Mixed media: Wounded pride

SIR CLIVE'S FAULT

From a Glasgow newspaper: After all the mind games, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the poor man's head is in a spin as a result of all the different advice he has been getting from his vast entourage of coaches, medical people and perhaps most significantly the other type of doctors he brought along for the ride. Kevin Ferrie, chief rugby writer, The Herald.

An independent: All that is left is a degree of recognition that almost everything about this Lions expedition was wrong: its excessive, unwieldy size, its lack of proper match preparation, even its moral base as represented by that unprecedented campaign of spin. It may be that in the next few days Woodward will step out of a mood of denial that in the wake of the second test was painful to see. He may finally grasp that just as he got almost everything right in his World Cup campaign with England, here his misjudgments have fed on each other.

James Lawton, The Independent

Anti-spin writer: God save us from "news management", from agenda bending and issue control. This is rugby, for heaven's sake. Hiring Campbell does not make Woodward mendacious or dishonourable. He remains one of the best things to happen to British sport. But the appointment was a mistake based on the delusion that the Lions are a circus, a corporation, an institution on tour.

Paul Hayward, Daily Telegraph

London columnist: The difficulty for Woodward is that this coming week is not just the last week of the tour, it is also the last week of his rugby career. He will move on to Southampton Football Club with a tarnished reputation; a new Saint without his old halo. For this past week we have seen Sir Clive as we have not previously seen him: unsure about his team, unable to cope with the challenge. An emperor without clothes. David Walsh, chief sports writer, Sunday Times

 

ALL BLACK BRILLIANCE

An Observer: After all the column inches about Woodward's selection dilemmas, in the end it wasn't really about Sir Clive's circus - it was all about Graham Henry and his rampant All Blacks. They were better prepared, more focused, their skill levels were higher, and they attacked with pace and precision. In broken play especially, they came up with mesmerising combinations and lines of running that left the Lions looking ragged, for all their defensive effort.

John Gaustad, The Observer

 

Rugby author: I also know nothing motivated Henry more for the current series than a passionate desire to "stick it right up Sir Clive". Well, his All Blacks have certainly managed that. Operating on a budget several millions of dollars less than Sir Clive's, he and his coaching partners Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith have transformed the New Zealand team into the most potent attacking combination in the world.

NZ rugby writer Bob Howitt, Sporting Life, UK.

Player perspective: The match on Saturday was a hell of an atmosphere to play in. We were crucified for our mistakes but, when I am out there, I'm never able to stop and think: "This is going really badly, we're being badly beaten." I'm just thinking: "We need to score points, how can we score points?" Once you sit down, though, you are totally helpless and you see the game more for what it is and where it is going. There's only so many ways you can word it: they were very, very impressive indeed. Jonny Wilkinson, The Times

 

French view: This is not so much a matter of the Lions losing a series as New Zealand winning because they are physically superior. We saw it in November in Paris and Rome against France and Italy and we have seen it over breakfast on the last two Saturday mornings. Players like Sivivatu and Umaga are the best at the moment, and they have a little genius to marshal them in Daniel Carter. The pack is fast and dynamic, with Ali Williams and Jerry Collins playing out of their skins. And they are a side who can afford to leave out Carlos Spencer, Andrew Mehrtens and Joe Rokocoko.

Thomas Castaignede, The Guardian