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Lions 2017 - The Awards: Man of the series, Gatland's red nose and the 'Geography Six'

Warren Gatland with Steve Hansen. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

After the British and Irish Lions’ three-match Test series against New Zealand ended in a draw it was only right that some winners emerged from the tour.

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So here we take a look back at some of the standout individuals and moments from the last five weeks with our Lions 2017 awards.

Try of the tour – Ihaia West

Our first award goes to a man who did not feature in any of the three Tests but provided one of the highlights of the warm-up matches. With the Lions leading the Blues 16-15 with seven minutes to go, West collected the ball from a Sonny Bill Williams offload 10 metres inside the Lions half and forged a route through a sea of red shirts to soar clear and touch down under the posts. The Lions went on to lose the match 22-16 – their first defeat of the tour.

Match of the tour – Third Test

The third Test in Auckland was a thrilling watch. Beautifully poised at 1-1 following the Lions’ shock victory in Wellington a week earlier, the All Blacks remained strong favourites to wrap up the series win and scored two first-half tries through Ngani Laumape and Jordie Barrett. However, two misses from the tee by Beauden Barrett, along with the accurate kicking of Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly, kept the Lions in touch, and the Saracens man rescued the draw with a pressure kick three minutes from time. Cue the awkward scenes of nobody knowing whether to celebrate or to mope.

The depiction of Warren Gatland as a clown on the front page of the New Zealand Herald early in the tour was harsh – also unoriginal after they gave Australia coach Michael Cheika the same treatment in October. But it was Gatland who had the last laugh, turning up to his news conference after the final Test in a red nose.

The outcome of the series might have been different had Williams not seen red for a shoulder charge on Anthony Watson in the first half of the second Test. The collision between Williams’ shoulder and Watson’s head earned the centre the first red card shown to a New Zealand player in 50 years. Williams was handed a four-week suspension and apologised to Watson. The Lions went on to edge that Test 24-21.

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PR gaffe of the tour – ‘The Geography Six’

The less said about this band of call-ups of convenience the better. Finn Russell, Allan Dell, Kristian Dacey, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill and Gareth Davies were called into the squad as cover based on the fact Scotland and Wales were playing Tests closer to New Zealand than England or Ireland. The decision did not go down well and only Russell and Dell got any game time at all, with Gatland seemingly reluctant to rock the boat any further.

Chant of the tour – Ohhh Maro Itoje

One memorable moment from the tour was when cameras captured Lions veteran Alun Wyn Jones walking down the tunnel at the end of the second Test chanting the name of Maro Itoje – the youngest member of the squad – to the tune of Seven Nation Army. You know you’re on to a winner if the players get involved.

Davies was a giant for the Lions in the three encounters with the All Blacks and the stats back that up. The centre tops the charts for clean breaks and ranks second for offloads and metres made. He is also the only Lion to make the top five for carries across the three Tests, kept off top spot by Beauden Barrett and Kieran Read.

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Jones became the first player since the game turned professional in 1995 to feature in nine consecutive Lions Tests and is one of only seven men to have won matches against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa with the Lions. That surely deserves recognition!

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'Borthwick needs to have faith in Marcus Smith' Mick Cleary: 'Borthwick needs to have faith in Marcus Smith'
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