Rotorua, New Zealand: With just one week to go before the first Test against the All Blacks, British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland gained some breathing space on Saturday when his team beat the New Zealand Maori 32-10.
“It was a good performance and I think we should look forward to the next few weeks which could hopefully be a fantastic celebration of rugby and a great Test series,” Gatland said. “We’ve learnt so much already. We’ve been together for a few weeks and we’ve learnt so much game on game just from the pure quality of opposition we’ve come up against.”
Gatland was under increasing pressure from Lions critics after his team stumbled to two wins and two losses in its first four matches, most recently a 23-22 loss to the under-strength Highlanders in Dunedin.
But the Lions team — which revealed much about Gatland’s selection thinking for the first test against New Zealand — rose to the challenge of its toughest tour match to date.
The Lions overwhelmingly dominated possession and territory through a superior set piece and, after a first half in which the lead changed four times, took control and never looked like losing after leading 12-10 at halftime.
The match also demonstrated much of the Lions’ strategy for the Test series. They will try to dominate the All Blacks at set pieces, then apply pressure through their accurate kicking and their smothering kick-chase.
The Maori, whose line-up contained a number of Super Rugby stars, experienced their heaviest loss to the Lions since the teams first met in 1930.
Gatland had come under pressure not only from his team’s mixed performances but for his decision on Saturday to summon four more players into his touring squad, boosting its numbers to 44 players. That was seen by many to indicate some loss of confidence.
But it all went well Saturday.
Gatland praised the Lions’ kicking game — which kept the Maori under constant pressure — and their defence, which snuffed out any threat of counterattack.
“You look at the attacking ability of that Maori backline and they didn’t cause us too many problems,” he said. “I thought we competed pretty well at line-out, scrum and mauling.
“I thought our game management was great and it was a nice stepping stone for next week.”
Gatland has already turned his attention to the Lions’ midweek match against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
“A few guys are going to get opportunities on Tuesday night,” he said. “We need to get through that one which is going to be tough.”
Meanwhile, Wales flanker Ross Moriarty was ruled out of the Lions tour with a nerve injury on Saturday as coach Warren Gatland called up six reinforcements.
Moriarty, who played in the tour opener against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians, becomes the Lions’ second loss to injury after fullback Stuart Hogg departed with a facial fracture.
“We are really disappointed for Ross,” said Gatland, adding: “It is disappointing to see injury cut his tour short but we wish him all the best with his recovery.”
Moriarty’s departure was announced shortly after Gatland called up Cory Hill, Kristian Dacey, Gareth Davies and Tomas Francis who played in Wales’ victory over Tonga in Auckland on Friday.
Gatland later added Allan Dell and Finn Russell after they featured in Scotland’s 24-19 win over Australia in Sydney on Saturday.
England coach Eddie Jones, who is leading his team on a tour of Argentina, has urged Gatland to choose reinforcements on “merit rather than geographical proximity”.
But Gatland, commenting on the Welsh players, said: “Bringing in these players from an identical time zone, who can hit the ground running and step straight in rather than having to adjust following long-haul travel will help us manage players before the first Test (and) give us quality training numbers to prepare properly.”
