This doesn't mean they're unbeatable, but the way they're playing the game at the moment, possession equals tries."There will be some melodramatic stuff spoken and written about where this defeat leaves the sport in the British Isles and it would be unwise to buy into it, but right now, New Zealand are very definitely the best team in the world."What happened to the Lions in the Wellington "Caketin" on Saturday made blame redundant. The All Blacks are a completely integrated, interactive side and they have given us a lesson in modern rugby. Lewsey is an unusually articulate sportsman, but even his vocabulary was insufficient. Pressed again, he finally offered a thought or two. "When you're on the back foot against these people," pronounced the England full-back, "you're chasing shadows It's not just the backs, though That's the frightening thing. Asked to describe the feeling of being the last line of defence against one of the most potent back divisions ever witnessed in this game, he raised his eyes to the heavens, grimaced in the manner of a man suffering on the rack, swallowed hard and said .. nothing, as it happened. We weren't defending as one, people were doing different things We will be working on that..
NEW ZEALAND 48 Tries: Umaga, Sivivatu, Carter 2, McCaw Cons: Carter 4 Pens: Carter 5 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS 18 Tries: Thomas, Easterby Con: Wilkinson Pens: Wilkinson 2 HALF-TIME: 21-13 ATTENDANCE: 34,500 If a picture is worth a thousand words, the expression on Josh Lewsey's beaten-up face - imagine a cherub after 12 rounds with Joe Frazier and you'll be somewhere in the ballpark - represented the entire hardback edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. If you're taking them on in their own patch, you need to be taking them on and playing as one. Instead of 10-0, it was 7-3.I was pleased the line-out worked well, though, as I was in charge of it during the week in training. We had a few sloppy balls, but by and large it was good, and we got after a few of theirs.In some ways I think I played pretty well, but then, at other times, I cringe.
I thought that second Test team, if it had have had a few more run-outs, would have done all right.We'd a great start, in contrast to the previous week. We badly need to win and get rid of a bit of the disappointment. The All Blacks won't mind winning the series 2-1 but losing it 3-0 would be devastating.I don't think we're miles behind, though. This is a dead rubber in a Lions series - and we're on the wrong end It's very tough to face. All my mistakes seemed to happen with a big spotlight staring down on me.This will be the hardest week, mentally, in a lot of these players' careers.