I got a mail this week from a Kiwi colleague, who's lucky enough to be attending some of the Lions games – the Maoris last Saturday, Wellington yesterday, and heading to the 2nd Test in Wellington. New Zealanders are “underwhelmed and haven't seen anything there that impresses”. “The All Blacks are serious and will be looking for a whitewash.” “The front page of the paper this morning says it all: “PUSSYCATS”. ”
I don't think anyone has told Mike about Sir Clive's strategic brilliance. What's happening, right, is that we've got a brilliant squad of players that perform superbly in the closed training sessions. Because we don't need the match practice and our guys link so well together, we're actually using the Wednesday games to lure the All Blacks into a false sense of security. Sir Clive has ordered the pack to stay out of 2nd phase and the backs to deliberately mis-time passes. And the Kiwi press are falling for this 100%!
When that complacency hits, say 25 minutes into the first Test, and New Zealand think they can sit back and relax on their 56 – 9 lead BAMMM – that's when we're gonna hit them with a sucker punch.
Pure genius. They'll never see it coming. Thanks, Clive!
Tags: Sports, rugby, lions, lions tour.