Battle at the breakdown fires up No 7s

Marty Holah

Marty Holah's coach calls him the heart and soul of the Chiefs and if you ask Welsh boss Mike Ruddock he might offer a similar assessment of Martyn Williams.

The two openside specialists square off at Waikato Stadium in tomorrow night's eagerly-anticipated Lions-Maori showdown.

And with a nice little kerfuffle building over what happens, what is allowed to happen, what should not happen and what will happen at the breakdown, these two players will be under close scrutiny. It should be a decent old battle.

Holah, the likely backup to the peerless Richie McCaw, is a thoughtful footballer who treats much of what happens at the tackled-ball situation as a type of thesis.

He was off his best form in the early part of the Super 12 but came good towards the end as the Chiefs showed their true capabilities in racing up the table to finish sixth.

The 32-test veteran is a keen student of the breakdown and his Chiefs coach, Ian Foster, has high praise for his qualities.

"He is one of the best technicians over the ball in the world as a No 7. He's a perfectionist," Foster said.

"Richie McCaw is an outstanding footballer, no doubt. But they've got different strengths and, in my opinion, over the ball in this country Marty is second to none."

Holah rates Williams as "quite a fit, fast guy, which is always tough to play against".

But he reckoned that while "he gets to that breakdown, [he] probably doesn't fight as hard at ruck time as the No 7s I've been playing against in the Super 12."

So what of Williams? He was outstanding in Wales' historic Six Nations Championship triumph.

The 29-year-old, who has 53 test caps, was on the bench in all three Lions tests in Australia four years ago.

He's a classy performer and is a frontline contender for the first test at Jade Stadium on June 25.

His claims will be enhanced with a good showing tomorrow night. Williams knows the tackled ball area will be vital in the tests and recognises the Lions must utilise the leadup period to get the best out of the situation.

"It's an area for us to improve. Contact is fought a lot more here than back home, so we have to try and get used to it," he said.

"It's not just the back row's job. It's for Nos 1 to 15 to contest, which we don't do so much back home.

"Out here, unless we get numbers to the breakdown we're going to struggle to get quick ball."

Williams said the primary focus at this point of the tour was on what the Lions were doing.

Spending hours in front of the video machine perusing the likes of McCaw and Holah will come later.

"In any New Zealand side I've never seen a bad No 7, so whichever team we're going to play is going to be right up in the contact area."

Consider the Lions have come up against Nili Latu at Bay of Plenty and the indefatigable Chris Masoe in New Plymouth on Wednesday night. Both were among the star performers for their teams.

In the next three games the Lions will meet Holah, Wellington's Ben Herring and Otago flier, Josh Blackie, all classy performers.

That should mean the Lions are as well prepared as possible in a critical aspect of the game come first test time.