payne needed to dot down.

“Another obvious feature is, from set piece or ruck, using the second receiver deep behind the fly-half (primary receiver) with a miss pass behind him to that second man.

"However, how many times did we see the primary runner crab straight across the field, thus cutting out all of the room for the second receiver? The first man, the dummy runner, needs to run arrow straight to commit the fringe defence and only then will the space and numbers mis-matches be created on the outside.

“These are such obvious things that I cannot believe a side of the Lions quality are getting them wrong.

“They only need to look at how Farrell and the England midfield do this time and time again to understand how effective it can be."

Structural Weaknesses

“One of the things that’s really causing Gatland a headache is what type of structure does he want to play? To beat the All Blacks you’re rarely, if ever, going to beat them with a Route 1 contact game. It’s not going to happen. Instead, you need to manipulate contact points, get the big, heavy players around the pitch and then attack the space created with fast feet and quick hands," Evans believes.

“This is the style England have played for 18 months and it’s proven. Gatland also appears intent to be going to two bosh merchant centres and again, I can’t help believe he needs a footballer at 12 and I’m surprised Farrell hasn’t had any game time alongside Sexton, even at this early stage.

"He’s obviously going for the two big Robocop centres and I don’t think this will trouble the Kiwis at all. I’d like to see an all-English midfield of Farrell, Te’o and Joseph come the Tests as each player offers a completely different but complimentary skillset.

“There were a few good things that came out of the Blues game for the Lions – all four props looked outstanding and Marler’s determined cameo just showed how much the shirt meant to him, and elsewhere, both locks put in huge shifts behind the ever reliable Dan Cole who is not going to relinquish his Test shirt without a fight.

“One other thing that would give me concern as a Lions’ supporter; back row balance has been all wrong in each games.

"For all CJ Stander’s power in the close exchanges, his lack of pace was exposed cruelly for the second Auckland try and Haskell’s one-dimensional approach may leave him wanting in an area of huge competition."

NZ: One Ecosystem

“The biggest downside of this defeat for the Lions is they are now beatable. The fear factor has gone. New Zealand lives and breathes rugby and whatever your club allegiance, the whole structure is one ecosystem that gains confidence when other parts of it succeed," Evans concludes.

"So now, this belief to win will be imbued in every side the Lions face; they will feed off the Blues’ success. The journalists will be turning the knife like no other and scrutiny will be on every move the players make, socially or professionally.

“The key for the Lions now is the win the dressing room back. Howley and Gatland need to make sure the team have the same vision, but now is the time to ask the question to we stick to plan or do we change things now before it’s too late?

“The other aspect are the players themselves. Can they change a style now too? 

“In the final analysis, those Lions did not react to how the game changed in front of them and that smacks of drill-based coaching which will fail down here. The players need to be empowered to think and react to what’s in front of them.

“If they don’t they’re in for a very long head New Zealand winter and I am sure the Crusaders are licking their lips at the smell of blood weeping from the wounded Lions.”

Nick Evans was an electric fly-half with Harlequins, Blues, Highlanders and New Zealand, for whom he won 16 caps. After retiring last season, he now takes up a role as Harlequins Attack Coach.

Nick was speaking to James While

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