Lions tour: Steve Hansen concedes All Blacks have been served a reality check It's disrespectful to say the All Blacks have gone backwards after drawing with the Lions, coach Steve Hansen says. Goalkicking. Poor skill execution. Lack of ambition. An outstanding opponent. Steve Hansen has a long list of reasons his All Blacks failed to defeat the British and Irish Lions that sit well above a dodgy call or two going against them. It's an admirable take-it-on-the-chin attitude. Strong leaders look within when campaigns don't go to plan; weak ones grasp for ways to deflect attention from the real issues. The All Blacks simply were not good enough over three tests at home to put away a quality Lions side which took the back-to-back world champions out of their comfort zone like few others in recent times. In the second test in Wellington poor discipline and too many inhibitions let the Lions back into the series with a 24-21 victory; on Saturday night in Auckland the New Zealanders squandered multiple chances with handling errors, execution snafus and goalkicking misses, and then allowed the referee to leave the deciding test in permanent limbo when he changed a late-game decision to award the All Blacks a match-winning penalty handy to the posts. please log in to view this image PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES There was a no-excuses mentality from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen in the washup of the Lions series. But on Sunday in Auckland, as his players dispersed back to their Super Rugby franchises for the business end of that competition, the All Blacks coach was embracing a no-excuses mentality in the wake of the dramatic, controversial 15-15 draw at Eden Park that resulted in the first ever deadlocked series between the two sides. READ MORE: * Hansen mum on ref's contentious call * Aaron Cruden: We wanted extra time * All Blacks and Lions tie third test to draw series * Jordie Barrett jump assist magic * Reason: Third test a match played in heaven . please log in to view this image For the world's No 1 team who had only ever lost one series previously (1971) against the Lions, a 1-1 stalemate felt like a defeat. In the washup the coach's reaction reflected that. Could it be that the All Blacks are not as good as their public have come to expect them to be? Hansen said it was "pretty fair" that basic skill execution on Saturday night had been short of their standards. A double-figure handling-error tally on a favourable night simply let the Lions off the hook too many times, despite the All Blacks scoring the only two tries on the night. please log in to view this image PHOTOSPORT All Blacks coach Steve Hansen shakes hands with Lions coach Warren Gatland after the match. "We're disappointed because we didn't take the opportunities," Hansen said. "We're disappointed that, even though we had 14 men in the second test, we didn't play enough. But a lot of that has to be attributed to the Lions' ability to defend the way they do. Ad Feedback "We're going to get more of it. Everyone will say that's how you play, right on the edge of the offside line, and get up there fast. That will force us to get better at it. We weren't as good at it as we would have liked to be. "If we'd just taken a couple of metres a couple of times last night we would have scored tries. We've started to unlock Pandora's box, we just didn't get to eat the chocolates." All Blacks coach Steve Hansen reflects on the "average" way for the Lions tour to finish. The All Blacks certainly didn't get the rub of the officiating green in Wellington or Auckland, but Hansen took a more diverse view. "We could have won if we'd taken the opportunities we created. It was an average way for it to finish, but that's sport. We've got to accept that and move on and get better at what we're trying to do. "If we reflect on what's been really positive for us, we've introduced two 20-year-olds (Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane), another couple of young backs (Ngani Laumape and Jack Goodhue), and we played some positive rugby last night. In the first two tests we didn't play enough rugby. "From a long-term perspective it's been a good series. It's put us under a bit of pressure, some adversity, and we've had to deal with that as a group." Hansen, though, stopped short of calling it a step backwards for the All Blacks, never mind it was the first time since 1998 they had failed to win back-to-back home tests. "We're used to winning everything. But that's one of the reasons this has been a great series. People get a wee sense of reality. There are other teams out there who can play rugby, especially when you combine four of them into one. "It's pretty disrespectful to think just because we've drawn a series we've gone backwards. We had no Ben Smith, no Dane Coles, and they're two of the best players in the world. No Ryan Crotty (for most of the series) ... We played well enough to win; we just didn't. "People have just got to stay calm and trust we know what we're doing. We had a bump in the road against a well-coached team full of quality athletes, but you want a few road bumps, because somewhere they're going to hit you and you need to know how to deal with them." Hansen wasn't about to throw Beauden Barrett under the bus either, despite a mixed goalkicking series. He was six-for-six in the first test, but had five costly misses over the next two. He was also the All Blacks' leading ball-carrier on Saturday night with 20. "Beauden missed a couple and [Owen Farrell] got all his in this test match. It would have been nice if he'd kicked them ... he's working through a technical issue and is getting better with it. His kicking ratio was 81 percent up till last night, so you can't complain too much. "If we sit there and say, is that the reason we lost (or drew), it's an obvious thing to pinpoint. But we didn't take the opportunities."
Mmm............I think you're being a little harsh on The Lions mate. I agree that Gatland is a limited coach, although I'm not so convinced that the Lions got lucky with that penalty decision. It could be argued that Williams was impeded in the air and it certainly appeared to be an accidental offside. It could have gone either way imo. I agree with your comments on Warburton, Davies and Furlong. Itoje and Falateu are indeed World class. I think Farrell is a better player than you give him credit for and he linked up well in midfield with Sexton, who finally returned to form till he got injured. Farrell needs to work on some of his defensive work, but then again I would play him at 10, not centre. As you say, his kicking was ice-cold brilliance. The Lions are a scratch side, whilst the ABs have years of continuity. Yes, the ABs were better, particularly in attack and speed of ball, but the Lions played some very good rugby at times and had the ABs in trouble almost as much as they were in trouble themselves. I believe The Lions would have scored more had they not kicked so much possession away, which isn't a reflection on Murray, who was presumably playing to orders. Murray is the best scrum half in the World imo. All in all I feel the Lions just about deserved to share the series.
What we saw was the beauty of sport Nutso, the better team could not make their superiority show over 240 minutes. Lions had a bit of luck, All Blacks squandered great chances, but the Lions were always in their faces and competing really hard. Given more time together I say the scratch squad would only get better. I didn't rate Gatland and thought we would lose 3-0 with at least one humiliation amongst them. But then again I know nothing.
The value and importance of Lions tours was witnessed by Sean Fitzpatrick's obvious delight at the Lions win in the second Test, making the third Test a decider. He also spoke effusively in praise of the travelling supporters. This was backed up by Pat Lam on the wireless today, when he said that Kiwis view Lions visits as being equally, if not more important, than World Cups.
