Wynne Gray: Woodward right about just one thing

Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward got one thing right. He nailed it when he implored British and Irish fans to head for New Zealand because something special was about to happen.

Woodward had it in mind, or at least theory, that it would be his side on the verge of something exceptional. It was, but not in the way the coach or the players imagined.

The first test fossils were given a wet-weather rugby lesson in Christchurch when Woodward somehow made the quantum leap that history and training rituals would translate into international glory.

When that theory was destroyed, Woodward took on the persona of the man on the Tannoy at Charing Cross railway station with his "all-change" instructions.

Energetic players who had shown some form on tour were chosen for Wellington where, despite their strong-arm intentions, they were forced to watch how Super 12 rugby and superior coaching can blend into a dangerous rugby cocktail.

They did see something special - they saw rugby as it is being played at the next level.

Fans who took Woodward at his word and travelled south might think about demanding a refund for false pretences when the £9 million ($23.2 million) Lions expedition is dismantled.

But they would probably conclude it was money well spent - a rugby trip of a lifetime if the 2011 Rugby World Cup is not allotted to New Zealand, and an education in how rugby can be played.

It was a quality exhibition of athletic skills allied to power, a level of rugby which other nations will need to reach to challenge the All Blacks for the next World Cup.

The latest All Black victory and series triumph was a rich endorsement for the virtues of the Super 12 and a nudge at those who felt that forward power and a crunchy pair of halves was THE all-encompassing necessity for international rugby.

That template worked two years ago at the World Cup but without total authority up front this time, the Lions had nowhere else to go.

Not with Woodward stuck in his timewarp and resisting the chance on this New Zealand tour to move with the new wave of Welsh rugby which had won the Grand Slam. He cotton-woolled too many players and relied on their historical excellence ... they played with all the flexibility of recently unwrapped goods.

At crucial times, the Lions looked uncertain about each other's play, they did not have enough confidence to understand what others alongside them would do. The combined instincts needed to succeed at the highest level of rugby were absent. They had not played together enough in provincial matches to trust the nuances of each other's play.

There was time for some more skewed opinion that the 30-point margin was not a hiding, that there was nothing more the Lions could have done, that they had played really well.

The second part may have been right, though you have to figure there was a huge amount of potential in a squad which has gone over the 50 mark. But the Lions were dismantled in a triumph for skill, coaching and planning.

Suddenly, Woodward made another quantum leap. His talk at the start of the tour was all about the best-prepared Lions team in history and how winning was everything. Nothing mattered except the result.

Staring at a 3-0 series blackwash after the All Blacks' superlative victory, Woodward in Wellington was suddenly talking about performance, the improvement in the tourists and how that would benefit them for the Six Nations competition.

He did not realise how much the attacks on Tana Umaga had galvanised the All Blacks. Woodward might have won a World Cup but he has yet to grasp the New Zealand rugby psyche.

Either that or he has been over-ruled by the ubiquitous spin-doctor who is reputed to be earning double the £20,000 ($51,000) wages that players are being paid on this trip.

Since the World Cup, Woodward has failed with England and now the Lions. In four tests, the closest he has come is the 18-point defeat in the Christchurch blizzard. Hardly inspiring.

The All Blacks channelled their fury superbly after Woodward and Co had attacked their leader, Umaga, all week over the tackle which forced tour captain Brian O'Driscoll out of the tour with a dislocated shoulder.

The artless verbal assault riled the All Blacks. It was as foolish as it was futile.

It showed a lack of respect and the All Black response was defiant. Blindside flanker Jerry Collins, Umaga's cousin, summed up that retort when he was subbed off and gave his home crowd a bicep-bulging victory salute. As Umaga said later, he just loved to play, he did his talking on the field.

Instead the Lions wasted time carrying on about a perceived injustice instead of concentrating on a new combination to save the series.

There were also the disparaging remarks Woodward at one stage had directed towards Graham Henry's efforts with the 2001 Lions.

This series win for the All Blacks was both a serious payback for the coach and retaliation for the Lions' animosity towards Umaga.