The anticipated epic didn't quite materialise last week but it looks pretty well set for the Colonial Stadium in Melbourne today. After something of a bloodless coup last week in Brisbane for the Lions, the Test series hinges on this pivotal second meeting. Victory for the Lions and the series is theirs, making next week's game a footnote in history. Victory for the Wallabies and the pendulum will swing in their favour for the decider in Sydney. It should be mighty.
The formbook Last week they outplayed the Wallabies when it mattered most and in pretty much every department. That being their first outing together, and their confidence having been boosted, theoretically, they should be better still this week while the pressure is now on the Wallabies.
However, that's why the Wallabies are certain to improve and why the Lions will not win as easily as last week. Such is the changed psychological backdrop to this second Test it is the Wallabies who have the fear factor, and nothing motivates quite like fear. The Lions probably had more of it last week, from the general sombreness and weariness of their own camp to the shots being fired at them from all angles, coupled to the thought of playing the world champions in their own den.
But no matter how much they tell themselves otherwise, the Lions know that if all else fails they'll have another chance next week. The Wallabies know they are at the last-chance saloon. Defeat will shred their primary goal of the year, thus ensuring the rest of their season is an anti-climax. For the team that has scaled every challenge placed in front of it these past two years, after the whiff of cordite which had been in the air for the Lions' abrasive win here a 12 years ago, to lose 2-0 on home soil would be a terrible ignominy.
Significantly, they make a habit of rebounding from the occasional bad day, and the last time Australia lost successive Tests at home was 12 years ago to the Lions after taking a 1-0 lead. The most relevant comparison to this week was their mauling by the All Blacks in the so-called "black out Test" in Auckland two years ago, recovering to win the return match 28-27 in Stadium Australia.
Come kick-off it will be Rod Macqueen who'll merely have to nod towards the dressing-room door. As Graham Henry said of the Wallabies yesterday: "I think they'll be as good as they can be. They've had the ideal build-up to the second Test, they've lost the first Test."
Criticism has since come from some unlikely sources - Michael Lynagh - and at the unlikeliest recipient, John Eales. Stephen Larkham, admittedly amid a lot of self-admonishment, then seemed to speak slightly out of turn when lamenting the tactics employed last Saturday, namely "spinning the ball wide and hoping to catch their defensive weakness out there". But this "didn't allow myself or the rest of the team get into the game". Just as damningly, Larkham suggested the Wallabies "were a little bit complacent", and were, as he put it, "out-enthused" by the Lions.
Given Macqueen had claimed before the first Test that he had never seen the Wallabies so motivated, this forced a mildly embarrassing climbdown yesterday when he admitted: "I read Bernie's (Larkham's) comments and perhaps there were some individuals who were complacent."
As regards the game plan to attack out wide from the outset, Macqueen conceded: "I'm the first to admit that and I don't have any problem with doing so. As a team we come up with the game plan together and I suppose we live or die by those tactics."
It's also set fair for a big Eales performance, this being his 50th Test as captain of the Wallabies. "There have been a few big challenges along the way but this is certainly a huge one for us. To turn around what happened last week, which was very disappointing for all of us -- is going to take a lot of effort against a team that's obviously right at the top of their game." Even so it would seem unlikely that they'll bite the biter at line-out time quite like they did in the Gabba, or that the Irish midfield axis of Rob Henderson and Brian O'Driscoll will puncture the Wallaby defence to quite the same extent.
"The top three inches" will decide this game more than anything else, Henry reckoned, and "getting our psychological preparation right is, I think, going to be the key to this Test match. I think both sides will have some tactical appreciation and a game plan they'll try and stick to, but I think the side which has that greater edge will carry out that game plan the better. And that psychological build-up will be a major challenge for us."
With the recall of Neil Back - whom Henry described as the defensive captain of the team - the Lions are given an important presence at the breakdown to counteract the Wallaby tearaway George Smith, as well as the probability of more width and continuity to their game.
And it's the presence of such experienced, hard-nosed forwards who've been in this position four years ago, such as Martin Johnson, Keith Wood, Richard Hill and Back, which suggests the Lions can dig deep enough to win. Perhaps, too, the Lions are simply better man for man. It could be an epic tussle though.
AUSTRALIA: M Burke (New South Wales); A Walker (Australian Capital Territories), D Herbert (Queensland), N Grey (NSW), J Roff (ACT); S Larkham (ACT), G Gregan (ACT); N Stiles (Queensland), M Foley (Queensland), R Moore (NSW), D Giffin (ACT), J Eales (Queensland, capt), O Finegan (ACT), G Smith (ACT), T Kefu (Queensland). Replacements: B Cannon (NSW), B Darwin (ACT), M Cockbain (Queensland), D Lyons (NSW), C Whitaker (NSW), E Flatley (Queensland), C Latham (Queensland).
LIONS: M Perry (Bath and England); D James (Bridgend and Wales), B O'Driscoll (Leinster and Ireland), R Henderson (Munster and Ireland), J Robinson (Sale and England); J Wilkinson (Newcastle and England), R Howley (Cardiff and Wales); T Smith (Northampton and Scotland), K Wood (Harlequins and Ireland), P Vickery (Gloucester and England), M Johnson (Leicester and England, capt), D Grewcock (Bath and England), R Hill (Saracens and England), N Back (Leicester and England), S Quinnell (Llanelli and Wales). Replacements: J Leonard (Harlequins and England), D West (Leicester and England), M Corry (Leicester and England), M Williams (Cardiff and Wales), M Dawson (Northampton and England), A Healey (Leicester and England), I Balshaw (Bath and England).
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).
Touch judges: Andre Watson (South Africa) and Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand).
