Chris Hewett: Siege mentality wins no friends

It seems just a little strange that during the Lions' brief stay in Wellington this week, they mounted a security operation of MI6 proportions in and around their hotel while removing every last vestige of secrecy surrounding their strategy for the test series with the All Blacks.

Paying guests could not get through the lobby or order a drink at the bar without being subjected to some third-degree treatment from the staff, but down the road at the Westpac Stadium it was pretty much open house.

To take the first issue first, so to speak, the Lions made precious few friends in the capital; indeed, the Intercontinental Hotel broke new ground by effectively challenging customers to break into it.

Bill Beaumont, the tour manager, was absolutely right in condemning the ever-growing practice of withholding test players from the provincial games - where were Tana Umaga, Conrad Smith, Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo when the good folk of Wellington most needed them? - because it devalues the very concept the New Zealand union and the rugby followers of this marvellous country are seeking to defend.

By the same yardstick, the Lions devalued themselves by sanctioning an identity-checking regime straight out of North Korea.

The atmosphere in the hotel on Tuesday night had nothing to do with rugby and everything to do with advanced neurosis. Yes, the whole of New Zealand IS out to get the Lions. So what? It doesn't mean they should make arses of themselves - and make life a misery for people who have spent a small fortune getting here - by responding with such mind-boggling heavy-handedness.

Phew, that's that over and done with. Now to the Wellington game. Anyone with eyes to see knows that the Lions are strong in the areas everyone expected: the scrum, the maul and, to a slightly lesser extent, the lineout. They kick their goals too, although Jonny Wilkinson sent his audience into shock by actually missing a couple of shots at the sticks.

These two elements - set-piece mastery and accurate marksmanship - go neatly together and form a game plan that could upset the All Blacks.

It may not be pretty, but Sir Clive Woodward is prepared to win ugly.

There is absolutely no point flouncing around like Gwyneth Paltrow and finishing second when you can come across like movie villain Peter Lorre and make off with the big prize. Since when did Colin Meads and those other rough buggers from the 1960s worry about playing the beautiful game?

If we're honest, there was more beauty attached to a tin mine than there was to be found amongst the pack that ruled the world.

Agreed, the Lions will have to do more to put the All Blacks on their rear ends in Christchurch next weekend.

Their back division is not functioning at anywhere near the optimum, continuity was conspicuous by its absence since that hit-the-ground-sprinting start in Rotorua and tries are thin on the ground.

But they might not have to do too much more if their key forwards stay fit and they cut their coat according to their cloth. They are not over-confident, but they are not scared either.

Which raises one last issue. Did Graham Henry miss a trick by holding back the Wellington elite?

John Plumtree, the home coach, reckoned it would have been an "interesting match" had his side been at full strength, and he may be right.

Consecutive defeats would have ripped a nasty big hole in the fabric of the Lions' morale. As it is, that morale remains in one piece.

* Chris Hewett is a rugby writer for the Independent in London.