RUGBY: On the day Clive Woodward announced his first team to play in New Zealand, former All Blacks have waded into his 2005 Lions, labelling them "dreadful", "inept" and the worst Lions squad to tour there in 55 years.
Laurie Mains, who coached the All Blacks to within a whisker of the 1995 World Cup, has written off the Lions' chances, predicting they will be "hammered" in the Test series.
Legends Sean Fitzpatrick and Zinzan Brooke have already predicted the Lions will suffer a 3-0 whitewash. Andy Haden says the size of the touring squad is a "nightmare", and John Mitchell has criticised the selection of "retired" backrowers Lawrence Dallaglio and Neil Back.
"This is the worst Lions team to arrive in New Zealand that I can remember," Mains said yesterday. "And I can remember every tour since 1959. I was privileged enough to play against the great team of 1971 and had the reins as All Blacks coach in 1993.
"There are some fine players in Woodward's squad, but in terms of an abundance of world-class players, they fall woefully short.
"The showing against Argentina was at worst dreadful, at best inept. If the Lions perform at that level in New Zealand, they are likely to be beaten in several provincial games and hammered in the Tests. I actually hope the Lions improve . . . if they don't it will be a very boring tour."
Haden - the man whose leap out of the lineout in Cardiff in 1978 is widely regarded as the worst piece of gamesmanship in Test history - also waded in.
"Realistically, disappointment is just around the corner for close to half of this team," he said.
"There will be at least 20 who won't make it on to the field in a Test match. Some scribe will find a player with complaints, because some won't get enough game time."
Meanwhile, the Kiwi media have fired the first shots of what will be an entertaining five-week battle. The Sunday News yesterday printed a large photo of Woodward designed to be cut out and pasted to a dartboard.
"By the end of the tour, you should have at least 74 p***ks in the cut-out picture . . . because that's the number of them in Sir Clive's tour party."
