Ken Owens confident Lions can find form in decider
British and Irish Lions hooker Ken Owens admits South Africa are on the front foot going into Saturday’s series decider but still backs his team to claim glory.
The Lions were well beaten last weekend at Cape Town Stadium as the Boks left proceedings tantalisingly poised courtesy of a solid 27-9 triumph.
Head coach Warren Gatland has reacted to that loss by making six changes to his starting XV, including giving Welshman Owens a maiden Test start.
Easy fixes
The incoming Scarlets hooker insists belief remains high in the camp and feels a few “easy fixes” could be sufficient to secure a famous victory over the world champions.
“You’d probably say the way South Africa finished the game, the momentum is with them, but we can’t look back at what happened last week,” he said.
“The confidence is still there. We know and trust our processes and what we’re trying to achieve and we’re here for a huge third-Test series decider.
“We’re in a really good place, we know the challenge that’s going to be coming from South Africa, so it all bodes well for a great finale.
“We’ve got the blueprint for the win (from the first Test).
“We’ve just got to take confidence in what we’ve done well on tour. We’ve won a Test match, lost a Test match, so it’s all to play for in the third and a lot of the things are easy fixes.”
Owens came off the bench for the second successive match on Saturday but was powerless to prevent the hosts turning a narrow half-time deficit into an emphatic win.
The majority of Gatland’s alterations reinforce the Lions’ existing game plan of setting out to match the Springboks’ physicality, something Owens described as a “massive challenge” ahead of one of the most significant games of his career.
“My first start in a Test series for the Lions, which I am hugely proud of, and it’s a third-Test decider against the world champions, so it’s right up there as one of the biggest games, but definitely in a Lions shirt,” said the 34-year-old, who was also part of Gatland’s Wales team narrowly beaten by South Africa in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup.
“We know exactly the challenge they bring. They do pride themselves on it. They try to impose themselves physically.
“It is a massive challenge, but we knew that before coming down here. We took a bit of a hit with it last week, probably came second best.
“But I think on this tour, we’ve been very physical ourselves, so it’s going to be a phenomenal Test match.”
Saturday’s climax brings down the curtain on one of the most toxic Lions tours in history.
New Zealander Gatland has verbally locked horns with Boks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus over the past weeks but, according to Owens, has remained a composed, reassuring presence within the training camp.
“He’s pretty calm. He just knows how to get the best out of the players,” said Owens.
“He steps in when he needs to and prompts boys when he needs to.
“He’s been at his best with that this week. It’s just that huge experience he’s got is right around the place at the moment.”
Warren Gatland upset by World Rugby’s criticism
Meanwhile, Gatland is dismayed that the British and Irish Lions were criticised alongside South Africa when World Rugby charged Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus with misconduct.
Erasmus will face a hearing after the series against the Lions, which will be decided at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, to answer for the hour-long video in which he attacks the performance of the officials from the first Test.
But in announcing the disciplinary action, World Rugby also took aim at the tourists by stating that it is “concerned that individuals from both teams have commented on the selection and/or performance of match officials”.
“The only thing I’m disappointed about in World Rugby’s statement is that they’ve kind of inadvertently dragged us into it,” Gatland said. “We’ve tried to, we think, maintain as much integrity as we can, in terms of we haven’t been commenting on refereeing.
“We never questioned the TMO. The only question we asked is why hadn’t World Rugby put a contingency plan in place if people couldn’t travel or got sick.”
Personnel changes for Lions ahead of third Test
The British & Irish Lions have made six alterations including a revamped back three featuring Liam Williams and Josh Adams for their series decider against South Africa on Saturday.