Watching back on the First Test between the Lions and New Zealand, there was a desperate hope that I had missed something.
Peter O’Mahony did nothing to badly let himself down against the All Blacks at Eden Park. Still, knowing O’Mahony, he will have been bitterly disappointed with how the game went from a personal and a team perspective.
New Zealand brought furious indignation and purpose to the opening encounter and they won just about every collision that counted.
Beauden Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick and Sam Cane were all excellent but Kieran Read was on another planet. The All Blacks captain had not played for almost two months before he lined out at No.8 against the Lions. He was phenomenal.
Read was physical, dominant and purposeful. He backed his teammates to back themselves, and their instincts. He hit like a truck and carried with intent. The very definition of go-forward ball.
The 31-year-old delivered captains’ moments – a barnstorming run that left Sean O’Brien bounced in his wake, that outrageous offload in the build-up to Rieko Ioane’s first try, a soul-jarring hit on Owen Farrell. Read knew a Lions penalty was coming anyway so he climbed into Farrell and let him know what was what.
Credit: Sky Sport NZO’Mahony’s highlight, apart from leading the Lions out and handling his media duties immaculately, was a stolen lineout in the second half.
He made 13 tackles in his 53 minutes on the pitch but only four of them were forceful hits that slowed the All Blacks down for two seconds or more. Many of O’Mahony’s hits were of the soak or turnstile variety – the momentum remaining with the attacking team.
There were no forceful impacts or [lineout steal aside] massive turnovers. No real signs of the Munster mongrel that Warren Gatland raved about earlier on the tour.
There was one moment, 12 minutes in, when O’Mahony stormed in to clear Owen Franks off O’Brien after the openside had been pounced upon. The ease at which Franks dealt with O’Mahony, whilst keeping his Lions teammate pinned, was scary.
Credit: Sky Sport NZIn our player ratings for the match, O’Mahony was one of three starting Lions forwards that got 5/10. I stand by it.
Alun Wyn Jones got 4/10 but there is a strong suspicion that he barely knew what city he was playing in after shipping two huge hits in the space of 60 seconds.
Sean O’Brien had a fantastic game and he was turned over twice when isolated on carries. He still got 8/10. He was that good.
Toby Faletau was good too. Liam Williams and Elliot Daly sparkled in attack but both featured in two costly second half tries.
There have been calls for Gatland to make changes for the Second Test. As so often happens, they are made with some bias involved – Courtney Lawes & Maro Itoje [English press and fans], Rory Best, Iain Henderson and Johnny Sexton [Irish] and Sam Warburton to replace O’Mahony [mainly Welsh with a healthy English echo].
The thing about Warburton is – he didn’t do that well when he came on. It may be reported that he did, but he really didn’t.
Warburton lifted well for one lineout steal and slowed New Zealand ruck ball well during one barrage inside the Lions twenty-two but that’s about it. He also lifted poorly when the Lions lost a lineout off Ken Owens’ first throw and he was bashed back in a couple of tackles.
The pro-Warburton camp believe he is the man who will slow New Zealand ball down enough to give the Lions a chance. Truth is, the Cardiff man has not done it enough in the two years, at the highest level, to be truly reliable.
If O’Mahony were to be dropped, it would threaten the one area where the Lions held sway last weekend – the lineout. He made five lineout claims, stole one from New Zealand and made life uncomfortable at a couple more.
I would go with O’Mahony again as he will be bringing a gnawing sense of unfinished business to Wellington. He is still more than capable of getting up into Kiwi faces, making turnovers, showing up in attack and leading from the front.
The Lions need their best team on the pitch to beat New Zealand and O’Mahony, to my mind, still trumps Warburton. If the Lions want impact off the bench, it may well be going with Itoje or CJ Stander rather than a man to slow the ball down.
It’s do or die and there is no man to lay himself down for the cause with more seething fury and righteousness than the Munster man.
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