Saturday 3 June 2017 14:44, UK
Former All Blacks half-back Justin Marshall said the Lions were one-dimensional in their narrow 13-7 win over the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.
Though the Lions came away with a win, it was a nervy victory at best, and Marshall believes they have been given an indication of what to expect from New Zealand during the tour.
"They've shown us in their first outing that they're going to have some challenges on this tour, no doubt about it," Marshall told Sky Sports.
"The New Zealand Provincial Barbarians were always going to be tenacious, but they showed some ambition as well in true Barbarians style. They were innovative, they were creative.
"My main focus of what I wanted to see from the Lions was how they were going to play, what gameplan they were going to adopt - bearing in mind they haven't given too much away obviously, they don't want to show every little trick that they've got in their box.
"[But] I was very surprised in instances in this game, particular from scrum and lineout attack, when they had opportunities inside the 22, they were quite one-dimensional and not really creative.
"The conundrum is whether or not they were keeping things very secret and they were just wanting to go direct.
"A good start, they got the win - just."
Stuart Barnes says Eddie Jones' warning that 'Warrenball' would not be good enough to beat the All Blacks rang true in Whangarei, and that the Lions let themselves down in moments of the game.
"Sometimes panic is a good thing," said Barnes. "If something big and horrible is around you, and you don't actually realise it's there and you stay calm, it can swallow you.
"This goes back to last week or so and what Eddie Jones was saying - and his words didn't go down well in the Lions corner - where he said Warren Gatland's game is very direct but to beat New Zealand you need a little bit more than that.
"I was very concerned, but having said that they've had a long journey, they haven't had an ideal preparation - there again this is a Barbarians team, they are not a Super Rugby franchise who have been together all season either.
"I also felt that psychologically there were moments where they let themselves down.
"I thought for example when it was 13-7 - I know it was within six points - Farrell has to go to the corner there. The Lions have the experience in the lineout; they dominate and they blast their way over - that's a statement of intent in this match to say 'we want this game'.
"In a way, I was quite glad that kick hit the post, because had it gone over the Lions would have felt a little bit more comfortable, and I think there's a tiny bit of room for panic unfortunately."
