Anyone could see where the Lions are struggling the most – the breakdown. They’ve tried all manner of different combinations and they’re still toiling, still being hunted by voracious Australian forwards and still being pinged by referees who are watching them closely. The Lions now have a reputation on the floor and it’s not a good one.
Against the Pumas, head coach Andy Farrell went with Tom Curry, Jac Morgan and Ben Earl as his six, seven and eight. Against the Force in Perth, he had Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier and Henry Pollock.
A few days later, against the Reds in Brisbane, it was Curry, Morgan and Jack Conan. Then, Beirne, Van der Flier and Earl against the Waratahs (where a former beer delivery man called Charlie Gamble bossed the show).
And against the Brumbies it was Ollie Chessum, Curry and Conan.
Farrell wants to give all of his back rows a proper chance, but he’s done that now and he still hasn’t hit on a trio that can deal effectively with the breakdown against opponents who are seriously denuded of international class, most of them away with the Wallabies. What would these games have been like had the provincial teams fielded full-strength sides?
The problems keep happening. Chessum is a horse of a man who’s aggressive and can shift, so maybe he’s in the box-seat at blindside. Conan carried big again on Wednesday and he’ll be the number eight. Who’s the seven?
Against the Brumbies, Curry was given the chance to play himself into the Test team and didn’t really convince. Does Farrell persist? Does he send for Morgan? Or does he revert to Van der Flier, his seven with Ireland, and a guy he knows better than the rest?
Morgan is the closest thing the Lions have to an old school groundhog. It’s head-wrecking. Round and round we go. It’s one of the few big selection dilemmas the coaches have left before the first Test.
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