CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, 25 June 2005 — The way in which the rugby world remembers Clive Woodward may hinge on the outcome of the first test between the British and Irish Lions and the All Blacks at Jade Stadium today.
Woodward’s star has waned since England’s triumph at the 2003 World Cup and as he prepares to leave rugby, to take up a technical position in English soccer, he has a last chance to establish himself, with Carwyn James, among Britain’s coaching immortals.
The stakes in today’s match could hardly be higher for Woodward, for the Lions and for the All Blacks in their first meeting in 12 years.
Woodward has gambled heavily, against an increasing chorus of opposition in Britain, on the England players who elevated him to World Cup glory in 2003, naming eight Englishmen in his starting 15 and 13 in his test 22.
If the Lions fail at Jade Stadium, in what may be their best chance to beat the All Blacks for almost 30 years, Woodward’s selection and stewardship of the Lions will be severely questioned.
“I’m not here to be popular,” Woodward told a news conference yesterday. “I’m here to win a test match on a wet night in Christchurch away from home. I make no excuses. I’ve picked the team I believe can win this test match, as simple as that.”
Woodward’s fate, and the rugby world’s final perception of him as a coach and manager, may rest on the shoulders of men such as Neil Back, the 36-year-old England flanker, and Jonny Wilkinson, who has been the most prized accessory of his coaching reign.
Cheered by messages of support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Springboks coach Jake White, Woodward said his team aimed only to score more points than the All Blacks.
“I have no doubt the rugby world at large wants the Lions to do well tomorrow night,” he said. “After all the hype and all the emotion it’s a game of rugby, the red team versus the black team, and red teams have been winning combinations in international sport this year.”
The All Blacks gave every appearance of relaxed confidence Friday when coach Graham Henry, himself a former Lions coach, and captain Tana Umaga faced the media. The pair joked with reporters, sitting arm in arm when Henry suggested he may not have been “touchy-feely” enough to succeed as a Lions coach.
He calmly praised the Lions and said his experience as their coach in Australia in 2001 had hardened and educated him, though it was unlikely to serve him in the coming match.
“They’ve got top quality players and they’re probably the best combination we could play against,” Henry said. “They’ll be switched on to play as well as they can. I think they’ll run the ball, try to play an expansive game but ... it may be controlled by the weather finally.”
Umaga predicted a tough forward tussle, particularly in light of forecasts of high winds and freezing rain, but wouldn’t concede the Lions held superiority up front.
“I don’t think it will be an expansive game. It will be tough and tight, a big grind,” he said. “It might not be much of a spectacle but rugby purists love those games.”
Henry made light of suggestions that the All Blacks are under severe pressure at home and in front of a rugby-mad population.
“It’s important that our guys can go out and express themselves, that they’re not inhibited by pressure,” he said. “Rugby is the No. 1 sport in this country, in fact it’s almost a religion _ we’ll be looking to harness that, not to waste it.”
The Lions have only won a single series on 10 previous tours to New Zealand, when Welshman Carwyn James guided the 1971 squad to a 2-1 triumph.
Meantime, Italy promise another physical battle in the forwards for Australia in a one-off test in Melbourne today, with both sides coming off the back of strong recent wins.
Australia should start confidently after thrashing Samoa 74-7 on June 11 and will be encouraged by the reunion of veteran halfback pairing George Gregan and Stephen Larkham.
