After a wet weekend of Super Rugby in New Zealand a few months ago I wrote how the conditions would not disappoint the British and Irish Lions and that their coach Warren Gatland would not be devastated if a weather bomb was to hit these shores and stay for several weeks.
Well, we saw how dominant the Lions were in the constant rain and slippery conditions in Rotorua against the New Zealand Maori. When the ball is that difficult to handle in the contact areas - where New Zealand players are so good - they can't get the offloads going and a big part of their game is taken away. They find it far more difficult to get one-handed reverse passes away.
If it's wet you just can't execute that skill easily. It simply means a big part of off loading in contact or just before is negated.
The Maori were shut out of the game but that wasn't only down due to the conditions, it was also the brutal way the Lions approached the game. Physically they looked tougher, their set piece was immaculate; in fact, I don't recall them losing a lineout, and they back it up with a faultless kicking game and flawless defence.
Even when the Maori had the ball they looked ineffective and lacked ideas. They made zero line breaks in the game and for a team that traditionally likes to use the ball and attack at every opportunity, that is an astonishing statistic. I have never seen them forced into kicking the ball so much, and I stress "forced" because in reality they had no other options.
