• ‘Biggest game of our lives,’ says forwards coach • Squad ‘desperate’ to end 16-year series losing streak The British & Irish Lions have been urged to go out and make history against Australia in what their forwards coach, Graham Rowntree, is calling “the biggest game of our lives”. The Lions, seeking a first series victory for 16 years, are also hoping their beefed-up pack will make a crucial difference as they attempt to prevent the Wallabies from retaining the Tom Richards Cup. It has not been a comfortable week for the Lions management amid the furore over the omission of Brian O’Driscoll but Rowntree is convinced his side will bounce back strongly from their 16-15 defeat in the second Test in Melbourne
• ‘Biggest game of our lives,’ says forwards coach
• Squad ‘desperate’ to end 16-year series losing streak
The British & Irish Lions have been urged to go out and make history against Australia in what their forwards coach, Graham Rowntree, is calling “the biggest game of our lives”. The Lions, seeking a first series victory for 16 years, are also hoping their beefed-up pack will make a crucial difference as they attempt to prevent the Wallabies from retaining the Tom Richards Cup.
It has not been a comfortable week for the Lions management amid the furore over the omission of Brian O’Driscoll but Rowntree is convinced his side will bounce back strongly from their 16-15 defeat in the second Test in Melbourne. “This is the biggest game of our lives,” insisted the former Leicester prop. “As players and coaches a lot of us have been involved in grand final games and huge internationals but nothing bigger than this. The word I’d use is desperate … we’re all fed up with the 16-year stat. This is the biggest game of my career, no question.”
The Lions have made six changes and one positional switch from last weekend but Rowntree, as an Englishman, believes the non-selection of Brian O’Driscoll and the inclusion of 10 Welshmen in the starting XV are secondary to the collective desire of the entire squad to win in Australia for the first time since 1989. “We have picked what we believe is the best team to beat Australia,” he stressed. “It’s not about their nationalities because they are all Lions. Overall, there’s stuff we have still kept up our sleeve, things we haven’t shown so far.”
The Irish wing Tommy Bowe, a member of the squad narrowly denied in South Africa in 2009, admits another Lions series defeat would be tough to cope with. “It is a bit of pressure for us, having gone 1-0 up. We have one game left, the last game of the season and a win would go down in history. The players are going out there thinking it doesn’t have to be pretty. We can win by 20 points or by one point, it doesn’t matter. What a great reward it would be for us to win.”
Bowe is also hoping the Lions will catch the Wallabies unawares by using their big wings more often. “I don’t think think we played very well last week but we still only lost by a point,” said Bowe, suggesting the home side may find it hard to lift themselves once again. “You could see how much it meant to them when they won last weekend; they were jumping on each other. We feel a little bit how they did after the first week. There’s a lot of emotion within the team at the moment and we’re going to come with everything.
“If we can play rugby we can do a lot of damage, certainly with the size of some of the players we’ve got in this team. There are huge ball carriers there. If we can hold on to the ball and keep battering over the top of the Aussies, hopefully it will cause a bit of damage. It’s going to be difficult for them if we can get some ball, keep carrying and make the Wallabies keep tackling. Hopefully they will find it tough.”
Bowe also suggested the squad were keen to win the series for the likes of O’Driscoll, as well as the injured Paul O’Connell and Sam Warburton. “Everybody knows the disappointment Brian is feeling at not being involved. For a guy like that, who has such a presence around the squad, to be rallying around the team and to really want us to push on to win the series, it’s a huge motivation for us to go out and do the job for him as well. Unfortunately for Brian he’s not involved but we need to go out there and put that behind us and do the job. At the end of the day, we need to win the series.”
Rowntree also insists the Lions will have no worries fitness-wise at the end of a punishing season but has questioned whether the recalled George Smith is 100% ready for a game of this intensity. Smith retired from Test rugby in 2010 but is back to win his 111th cap. “I’m surprised by that,” said Rowntree. ” He’s been out for a long time so I’ll be interested to see his match fitness.” In the past century the Lions have only once clinched a three or four-Test series with a victory in the final match.
