Lions players pose for a fan photo during a visit to The Haunted House Fear Factory in Queenstown, in preparation for the 3rd and final test match. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Lions players pose for a fan photo during a visit to The Haunted House Fear Factory in Queenstown, in preparation for the 3rd and final test match. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The British and Irish Lions embraced the pressure to beat the All Blacks in Wellington to make this Saturday's test at Eden Park a series decider and today they have embraced the fear in Queenstown.
Warren Gatland's men, who arrived in the southern resort town yesterday to rest and recoverfor four days, had a rare day off training today and they made the most of it.
Many of the travelling Lions supporters took advantage of the sunny but cool conditions to wander around town and sample the various eating and drinking establishments, but the players themselves kept far lower profiles.
Some, such as halfback Conor Murray took a helicopter trip to one of the many peaks surrounding the town, with loose forwards CJ Stander and Sam Warburton going jetboating and prop Joe Marler enjoying a luge ride.
However, Marler was not as excited to spot a Herald photographer - flipping the bird and pulling a grumpy face when his picture was taken. He also refused an offer to take a more flattering shot, with a not-so-polite rebuff, which the Herald has chosen not to print.
Lions prop Joe Marler in Queenstown, in preparation for the 3rd and final test match between the All Blacks and the British & Irish Lions. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Meanwhile, a big group of about a dozen, including playmakers Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell, and loose forward James Haskell, enjoyed a coffee in a café near the town's waterfront before visiting The Fear Factory, an attraction billed as New Zealand's "scariest haunted house".
The Herald could not confirm whether the dozen players added their names to the list of the more than 13,000 people to have "chickened out" and not completed the tour.
In terms of the rugby, one of Kiwi coach Gatland's greatest fears was eased with the news that his loose forward Sean O'Brien escaped a sanction for his swinging arm to All Blacks' wing Waisake Naholo's head during the Lions 24-21 win.
