Lee Stensness: If Sir Clive wants to target the tight five, he's making a big mistake

Lions hype is starting to build and a big topic of discussion is how the 2005 model is likely to play the game. Will they play like the World Cup winning English? Boring. Or the Grand Slam winning Welsh? Exciting. Or a combination of the two styles? Or something completely different?

Will the personnel influence the game plan or will the game plan dictate the personnel? And with nearly two months of the gruelling Northern Hemisphere season left and six tour matches in New Zealand before the first test, injuries may change the mix and necessitate tactical changes anyway.

However, regardless of who is in their team come test time, Sir Clive will have devised strategies to target perceived weaknesses within the All Blacks.

We all have a fair idea of what the All Black team will look like, come the first test. My team, based on the end of year tour and early season form would be: Woodcock, Oliver, Hayman, Jack, Robinson or Maxwell, McCaw, Collins, So'oialo, Marshall, Carter, Rokocoko, Mauger, Umaga, Sivivatu, Muliaina. So how could, or should, Woodward attack that line-up?

The thinking in the Northern Hemisphere is that the Lions should target the All Black tight five. Hopefully they do, because that would be a mistake.

The five I named are all have tremendous work rates around the field and the scrum keeps on improving. However the lineout may be an area of comparative weakness. That there are only two 'jumpers', coupled with Oliver's well documented throwing difficulties, will see the Lions looking to play field position but kicking the ball out to limit counter-attacking opportunities for the AB back three, and then fiercely contesting the lineout.

The Lions will also attack McCaw, our best player. Like Australia they will devise ways to reduce his effectiveness, such as attacking wide once he is already tied up.

But more than that I believe their players will hope to damage him physically. Nothing will be said openly but when, and he does it a lot, McCaw lies on their side of a ruck they will be into him with everything they've got - not rucking but more damaging techniques such as using heads and knees.

Another tactic will be to target the less disciplined All Blacks. Players such as Robinson and/or Maxwell and/or Ali Williams, Collins and Marshall love to mix it. There will be a lot of off the ball stuff going on.

An area they will target is the two Fijian wings. Fijians may be the fastest and happiest people around but they are also possibly the worst under the high ball.

So with the tests at night under lights, with dew or possibly rain, there will be opportunity to put the ball in the air.

I hope none of these strategies work and the All Blacks win the series 3-0.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY