Well, it's begun. I don't know how many will be following this, but it's an important event for the three countries involved so I imagine there'll be some.
The Lions really struggled today. I was mightily impressed with the Barbarians: they don't play together often and for the most part they aren't considered Super Rugby quality yet. But they gave a proper fight, right down to the wire against an excellent bench and a strong (although not first choice) lions starting line up. I understand that the Lions have not been together for a long time, but neither have the Barbarians, and they've only been in NZ for 3 days so they will be tired and jet-lagged, but it wasn't a great performance. Gatland might be slightly worried. The match in a fortnight against the Maori All Blacks will be an indication of how much they've improved against a fairly similar opposition stength-wise.
My prediction is for the All Blacks to underestimate the Lions after a string of poor results for the tourists and lose by 5-10 points in the first test. Then, they will come out all guns blazing for the second test and win by 20+ points, before a tight game in the decisive third test won at the death by 5 points or so by the All Blacks. The schedule is also ridiculous, there are way too many games so I wouldn't be surprised if the Lions were dead on their feet by July 8th. Ten games in five or six weeks is a lot.
The Lions really struggled today. I was mightily impressed with the Barbarians: they don't play together often and for the most part they aren't considered Super Rugby quality yet. But they gave a proper fight, right down to the wire against an excellent bench and a strong (although not first choice) lions starting line up. I understand that the Lions have not been together for a long time, but neither have the Barbarians, and they've only been in NZ for 3 days so they will be tired and jet-lagged, but it wasn't a great performance. Gatland might be slightly worried. The match in a fortnight against the Maori All Blacks will be an indication of how much they've improved against a fairly similar opposition stength-wise.
My prediction is for the All Blacks to underestimate the Lions after a string of poor results for the tourists and lose by 5-10 points in the first test. Then, they will come out all guns blazing for the second test and win by 20+ points, before a tight game in the decisive third test won at the death by 5 points or so by the All Blacks. The schedule is also ridiculous, there are way too many games so I wouldn't be surprised if the Lions were dead on their feet by July 8th. Ten games in five or six weeks is a lot.
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