Rugby: Wilkinson Needs to Restore Fortunes

Saturday's depressing loss to the NZ Maori has forced Sir Clive Woodward to rip up his best-laid plans in order to save the 2005 Lions tour from disintegration before the Test series has even begun. Desperate times call for desperate measures and Woodward's teamsheet for Wednesday's game against Wellington indicates a deepening unease.

Every tour reaches a crossroads at some point, but the return of Jonny Wilkinson and all the soothing management-speak in the world cannot mask the fact that Woodward's squad have suffered a serious reverse. In an ideal world his captain Brian O'Driscoll, full-back Josh Lewsey and prop Julian White would have sat out this next game. Instead, all three key figures have been redeployed just four days after their Maori misadventures.

The increasingly frantic search for men capable of lifting the tour back on track has also compelled Woodward to unveil what appears to be his entire first-choice back line and to dangle the carrot of Test selection in front of, among others, Neil Back, Shane Byrne, Danny Grewcock and Ben Kay. If the Lions do not impress in Wellington, the alarm bells really will start to peal.

A wintry blast of reality certainly accompanied the Lions to their new South Island base in Christchurch, with Woodward's entire modus operandi suddenly under scrutiny. Last week he said it was important his team did not knock excessive lumps out of each other in training; yesterday he spoke of his intention to "crank up" the practice-field intensity and do more "live" scrummaging. He has also repeatedly said he has brought 45 players to avoid players turning out in successive games; in the case of O'Driscoll and co, suspect form has necessitated a hasty rethink.

It is true, as Ian McGeechan reminded everyone yesterday, that past victorious Lions teams have survived similar tribulations. On the successful 1997 tour to South Africa the Lions lost 35-30 to the Blue Bulls at the equivalent stage of the tour and went on to win the series. But against a succession of New Zealand No7s who, like Marty Holah in Hamilton, are playing havoc with the Lions' desire to recycle quick ball at the breakdown, a similar scenario is far from assured. "I reckon it'll be 4-0 to the All Blacks," muttered one pessimistic camp follower yesterday.

For the touring side to come good, however, they need Back, Wilkinson and several others to stand up and be counted. Without the injured Lawrence Dallaglio there were insufficient obvious leaders on the field when things started going awry on Saturday. Too many big forwards were also too slow to get to the breakdown and only outstanding defence kept the Lions in a game in which they were starved of possession.

"A lot of it's been our own making," conceded Woodward. "When you're up against people whose strength is in the back row you can get caught on occasions and clearly that's what happened to us.

"But let's not overreact just because we had one bad game. Sometimes that's the shake-up you need. It makes you more determined. It happened in 1997 and it also happened in 2001, when we went on to win the first Test. Wednesday is a big match and so is Saturday in terms of getting the Test selection right. But I'd rather this happened now than in two weeks' time when we really are playing for keeps."

Wilkinson describes the Wellington game as "a chance I don't want to waste" but it was Back who spoke in the most pugnacious terms. The 36-year-old Leicester open-side is finally eligible to play again following his suspension for punching Joe Worsley in the Zurich Premiership final last month, and wants to prove he still has what it takes to outdo the gifted young Kiwi talisman Richie McCaw.

"You've got to remember the team hasn't played together that often," he said. "We're starting to build relationships and our combinations in attack are starting to come. Just because we've lost a game doesn't mean anything; it's about winning two of the three Tests."

Back and his team have found an unlikely ally in the All Black coach Graham Henry, who named his squad to face the Lions yesterday and had the luxury of leaving out the likes of Joe Rokocoko and Andrew Mehrtens.

"It reminded me of the Lions' performance against Australia A on the 2001 tour when the Lions went on to play pretty well in the first Test," cautioned Henry. "I don't think we should be complacent."

Henry, though, is more than shrewd enough to sense the Lions face dilemmas in crucial areas. In the back row, a substandard display by Back would leave the crucial No7 position wide open and White, such a scrummaging force when the mood takes him, needs to show he deserves a Test jersey. If Wilkinson, yet to start a game since the Lions arrived in New Zealand, were to get injured this week it would blow a massive hole in the backline options where O'Driscoll, to date, has shown only flashes of his best form. "We're thoroughly looking forward to proving what this Lions team is all about," insisted the captain. There is increasingly little time to waste.

Lions team v Wellington (Westpac Stadium, Weds): Josh Lewsey; Jason Robinson, Brian O'Driscoll (capt), Gavin Henson, Gareth Thomas; Jonny Wilkinson, Dwayne Peel; Gethin Jenkins, Shane Byrne, Julian White, Danny Grewcock, Ben Kay, Simon Easterby, Neil Back, Martin Corry. Replacements : Gordon Bulloch, Matt Stevens, Paul O'Connell, Lewis Moody, Chris Cusiter, Stephen Jones, Shane Horgan.