The British and Irish Lions eagerly-anticipated tour Down Under starts in steamy Hong Kong on Saturday night but critics believe it’s a dangerous waste of time.
World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward, who guided the Lions on their horrible 2005 series wipeout in New Zealand, has led calls of opposition to the tour opener being played in extreme heat against an underdone Barbarians outfit.
While Wallabies players feature in Super Rugby matches this weekend before heading into a three-week training camp, the Lions will kick off the first of six matches leading into the three-Test series in what’s being viewed as a glorified training run.
The Barbarians were smashed 40-12 by an understrength England outfit last weekend and Woodward rated them “dishevelled and uninterested”.
The invitational side – which includes former Wallabies lock Dean Mumm, ex-All Blacks Nick Evans and Joe Rokocoko and a host of European-based players – have put themselves on an alcohol ban this week after pre-match bonding at the races was blamed for their poor display at Twickenham.
Woodward said the Baa-Baas just weren’t good enough and wouldn’t help the Lions prepare for the Test series starting June 22 in Brisbane.
The former England coach said the Lions should have organised a game against international opponents such as Fiji, Tonga or France who would have treated it more seriously.
“To be blunt, playing the Barbarians in Hong Kong on Saturday will do absolutely nothing to help them prepare for the pace and professionalism of the Wallabies,” Woodward wrote in his Daily Mail newspaper column.
“They need tough fixtures to be battle-hardened and up to speed.
“This first game is not a step forward in the right direction. It is simply a sidestep.”
The match scheduling in Hong Kong, which is the global headquarters of Lions sponsors HSBC, has also been a target of criticism due to the extreme heat and poor ticket sales.
The temperature is forecast to be 29 degrees and humidity at 90 per cent when the game kicks off at 7.30pm local time (2130 AEST), forcing a drinks breaks to occur in each half for safety reasons.
Leading British sports scientist Mike Tipton said it was a mistake to play in southern Asia in summer.
“From a safety point of view I would not have chosen Hong Kong in the first place,” Tipton, the chair of UK Sports Research Advisory Group, told The Telegraph.
Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg, to make his Lions debut against the Barbarians, admitted the energy-sapping conditions made training a challenge this week.
“I’m finding it pretty tough,” he said. “It’s massively important to take on water out here.
“Every stoppage we’ve got the strength and conditioners and the nutritionists on with the water.”
Welsh prop Adam Jones labelled the Hong Kong stopover far more demanding than training at altitude in South Africa four years ago.
“It was tough in 2009, but this is something else. I haven’t trained anywhere hotter than this.”
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