Warren Gatland lamented missed try scoring chances, the concession of soft penalties and most of all that the Lions’ struggled to cope with the directness and physicality of the All Blacks. Nevertheless, the Lions head coach also saw enough in their first test defeat to believe they can still win the second test in Wellington next Saturday.
“Absolutely, I thought we created some great chances, played some lovely rugby and scored some nice tries. There were a couple of golden moments that we could have taken and then we just switched off when they caught us on a quick tap.
"Elliot Daly said he got caught in no-man's lands. From a kick the ball's gone through Liam Williams' hands. That's fixable. And a scrum advantage where we missed a first-up tackle. The All Blacks haven't played champagne rugby and thrown the ball all over the place. So we need to fix those things for next week.
“We’d come under a bit of pressure in the first half, but if we’d scored after half-time that’s 13-13. That’s an interesting take on the game.”
The All Blacks became notably more direct in the second-half, most likely as a deliberate change of tactics to counter the Lions’ defensive line speed rather than a reaction to the arrival of the rain. In any event, Gatland admitted the Lions had difficulty containing the All Blacks when they repeatedly launched one-off runners from Aaron Smith’s passes.
“I thought they played very well up front,” Gatland said of the All Blacks. “They did a good job at stopping our line speed. They came really hard off nine, got some front foot ball and were very aggressive at the breakdown.
“We spoke about them potentially trying to slow our line speed down by kicking in behind us a bit more. They came really hard off nine too, very effectively. We’ve just got to make sure we’re better at stopping the momentum they create off nine. They didn’t throw the ball around. In fairness to them they were very physical up front. And you’ve got to give credit to them.”
Looking ahead to the second test in Wellington, Gatland said: “We need to be much more physical next week for the All Blacks. That was disappointing. The All Blacks sacked us very well. We need to negate that. There was one scrum that’s caught us as well, and there are several areas where we need to be better at the set-piece.”
There are likely to be changes, especially in the tight five, and Gatland's comments only served to confirm as much. Certainly Maro Itoje added some real ballast as a replacement in the second row and seems likely to start. The squad flies to Wellington tomorrow in readiness for the final midweek game of the tour against the Hurricanes, one which now perhaps offers even more opportunity for involvement in the rest of the test series.
“It’s a huge opportunity, it’s a big chance for those players who weren’t involved tonight to give a huge performance. It’s the first time we’ll be in one place for one week, so hopefully we can settle in and make that count.
“They’ll be critical of their own performances, and looking at what aspects we need to improve on. The All Blacks tight five were very good, but we need to be tough on ourselves and honest in our performance. A lot of those things are fixable.”
Once again the penalty count, 11-6, went heavily against the Lions. “We’ve given away a few soft penalties. You put yourself under pressure by giving away soft penalties; penalties when we had them squeezed down to their line and allowing them a soft exit.”
At the end of the first-half, Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray, who has hit late at least twice after executing box kicks, both entered dialogue with Jaco Peyper. Then at the end of the game Sean O'Brien complained to Peyper about his contrasting interpretations at the breakdown, where the All Blacks went off their feet without punishment. Johnny Sexton having been told during the second-half that he "wasn't the referee" berated Peyper at the end when stating: "You give them everything."
O’Mahony, who confirmed that his shoulder injury was not serious, gave a lengthy pause after being asked whether he and some of his teammates had been frustrated by the referee’s performance.
“No, look, in the heat of battle you just question some of his assessments, and as a captain or a nine you ask the interpretation, clarify it so you can be better next time. It was just a technical issue and I’m sure it was the same at the end.”
