48 hours: Sir Clive in denial on his own shortcomings

This might not be the best time for rubbing it in, but it's hard to agree with the suggestion that the Lions were a much-improved combination during their second-test pasting at the Cake Tin.

Call me old-fashioned, but if the blatant cheating, obstructing, spoiling and whingeing that overwhelmed Saturday's contest represented a step up, then the Reds are a worse side than even Laurie Mains imagined.

Faced with performing the equivalent of a rugby miracle in Wellington, coach Sir Clive Woodward's team instead embraced all the worst aspects of the Northern Hemisphere game, and attempted to win by stealth.

It might have kept them in the game a bit longer, and certainly made for an exciting start, but when it came down to matters of rugby they were found as wanting as they were in Christchurch a fortnight ago.

Improved? Only if you mean they took out even more players illegally than they did in the first test; only if you mean they threw more elbows, punches and knees, and infringed more thoroughly, and for longer.

Better? Only if you're talking about the volume and frequency of their complaints, the shrieking of their protests, or their prospects of being selected in the Lions Debating Team.

I can't wait for Alastair Campbell's take on Julian White's blatant stamp on Byron Kelleher - maybe something along the lines of All Black halfback viciously elbows Lions' prop in studs?

And similarly with Paul O'Connell's brain explosion in the opening stanzas, when the Lions' lock should have been sin-binned for reckless behaviour, or at the very least cautioned by the Civil Aviation Authority for low-flying.

It's often said people return to type under intense pressure, and a good example was the style Woodward instructed his team to adopt after their abject capitulation in the first test. Apart from a brief flurry at the start, there was little evidence of the expected wide-ranging or counter-attacking strategy, where the Lions would use every scrap of possession that came their way.

Instead there seemed to be a straightforward plan to provoke and niggle at their opponents, presumably in the hope that some All Blacks would retaliate and be either penalised or banished.

As it happened, however, the All Blacks beat the Lions not only with their mobility and dynamism, but with their discipline; their ability to keep their composure in what were especially trying conditions.

For someone who received his knighthood for services to rugby, the game-plan was not exactly a glowing recommendation for Woodward, who nonetheless was still making excuses afterwards, this time suggesting the scoreline flattered the All Blacks.

Never mind that the Lions were close to conceding two further tries to Daniel Carter, another to Kelleher, and were blessed with some fortune after the break when flying winger Sitiveni Sivivatu was incorrectly ruled offside.

It's difficult now to escape the observation that Woodward has become so detached from reality (let alone his own touring party), that he remains in denial about the shortcomings of his own performance.

He might have spent $23 million on this tour, more than any other touring coach has dreamed about, and he might have left no stone unturned in terms of management and governance.

But in all matters concerning rugby, he has shown himself to be virtually bankrupt.

Highs
The arrival of Daniel Carter as the world's best pivot. Mehrts was great and Carlos was, well Carlos, but if Saturday night was any guide, Carter is streets ahead of both.

Lows
Brett Lee's beamer to Marcus Trescothick in the tri-series final at Lord's. Another accident? Yeah right.