- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The red card to Sonny Bill Williams turned the All Blacks’ series against the British and Irish Lions on its head.
The referee had no choice but to send Williams off and, with that, the Lions were gift-wrapped an opportunity to take the series to a decider.
That the tourists struggled their way to victory has a lot to do with the way the All Blacks raised their game to cope with 14 men. In fact, the Kiwis will be bitterly disappointed to have let a game that they had no right in winning slip.
We have known for a long time that not having an out-and-out goal kicker would bite New Zealand and this was the occasion. Beauden Barrett makes one more of his kicks and it may have just been too much for the Lions to come back. Instead, the Lions turned the screws, scored two tries in quick succession, and shifted the whole tour.
So we return to the theme of fine lines in sport and the old cliché ‘what a difference a week makes’.
It is all hearsay but with no red card, there is a good chance that the Lions would be facing a very different final week on tour. Instead, New Zealand are under the most severe pressure and the Lions are riding high, sensing a unique chance to make history.
And that is what is at stake. If New Zealand lose, they damage the legacy of the jersey. If the Lions win, they cement their positions as one of the greatest rugby sides in history. It is not often a game of rugby has so much on the line.
[latest_videos_strip category=”rugby” name=”Rugby”]
What’s more, the home side are now feeling the strain of unavailabilities. Of a potential first-choice starting side, the Lions are without just Billy Vunipola and Stuart Hogg while the Kiwis have now lost Dane Coles, Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams and Ben Smith.
In the backline the All Blacks look particularly vulnerable, with the choice of who they play in midfield likely to cause the greatest headaches for selectors.
The British and Irish lads will sniff an opportunity there, they have looked dangerous when moving the ball, really stretching their opposition on a number of occasions. Further enforced changes will only heighten their confidence.
As for Eden Park factor, while it so often brings out the best in New Zealand, to think the All Blacks have a right to win is naïve. So too the logic that the home team will win purely on the fact that they always deliver a result after losing. This is a new side, one which we are yet to truly see how they cope under intense pressure.
And the side applying the pressure will be buoyed by an army of thousands of vocal supporters.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.