Warren Gatland has named his team for the second test, and the big decision has been made at scrum-half, where Mike Phillips, who looked to be operating below 100% in the first test, carries the can. Rather than replacing like for like and replacing him with Ireland’s Conor Murray, who even looks a bit like him, he’s gone with Ben Youngs, who’s a totally different player, a nippy nine who’s all about high tempo and quick tap penalties.
Elsewhere, Mako Vunipola starts. We thought he’d be held back as reserve again, but Gatland will be hoping that having Adam Jones on the other side of him will be enough to drag the scrum kicking and screaming through 80 minutes. Before the tour started, the Lions could have reasonable hopes of using the set piece as a weapon – now it’s fingers-crossed time. At least Vunipola offers a strong carrying threat in what is a pack short of gainline breakers.
To nobody’s surprise, Dan Lydiate starts at 6. We know what he’s there to do, so let’s hope he does it. O’Brien mercifully gets called up to the bench, where he finds himself beside Tom Croft, who’s covering the second row. If last week’s bench was light on impact, this time Gatland has swung the other way and both could be explosive against tiring legs in the last 20 minutes. The price to pay is that Alun-Wyn Jones is now a protected species. Were he to get injured, a second row of Parling and Croft would leave the Lions worryingly short of power. An already creaking scrum could be decimated (ref: last 20 in Brisbane)
Back to the scrum-half business, which has serious consequences for what we can expect from the Lions. Warrenball is predicated on a monstrous nine who can commit tacklers and bring in huge runners around the fringes. Bosh! Smash! Kapow! This team looks like a serious deviation from Warrenball. With a backrow containing three ruck-smashers in Lydiate, Warburton and Heaslip, the aim must surely be to win oodles of silver-platter ball for Ben Youngs. Youngs struggles on the back foot, where his game can become a tangle of arm waving and poor decisions, but with decent service, there are few quicker at getting the ball away to his fly-half. It might just suit Jonny Sexton, who can unleash the three-quarter-line, which is loaded with gifted strike runners. It does look like the plan is to go around Australia rather than bash through them. If they can get the ball into North and Bowe’s hands in good positions, how can they lose?
The trouble with the plan is that in order to generate quick ball, you need to punch your way over the gainline. With no O’Brien, Faletau, Phillips or Tuilagi starting, who is going to make the hard yards? Jamie Heaslip and Mako Vunipola will have to put in some serious shifts. The other minor issue is that as far as we can make out, Ben Youngs and Sexton have yet to play together on the tour, and therefore ever. For what looks a fairly natural partnership, it’s a bit nuts that their first appearance alongside one another is in the pivotal second test.
Gatland has shown some ruthlessness in dropping tryscorer Cuthbert in favour of Bowe, who is a player he appears to value very highly. It’s a marginal call, and Bowe came out the right side of it. With Toby Faletau unlucky not to feature in a test squad yet, despite playing some great rugby, nobody can accuse Gatland of having a Welsh bias. He certainly appears to have his favourites, and one ould certainly make a case that the test team was picked in advance of the plane touching down in Hong Kong, but his favourites aren’t necessarily Welsh.
There were a few surprises in the Aussie team too, not least that they are sticking with James O’Connor at 10, in spite of Kurtley Beale starting. We thought they’d move them around a bit, with O’Connor on the wing and Beale at 10. The first test was marked by each team having one half-back in princely form and one playing like a drain. At least the Lions have sought to address their issue.
And where the bloody hell is the Honey Badger? We are outraged.
Whiff of Cordite 