Changed Lions a force to reckon with in test

Chris Jack gets a lift from Jerry Collins and Tony Woodcock. Picture / Mark Mitchell

A week ago the interminable wait for some test rugby was over. The feeling is no different today for the second test to blot out the furore about Brian O'Driscoll's injury exit from the Lions tour.

Just like 12 years ago, this test will determine whether the Lions go into the final week of their tour as a viable series winner or are consigned to the failures linked to all but the 1971 side which visited New Zealand.

To dismiss the Lions on the evidence of their dismal first test defeat would be foolish. They have made wholesale changes designed to introduce some energy and speed into their game, to find a blend of the forward power and attacking backline venom which will stretch the All Blacks.

There is little doubt Sir Clive Woodward is under the greatest heat of his coaching career, one in which the beacon of the 2003 World Cup triumph is being tarnished by his lack of success with England last year and the Lions.

The vultures are circling the Lions quarry, they are hovering over the carcass Woodward sliced open after Christchurch when he was forced, by that inept performance, to go to those he deemed unsuitable at handling the pressure of the first test.

Meanwhile the All Blacks are like sharks, sensing the blood for the kill which they need to clinch the series tonight at the Cake Tin.

Will the Lions resurrect their old "99" call of one-in all-in for a stoush to rattle the All Blacks early? Will they work on the theory of sinbin safety in numbers if there is a combined scrap and that referee Andrew Cole does not have a reputation as a strong decision-maker?

Attitude will be the greatest weapon for both sides. The new-look Lions have to channel their excitement and must-win approach while the All Blacks must harness their resentment about the continued verbal assaults on captain Tana Umaga, positively.

The days had long gone, All Black coach Graham Henry intoned yesterday, of pinning adverse newspaper headlines on the dressing room walls to motivate the All Blacks.

"There wouldn't be enough wall space to put that crap on so why bother?" he said after the latest round of attacks on Umaga.

The easiest thing was to play the game, the All Black captain said. Dealing with the stuff in between matches was tougher.

The All Blacks must find the appropriate blend of aggression and vitality in the pack to hurt the Lions with their skills and athleticism. The benevolent weather forecast suggests conditions will help.

The All Blacks have had another week together while the Lions have been forced to rip up plans to cottonwool the test XV and select a side on some of the form glimpsed on this tour.

An injury-forced adjustment in the All Black tight five has removed Carl Hayman who is replaced by the dependable Greg Somerville. That swap would not have any impact, Henry suggested. All Black great Colin Meads was not so sure.

"I worry what this will do to our scrum because Hayman has been massive and he is great around the field," Meads said.

Hayman's absence will remove the best lineout lifter in New Zealand and may upset some of the rhythm the All Blacks found in Christchurch, albeit illegal according to another of Woodward's late excuses.

The amount and quality of primary possession from set piece will be a dominant statistic.

The Lions cannot be as bad again this week at the lineout, not even with wayward thrower Steve Thompson.

But what will the Lions do with the ball?

Will Jonny Wilkinson kick a great deal because he has lost faith in his running game or does he offload for Gavin Henson to set targets?

Running will bring the venomous All Blacks loosies into the game more and add the risk that Lewis Moody, the new Lions opensider, is often penalised at breakdowns.

Kicking will have to be very precise otherwise it will open the Lions to the counter-attack from restored fullback Mils Muliaina, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Rico Gear.

Perversely the All Blacks might fancy the crosskick as an attacking weapon against the small Lions wings Jason Robinson and Shane Williams.

They will also fancy attacking through their moves and combinations which have been building, testing the defence and nerves of Lions groupings which are unfamiliar with the intensity of this series.

The Lions will look to history, to 1993, when they returned from a first test loss to win strongly in Wellington.

Henry will recall 2001 with the Lions he coached, when they blew a first test win and momentum in the second, to wither to a series defeat.

In all of the spiel which infests rugby these days, the All Blacks have nominated this Lions series as the second target behind winning the 2007 World Cup.

If they are a quality side, the All Blacks have to deliver the killer blow tonight.