“On tour” is a lovely excuse. It used to mean getting away with anything and everything, and is an expression that has been wheeled out on several stag do’s that I have been on. Stuff of legend. They can also be ghastly affairs. Both the Lions and the Australian cricket team are going that way.<br />
<br />
Lions tours have all that mystique about them. They also have a way of going horribly wrong, such as Australia 2001, when the tour party was split, the test team crumbled in the last 20 minutes of each match, and the players were trained into the ground.<br />
<br />
This Lions tour is giving me a bad feeling. I don’t know if it’s the way that each New Zealand side has given the lions a lesson in the breakdown, or if the players just aren’t at their best, but I can see a 3-0 test whitewash looming. Perhaps the biggest single reason is that the test team key combinations just haven’t had enough time on the pitch. That, and there are some real selection dilemmas. Right now, the best fly-half on tour has been Charlie Hodgson, but there is not a chance in hell he will start the first test. Most of the backs are misfiring. In the forwards, there are still concerns over who will start at prop, hooker and second row. And whoever is there needs to become a unit, and fast. The late call-up Ryan Jones just played a blinder against Otago, but will he even get into the test squad? I get the feeling that Woodward will pick more on experience than form, and that could be disastrous.<br />
<br />
The Australian cricket team at least know who their best players are. Sadly for them, they can’t even beat Bangladesh, who as I write just beat them by 5 wickets in an ODI. This is the worst start to a tour that any Australian will ever have experienced, and they play England tomorrow with a demoralised and tired squad. I almost feel sorry for them.<br />
<br />
Both the lions and Australia have time to turn it around. Australia will still go into the test series as favourites. The lions will not. They have a lot to put right in one week. New Zealand by 20 points (God I hope I am wrong).<br />
Leave a Reply