Warren Gatland revealed, on Thursday, that several Lions had been involved in slinging “verbals” on the training ground ahead of the Third Test.
Less than a day out from the third and final Test against New Zealand and Ireland flanker Sean O’Brien readily admitted he was right in the middle of it all.
O’Brien has been a true talisman for the Lions and has been a crucial figure in the tourists going into the final game with a genuine chance of beating the All Blacks in a Test Series for the first time in 46 years.
The Carlow native is known for being feisty and verbose during the games so perhaps it should come as little surprise that he was jousting away on the training paddock. He told The Telegraph:
“There were a few verbals in which I was involved myself.
“It was tasty. There was a good bit of intensity to it, a good bit of cut in it.
“It’s good to see before a game of this magnitude. The lads are buzzing and the tension is high.”
While the Lions were tearing the heads off each other, the All Blacks were going a few steps beyond. Former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick to Sky Sports how there had been punches thrown in one tense training session, earlier this week.
Both sides are pumped and primed. As for the game itself, O’Brien is expecting to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in again.
“They’ll be coming to try and hurt us, won’t they?” he stated.
“They’ll try to physically impose themselves on us as that’s how they went about it the first week. We fronted up pretty well last week. But we all know what’s coming on Saturday.”
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