Lions hope to use Irish lessons to hurt All Blacks

Ireland played a high tempo, physical game to disrupt New Zealand and run out 40-29 winners in Chicago last November in a victory that sent shock waves around the rugby world.

Lions hope to use Irish lessons to hurt All Blacks

(Reuters)





Henderson, who missed Ireland's first win over the world champions in 111 years due to a shoulder injury, said disrupting New Zealand's free-flowing rugby would be key to beating the hosts.

"The boys over in Chicago got under the All Blacks' skin," Henderson told reporters during a Lions' training camp at Cardiff.

"They made them cough up a loss... The boys got in their faces and disrupted them from their usual game. It will be what we're looking to do out that there, not beat them at their game but at our game."

New Zealand avenged the defeat 21-9 in Dublin two weeks later but Henderson, who featured in that game, said the loss still revealed areas where the Lions could hurt the All Blacks.

"The All Blacks, as talented as they are, have weaknesses which can be exposed," he added.

The Lions start their 10-match tour against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in Whangarei on June 3. They open the series against the All Blacks at Eden Park, Auckland on June 24, travel to Wellington for the second game on July 1 then return to Auckland for the third test a week later.





(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Lions hope to use Irish lessons to hurt All Blacks | SBS News