Woodward says Lions still 'a long way off'

The Lions are a long way off their best, says coach Sir Clive Woodward, who also admits he doesn't have a top 15 selection in mind just three weeks out from the first test against the All Blacks.

Woodward will pay scant interest in tomorrow night's All Blacks rugby trial, instead throwing all his efforts into the Lions' tour-opener against Bay of Plenty in Rotorua on Saturday.

There was too little time before the three-test series to stray from self-focus Woodward believed, particularly following his team's unimpressive 25-25 draw with Argentina before they arrived in New Zealand last Friday.

The trial at Napier and the match between New Zealand Maori and Fiji in Suva tomorrow would be of interest, Woodward said but would provide few All Blacks selection pointers so weren't worth analysing in any depth.

"I'm pretty sure in my own mind what the New Zealand team is going to be," Woodward said.

"I'll obviously watch (the trial) with interest but I'm far more interested in the Lions team because we're a long way off where we have to get to playing-wise."

Not only was Woodward unsure of his best 15, he said he didn't even know if a shadow Lions test side would get a specific game together before the first test at Christchurch on June 25.

"Nobody here can predict what the test team's going to be because I can't. There are some huge battles in almost every single position and it's going to be fascinating to see who's going to step up to the mark," he said.

"There will be potential test players playing on Wednesday (against Taranaki) ... just because you're in the Wednesday team doesn't mean you're not going to play in the test match."

He admitted his selection for the Bay of Plenty game was "a pretty strong side".

"It's a great start to the tour, we've watched their games from last year," Woodward said of Bay of Plenty's run to the NPC first division semifinals.

"Clearly they're a very tough team but we're looking forward to getting the tour to New Zealand finally under way.

"Training's been good this week but it's all about matches really, I want to see a lot of these guys in the heat of battle.

"Every game I hope we get a little bit better in the playing and coaching side. I'm obviously looking for a much better performance than we put in on that first game."

Woodward said his team would "come second" in Rotorua if they didn't improve from the Cardiff clash. There were mitigating circumstances for their draw, courtesy of a late penalty kicked by first five-eighth Jonny Wilkinson.

"We'd literally had two training sessions and I don't think we got it quite right. The players were frustrated and most of them will get the chance next week to put it right."

Among them should be an injured pair -- Scottish loose forward Simon Taylor (hamstring) and Irish lock Malcolm O'Kelly (abdominal strain). O'Kelly was withdrawn from the reserve bench of Saturday's team because as his recovery was progressing more slowly than anticipated.

England three-quarter Jason Robinson joins the squad on June 7 after spending time with his pregnant wife and may well play his first tour game against the New Zealand Maori four days later.

It may be an even longer wait for Wales fullback Gareth Thomas, who is still with his club Toulouse preparing for the French playoffs despite furious negotiations from Lions management seeking an early release.

- NZPA