The High Five: Crusaders vs British and Irish Lions, plus a little Super Rugby

The Lions tour rolls on and the British and Irish combination have ground out a tough and convincing victory in their third match in front of a packed AMI Stadium, defeating the undefeated Crusaders and resurrecting their tour after two disappointing outings by their standards.

Lions bring their Test game
The Lions were under pressure, after two disappointing outings already the fear was the tour was headed into oblivion.

But, the tourists responded in tremendous fashion, bringing a Test match level intensity into their clash against the leading Super Rugby side and essentially grinding and choking the New Zealand conference winners into submission on the back of a superb defensive effort and an accurate kicking game.

They dominated the territory and possession and forced the Crusaders into uncharacteristic mistakes, their young halves in particular struggling with this level of intensity.

Keeping the Crusaders tryless will be the most pleasing aspect of the Lions performance for the coaching staff as will the composure and form of their halves in Connor Murray and Owen Farrell, who must surely be firm favourites to form the Test match combo.

Question marks will still remain over the potency of their attack – their dominance and territory was not reflected on the score sheet in terms of trys while again several opportunities were unable to be finished off by the tourists.

Still, there is a far better base to work from in terms of performance and cohesion will surely come with a further three matches to be played before the first test.

Pressure does funny things
The Crusaders have been outstanding this year throughout Super Rugby, finding numerous ways to win, whether through last minute heroics or complete dismantling of their opposition.

But, they ran into a different level of opposition and intensity tonight as they struggled to find answers for the Lions greater composure, experience and aggressive defence, highlighting the difference between Super Rugby and the International game.

Not that they were embarrassed, far from it, but the step up in intensity saw a greater number of errors and while the defence and scrum was still solid, the lineout malfunctioned at important times and the usually secure back three struggled to deal with the accurate Lions kicking assault, spilling plenty.

Their inventiveness in attack dissipated under the pressure exerted by the tourists and if the Lions had some finishing polish to their attack, the margin may – and probably should have – been greater.

When you consider this was a side put together on the back of very little time together on the field against a Crusaders side who have been dominant through the year, it is a graphic example in the jump up from Super level to the Test match game.

Billy who?
I was quite surprised at some of the reports out of the UK and within the media over the seeming despair over the withdrawal of Billy Vunipola from the Lions squad due to injury, seemingly some sort of tragic blow to the Lions overall chances.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting he is not a quality player but after observing Toby Faletau at close quarters during the Welsh visit to New Zealand last season I was surprised he would not have been seen as the automatic starter for the Lions test side anyway.

Of course current form will always play its part but he troubled the All Blacks last year with his running game and defensive work rate and certainly so far on this tour.

He has been the best Lions player across the two games he has played in so far and I have no issue in saying he is the best No.8 on form running around New Zealand at the moment.

Perhaps Vunipola would have been better, who knows? But I am not sure the Lions are missing out on a whole heap at 8 at the moment.

(AAP Image/Ross Setford)

Will Warren Gatland regret his captaincy choice?
Sean O’Brien, Peter O’Mahoney, Toby Faletau, CJ Stander looks and feels like the best loose forward mix for the Lions come the Test series and with Ross Moriarty, Justin Tipuric and James Haskell roaming about, the Lions look well served in the loose and a challenging proposition for the All Blacks to deal with.

So, how exactly does Sam Warburton fit into the scheme of things? He is the captain after all.

The point here is Gatland’s choice of captain may come back to bite him, with many, if not all of the players listed above in better form and able to provide more to the Lions side than perhaps Warburton can.

There is no disputing that he is a fine player, and there are plenty of intangibles such as his leadership abilities and influence within the squad that cannot be measured by the likes of me but I am not convinced he is the best player in his position and the Lions appear more threatening with other choices.

(David Davies/PA Wire.)

The Chiefs keep themselves in the hunt for the number two spot in New Zealand
In case you missed it with all the Internationals starting to gear up in June, the Hurricanes hosted the Chiefs in Wellington, the Chiefs winning a thriller over the Hurricanes by 17-14.

Damian Mackenzie hit a penalty to provide the ultimate difference on the scoreboard, but it was a great defensive effort from the Chiefs, particularly in the first twenty minutes after halftime which propelled them to a hard-earned victory.

The win leaves them only one point behind the Hurricanes on the New Zealand conference ladder and while the Hurricanes still have this slight advantage, the Hurricanes host the unbeaten Crusaders in the last round while the Chiefs host the Brumbies in Canberra.

On relative form, the Chiefs are looking a good chance to nab the best wildcard position for the finals and would dodge the longer overseas journey in the playoffs.

So those are my talking points from the weekend’s Lions action and a touch of Super Rugby to boot to mull over while we wait for the Lions roadshow to continue in Dunedin this Tuesday.

Plenty of other matches to fill your boots with this weekend as well as some quality action from the Under 20s to keep one sustained until then!