Rugby World Cup: Tamed Lions saw way forward

Chris Jack, with ball in hand, helped show the Lions how their forwards would need to develop. Photo / Getty Images

It is fitting the Celts have performed so well on New Zealand soil, as the origins of the revolution that has taken Wales and Ireland to where they are in 2011 began here six years ago.

It was the British and Irish Lions tour of 2005 that opened minds to the need for change. The Lions, so full of hope that their giant set piece and kicking game was going to bludgeon the All Blacks, returned home broken and disillusioned about how far they lagged behind their New Zealand peers.

What blew them away was not only the physicality and speed of the New Zealanders at the tackled ball, but the composure and comfort most of the forwards they encountered felt on the ball.

If they didn't know it at the time, the men who toured here six years ago soon realised after their 3-0 series defeat that rugby was shifting towards a new future; one where turnover ball would be critical and where forwards would have to be more than just physical.

Technical execution and tactical understanding of the tackled ball area were going to be imperative if the British sides wanted to compete, really compete, with the best in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Lions forwards were bigger and probably stronger than most of the New Zealand sides they faced in 2005 but the Brits didn't have the same innate skills; they couldn't handle as well or offload. It was smash and recycle, smash and recycle which didn't build any momentum at the highest level.

Welsh openside Martyn Williams, revered throughout the UK, said a few months after returning from the Lions tour: "I learned more about playing openside flanker during those weeks in New Zealand than I had in the previous 10 years playing everywhere else.

"What happened on the tour opened my eyes and opened them wide. I'm grateful for the experience. For a player in my position, it was obviously going to be a demanding tour.

"Everywhere you go in New Zealand, the openside flanker is king. The fourth or fifth-choice No 7 over there would walk into most sides here."

In the immediate years after the Lions tour, it was apparent most of the European sides had added a technical craft to their aggression.

The All Blacks encountered four technically adept and physically impressive sides on their 2008 Grand Slam tour.

The Scots, English, Welsh and Irish were all competitive and at times damaging in the way they knocked bodies around the tackled ball area. But always the difference between them and the All Blacks was the skill level of the forwards when they were in possession.

The All Blacks, no more ably demonstrated than by the 2005 team, had ball-playing acumen to put into the mix. The likes of Ali Williams, Chris Jack and Keven Mealamu were able to give and take a pass either in the close quarter stuff or further out. If they popped up in the backline, there was never any drama.

The Lions never had that dimension and, when this tournament reaches the final weeks, it will be the improvement made by the Irish and Welsh forwards that will be highlighted as the critical difference from previous campaigns.

The Irish scrummaging and front row have deservedly been lauded for their heroics against the Wallabies. But it was their loose trio on whom their success was really built. Not only was openside Sean O'Brien all over the tackled ball; he was an effective carrier, too.

But unlike his peers from six years ago, he was always aware of where his support runners were and always able to play the ball either before or after contact. Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris were just as good on the ball and their little offloads around the fringes had a huge impact.

The Welsh forwards are equally adept at building momentum by refusing to die with the ball in the tackle.

Some of their cohesion and fluidity against South Africa was as good as anything the All Blacks delivered in their 2005 prime. Sam Warburton looks the goods as a player to last the ages, as does Toby Faletau, whose timing and handling were equal to his physical power.

The Celts might refute the seeds of their current game plan were sown here six years ago. They would rather believe they have reached this point organically.

But rugby isn't like that. It is cyclical and certain teams and styles can have a dramatic impact - consciously and unconsciously forcing the rest of the world to evolve.

The All Blacks of 1995 did that with their superior conditioning levels and the success they had playing a fetching openside and giant wing. The Australians of 1999 pushed many other teams into a highly structured and sequenced template of rugby.

One of the teams to have a big impact on the All Black philosophy were the British Lions of 1971. They won the series and also made an indelible impression with their ball handling and creative back play.

"That tour was very influential on me as a rugby person and certainly had a huge impact on how I coached the game," said Graham Henry of the 1971 Lions a month before the 2005 version toured New Zealand.

"I also believe it was very influential on New Zealand rugby. I think the '71 Lions won the first World Cup for us because we had to change our game. We got beaten by a team who played 15-man rugby.

"We tried to play a forward-oriented style and we weren't in the game. That shook the foundations of New Zealand rugby, and from the top down, things changed."

Maybe in a few months, one of the Celts will speak in a similar manner of the 2005 tour and the influence it had on them.