Big Game Pressure and The Lions

Australia have shown they have the nerve to enter into a must win situation and come away with the results. After desperate disappointment in losing in the 80th minute just a week ago, the team showed incredible fortitude and unity to fight back in difficult circumstances and clinch an equally nervous 80th minute win this week.

Now all of the pressure swings back onto the Lions. With a long recent history of being the nearly men, the valiant losers, the proud but ultimately vanquished; they must face not only the Wallabies in a weeks time at the stadium that has been their nadir, but also their own demons, a mental fragility inspired by almost two decades of heartbreak in the southern hemisphere. Do they now even believe victory is possible? I wonder.

No person knows about missed opportunity more than four-time Lion, Brian O'Driscoll. As Adam Ashley-Cooper slipped between two ineffective tackles and onto the end of an immaculately weighted O'Connor pass to break the Lions collective hearts the anguish written on O'Driscoll's face was not that of a player who knew his team had lost a classic encounter. Instead, he wore the haunted expression of a man who had witnessed, and been responsible for, the same crucial lapses over nearly two decades. This wasn't the expression of disappointment and resolve worn by the Australians seven days ago, it echoed of a broken will, a crack through which resolve and hope evaporate.

The crucial moment, possibly of the series, came when the Lions, lucky to escape a yellow card, infringed under the shadow of their own posts to stub out an inevitable Wallaby try. Prior to the series, the Lions had built their reputation around their powerful scrum for which they believed Australia had no answer. But at this most crucial of moments, it was the Wallaby scrum that was the weapon of choice. Taking on the Lions at the heart of their supposed strength, the Wallabies showed no fear; and it was the rattled elder Lion O'Driscoll who booted the ball away desperately from the ensuing defensive ruck. From the inadequate clearance the Wallabies pounced and executed their clinical scoring move, singling out O'Driscoll's midfield as the target of choice.

The question is: is the well of reserve finally dry? Or do the Lions have the stomach for another fight?

   

         

The Lions know they have to win this series or it could be 2025 before they get their next realistic chance, and even then Australia are unlikely to be as poor as this current outfit. So that could be construed as a lot of pressure on the Lions.

OTOH the players are playing for nothing but individual glory, and that is anathema to a team sport. The days of lion-hearted amateurs dining off their exploits for the rest of their lives is incidental in the professional era and therefore there is none of the career threatening pressure that happens in "real" Test matches.

B.gger off....for me this is about us barbarian northmen showing you sun kissed, barbecue eating southern softies that when it matters, when it really matters, we can come together and hand you your neighbours watching, fosters drinking, socially accepting asses on a plate. cos we're british, (and irish - soz same thing), and therefore obviously harder than you

I take it the rules about accusing posters of having multiple accounts is just being ignored?

Seems to be rugger. I'm just ignoring it like a good chap in the hope the mods step in and hand down some bans to those persistent offenders.

 Pressure is something I have in my car tyres - These boys are living the dream FFS

As the OP is clearly a multiple banned poster, what does a habitual offender have to do before they incur the ultimate wrath of the mods?

These kind of posts are tedious and only designed to provoke. I sense a "blind eye" being turned with this individual.

Tiger, I have no idea what you are on about. But it's against site policy to acuse a poster of being on multiple accounts, and it's poor manners to make a public accusation like that at our excellent moderators who work tirelessly to make this the best rugby forum on the internet, with little reward.

I've gone to some effort to convey my opinion in an elloquent manner without deference to childish mud slinging and I'd appreciate it if you could respond in kind.

GloriousEmpire wrote:Tiger, I have no idea what you are on about. But it's against site policy to acuse a poster of being on multiple accounts, and it's poor manners to make a public accusation like that at our excellent moderators who work tirelessly to make this the best rugby forum on the internet, with little reward.

I've gone to some effort to convey my opinion in an elloquent manner without deference to childish mud slinging and I'd appreciate it if you could respond in kind.

Yeah, whatever Teflon Tolworth

tigerleghorn wrote:As the OP is clearly a multiple banned poster, what does a habitual offender have to do before they incur the ultimate wrath of the mods?

These kind of posts are tedious and only designed to provoke. I sense a "blind eye" being turned with this individual.

Took a while for AWOP to disappear too. Guess these things take time. Initially they tend to be subtle (as if to test the water), but then their colours start to shine through. Bit like Victor/Hersh. I'm sure the mods are watching them

I find the best way of relieving pressure is to have a good combinator.

RubyGuby wrote: Pressure is something I have in my car tyres - These boys are living the dream FFS

Absolutely.  I agree.  The desire to win is equal on both sides.  Ruby is spot on, pressure is in your tyres.  Always one of the most overrated and least understood facets of professional sport.  

These lads are on a great adventure.  Should be having the time of their lives.  And winning two matches from the dreaded mini-kangaroos.
Unless, of course, the evil Gatland is a mole in their camp determined to undermine a fine and noble undertaking.

Yes, it should be the way. But I fear Gatland is stiffling the capacity of this team to express itself and in turn put on an entertaining display and in doing so, win.

Can they break free of the shackles this week? or will we see another 80 minutes of tentative nervous up and unders?

Some of the answer will come from the evil Gatland. The rest will come from the players themselves.

Their will be " PRESSURE ON BOTH TEAMS NEXT WEEK"

Both teams will not want to lose, but both teams will have to play at the top of their game for the full 80 mintues.

If the Lions do lose, you will have to ask is the Lions a dying brand?

The Lions have to start winning test series for it to continue as a tour party in the future IMHO.

majesticimperialman wrote:If the Lions do lose, you will have to ask is the Lions a dying brand?

I think as long as 50,000+ Welsh, Scots, Irish and English travel to watch the Lions, they will always be relevant and viable. A series win would go a long way to help, to be fair. And I do want to see them win.

 

Artful_Dodger wrote: 

C'mon, mate.
You can't do that to me. That's not fair.

doctor_grey wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:If the Lions do lose, you will have to ask is the Lions a dying brand?

I think as long as 50,000+ Welsh, Scots, Irish and English travel to watch the Lions, they will always be relevant and viable.  A series win would go a long way to help, to be fair.  And I do want to see them win.  

Commercially viable yes, but relevant to what? The quality of rugby on show is fairly mediocre and will hardly encourage hordes of rugby newbies to buy the tour DVD - maybe the main relevance is to see which of the NH nations come back worst-off?

Can I just say that I'm glad that I've been educated I add the word 'combinator' to my vocabulary

Do the Lions really need to win to remain relevant? Surely its more of an internal thing.
It's not like teams that keep losing to NZ think they should stop playing them... do they?

I think the every four years thing keeps them fresh every time. Although theyre not very successful the concept and the brand is.

I heard some saying this tour was the biggest thing for rugby in Oz since the 2003 World cup. Yet theyve faced the AB's heaps of times since then. So although the 'Lions' and all that goes with it huge, the team itself is usually not very good, and rarely wins.

Its a shame the results of the 70's arent the norm because then it would be bigger than ben hur but it appears this one despite all the rave will be forgotten just as quickly as the others.

Taylorman wrote:I think the every four years thing keeps them fresh every time. Although theyre not very successful the concept and the brand is.

I heard some saying this tour was the biggest thing for rugby in Oz since the 2003 World cup. Yet theyve faced the AB's heaps of times since then. So although the 'Lions' and all that goes with it huge, the team itself is usually not very good, and rarely wins.

Its a shame the results of the 70's arent the norm because then it would be bigger than ben hur but it appears this one despite all the rave will be forgotten just as quickly as the others.

Typical antipodean nonsense. "the team itself is usually not very good" Please go back to bed. The Lions lost by a point FFS and probably should have won.

"Instead, he wore the haunted expression of a man who had witnessed, and been responsible for, the same crucial lapses over nearly two decades."
 
What an incredibly unfair, inaccurate, glib and mis-informed statement to make. The vitriol reserved for BOD by some of you posters just demonstrates your total ignorance of the game and one of it's finest protagonists. Even your username is jingoistic in the extreme. You can be assured that BOD is not playing on behalf of your "glorious empire" and is highly respected by people who actually know what they are talking about, namely, his fellow players and coaches.

shoulda woulda coulda.

to be honest their is an element of truth in what he says. 1997 was a long long time ago and they have taken some serious beatings since then. For the future of the Lions it is essential that they get the job done next Saturday morning and win the series. If they don't the SANZAR nations are right to have a pop at the lions results. Great concept, great brand sure but hard evidence would suggest not a success on the pitch

If the "power of four" lose the series to a good but not great Australian side it will be a hammer blow. The Lions have been dreadfully limited in attack in both tests and have played caveman rugby. They are on the verge of becoming a boring version of the Barbarians.

They can certainly beat Australia if they kick less ball and get their set piece right but im not all that confident they will turn in around for Saturday.

GunsGerms wrote:

Taylorman wrote:I think the every four years thing keeps them fresh every time. Although theyre not very successful the concept and the brand is.

I heard some saying this tour was the biggest thing for rugby in Oz since the 2003 World cup. Yet theyve faced the AB's heaps of times since then. So although the 'Lions' and all that goes with it huge, the team itself is usually not very good, and rarely wins.

Its a shame the results of the 70's arent the norm because then it would be bigger than ben hur but it appears this one despite all the rave will be forgotten just as quickly as the others.

Typical antipodean nonsense. "the team itself is usually not very good" Please go back to bed. The Lions lost by a point FFS and probably should have won.

I will give one thing to the NH sides. They are incomparable at producing teams that *should have won*.

"The Lions lost by a post FFS and probably should have won"

Please wake up. The team itself is usually not very good. Typical celtic clutterchirp.

(joke mate - yes, they probably should've but the oval shape of Etihad probably interfered with 1/2p's radar)    

This is a fairly weak Australian side because of injuries and players out of position. It is quite disapointing that the Lions havent wrapped it up already as should have been the case if Gatland was tactically a little more imaginative.

The penalty count was very much in the Lions favour and we may have even got the rub of the green from the ref this time round. Thankfully he also allowed competition at the breakdown as per the rules of the game. Australia deserved to win but only because of Lions incompetence in terms of tactics and execution.

Man for man the Lions have a far superior squad than the Aussies so hopefully the Lions wont come unstuck again in Sydney.

Linebreaker wrote:"The Lions lost by a post FFS and probably should have won"

Please wake up. The team itself is usually not very good. Typical celtic clutterchirp.

(joke mate - yes, they probably should've but the oval shape of Etihad probably interfered with 1/2p's radar)    

I dont think it did. I just dont think that 53 metres is within 1/2ps range. He had already missed one from 45 or so.

I'm sure he's kicked them from 55m or so?

Didn't Gatland say it was within Halfpenny's range.  Now he knows Halfpenny's stats, in training too,better than most.  He also had a lovely excuse if he needed one by saying it was outside Halfpenny's range.  But I think he said it just was a difficult shot that he didn't get this time.  It happens.

It was a big game and extra pressure...but that's the kick that would have certainly immortalised him had he got it so I wouldn't think he was unwilling to try something he does in training.

I dont blame Halfpenny at all. However, because he is such a class kicker I think the Lions have become over reliant on him. In the last match Id rather the Lions put some kicks into touch and go for the try than kick everything. I think this aussie team is really there for the taking and its time to show a little ambition.

The kick was defs within Halfpenny's range but at the end of a grueling match and still long and at an angle and with that much riding on it, it was always more likely to miss than go over, no matter who kicked it

having a shot 100% was the right call. on the edge of his range but the fella is a class kicker.

their was no time for a lineout. The lions were atrocious in attack so there was no way they were going to run it and put together multiple perfect phases of attack to get them in for a try or a drop goal.

I think a lott of NH teams put too much reliabilty on the KICKER.

They seem to think that just because 1/2p kicks them over on the training field, he can do the same after a grueling game.

They should never have got them selves in to that position where a last minute try in the dying minutes put the Aussies in front.

I really hope they win this series on Saturday. But you have think/believe the Aussies will come out and not want to lose this game.

I would not like try and predict the score for this week end.

Gatland has one chance left to prove he's been holding back his winning hand (gameplan) for this very eventuality, the third game and a decider.  He either shows Australia that he was smarter than anyone and offer up a rampaging, fluid-flowing, offloading, spectacular fireworks display...or...he'll prove that he got the tactics wrong from first test to last and never made full use of the ammo at his disposal.

I just can't compute how conservative and stale it all looks.  It just doesn't compute that you can have hard assed Leicester players, slick divil Leinster players and firebrand strike running Welsh players, and even some sparkling Scottish forwards and backs...and offer up a staid, no adventure, no attacking rhythm game to the Australians.

The Lions have asked nothing defensively of the Wallabies over the two games.  It really is a waste of talent so far.  Kick, kick, kick, kicking records broken...and still only two and three points in every game.

 Fly - you need to be aware of the Gatland bigger picture and his uncanny knack of producing the goods when need be - Think 6 Nations as an unwielding and predictable welsh team stumbled to wins in Paris and Murrayfield aided by the boot of Halfpenny after losing to an average Ireland in Cardiff - The bait was laid and come the last match when the oppostion entered with chests out and with great expectation; he went and unleashed the beasts. Gatland was happy to sacrifice a few lambs along the way and his current plan is going accordingly. Trust me, this guy is 3 steps ahead of everyone and whilst it was unfortunate for a few lambs to be sacrificed last weekend, this Saturday will illustrate that sometimes you have to be prepared to do what is neceassry rather than what is popular in order to achieve your ultimate goal. After winning next weekend he will get few plaudits but he will be happy in knowing that we understand very little of his psychology.

Ruby, so you think the last false step Gats took was on that stepladder?

Gats should fly you out in the Alaister Campbell role. I've never known such spin in the face of adversity.

 C'mon Cyril, just go with it

Cyril, I think the reason he fell of the ladder was because he was 3 steps ahead of everyone  

spot on secret fly. been terrible in two tests.

dont get my wrong the players have put everything into it and put their bodies on the line but it has so poor, very similar to watching Kidneys Ireland on Saturday.

Gatland has decided low risk territorial rugby is the way to win this series and that would appear to be that. Anytime they get the ball they kick the bloody thing away. I lost the rag on Saturday morning watching it. A combination team from 4 proud rugby nations packed with decent players acted on instruction and kicked the leather off the ball at all costs. Not like Tomane and Folau are midgets either. At least South Africa when they play like that have a serious scrum and lineout and are not afraid to get the ball into their wingers hands when the game opens up

Great George North dumptrucked Folau. wow lets go mental. its like wally irish fans wetting their pants everytime donners and the lads executed a choke tackle, which was usually followed by a relieving penalty and a box kick back to the opposition

I hope Saturday is a better game. If the Lions lose attempting to play rugby at the end of a long season so be it. If the Lions lose playing caveman rugby im done with them to be honest. The schmaltz from Sky is becoming hard to take for a team who have not won a series in so long

RubyGuby wrote: Fly - you need to be aware of the Gatland bigger picture and his uncanny knack of producing the goods when need be - Think 6 Nations as an unwielding and predictable welsh team stumbled to wins in Paris and Murrayfield aided by the boot of Halfpenny after losing to an average Ireland in Cardiff - The bait was laid and come the last match when the oppostion entered with chests out and with great expectation; he went and unleashed the beasts. Gatland was happy to sacrifice a few lambs along the way and his current plan is going accordingly. Trust me, this guy is 3 steps ahead of everyone and whilst it was unfortunate for a few lambs to be sacrificed last weekend, this Saturday will illustrate that sometimes you have to be prepared to do what is neceassry rather than what is popular in order to achieve your ultimate goal. After winning next weekend he will get few plaudits but he will be happy in knowing that we understand very little of his psychology.  

That's what I'm hoping Ruby. I'm saying that I'm not believing that the Lions simply can't play yet...until I see that third instalment. If the third instalment shines in silver and gold then I'll kinda give a dry smirk and say "Gats, you old devil".

I'm hoping he has a surprise. But he's an expert poker player if he has because both games so far were much too close for comfort and delaying fireworks (if he has any) was very risky.

 Now Fly, the ultimate poker player would have his team down 30-3 in one hand just to have them sitting back when he turned the tables on them with his 30-3 when it mattered. We await with baited breath (see the pun there) but when successful it will be put down to luck and a weak Australian side - He's used to it and thankfully, just like The Murphys he will not give a feck

I don't really see this Gatland 'producing the goods when he needs to'. Not against Australia anyway.

Beating England well at home is not really the yardstick for winning away in Aus.

 You're not going with it Cyril - This isn't Wales it's the Lions

It's wrong and misguided but typical of Gatland in the last couple of years that he relies on 1/2p kicking to victory so much. And hardly surprising that it has such a low success rate against Australia as a consequence. Too much pressure on one guy, when he has many legitimate attacking options unutilised.

RubyGuby wrote: You're not going with it Cyril - This isn't Wales it's the Lions

Which makes your comment about the Wales/England game a bit odd, Rubes.