Lions relishing chance to carve slice of history and leave a large legacy | Robert Kitson | Sport

Lions relishing chance to carve slice of history and leave a large legacy | Robert Kitson | Sport

Even a week ago few fans of the All Blacks would have imagined Warren Gatland sounding more quietly confident than Steve Hansen before the final Test. Gatland himself cannot quite believe it as he watches New Zealand’s ever-changing backline spin like a fruit machine that has yet to pay out. “It feels a bit ironic and strange,” he murmured. “The players feel that if we click we can do something pretty special.”

If this role reversal extends to the British & Irish Lions winning a series almost every Kiwi expected New Zealand to dominate, it will rank with Leicester City winning the Premier League as the sports story of the decade. Beating the world’s best team on their own patch with a squad who, until six weeks ago, were virtual strangers and had signed up to a “suicidal” itinerary? Improbable does not begin to cover it.

You can tell the All Blacks are wary because the normally laconic Hansen is starting to speak like a Miss World finalist, calling for global oval-ball harmony and insisting it will not necessarily be a terrible thing if his side were to lose the final Test. Just about audible above the hissing rain on Auckland’s pavements was the sound of hundreds of All Blacks spinning furiously in their graves. The day it barely matters whether New Zealand lose at home against the Lions is the day they start gritting the roads to Hell.

Hansen’s philosophical sales pitch â€" “you would think the All Blacks had never lost a game and the sky is falling in” â€" following the second Test defeat is not even fooling his own players. “The sun will come up the next day and your loved ones will still be there but at the same time we’re very driven to get the result we want,” said the combative flanker Sam Cane. Everyone can see Hansen is seeking to ease the rising pressure on his side but Gatland rightly senses more anxiety in All Blacks ranks than usual.

The Lions management, rather than worrying about only themselves, reckon the All Blacks have been forced to choose a side specifically to stop the Lions, with extra physicality at 12 in the shape of Ngani Laumape, the powerful Julian Savea back on the left wing and an extra goal-kicker, the 20-year-old Jordie Barrett, at full-back.

In contrast, the unchanged Lions sound almost spookily optimistic. “Normally when you play against the All Blacks you’re trying to stop their threats but we haven’t even spoken about them,” Gatland said. “We’re just concentrating on our own game. We know we’ve got another level in us and that’s incredibly exciting. I think you should all be excited for what is potentially going to be one hell of a Test match.”

The Lions are even getting cranky on the training ground, always a positive sign, with their Irish flanker Sean O’Brien among the players lashing out verbally about the importance of maintaining standards. Non-selected squad members have also been taking out their personal frustration in training. “We had a tasty session … it was a bit testy,” said Gatland, adamant the best is yet to come.

“We think we’re scratching the surface and this team can get better and better. Last weekend the conditioners said they hadn’t seen [our GPS] readings go up like that in the fourth quarter ever before. It just shows what good shape we’re in physically and mentally.”

New Zealand also understand the winners of Saturday’s forward battle will probably win the day but with the French referee Romain Poite in charge and the weather forecast again dodgy, the Lions are well up for it. Player after player is queuing up to describe Eden Park as just another stretch of grass and even Hansen rejects talk of an impregnable fortress, pointing out the scoreboard does not “pop up and show us 10-0 in front” when the team run out.

Hansen has a hugely impressive coaching record but listening to him discussing the pressure of being an All Blacks coach â€" “do you shrivel up and become a flower that needs watering all the time because you stay inside, or do you go outside and enjoy being alive?” â€" was to wonder if the Lions might have timed their trip to New Zealand cleverly.

By comparison, neither Gatland nor his players are under any great weight of expectation. “In 2019, after the World Cup, I’ll maybe go to the beach and retire,” the 53-year-old said. “This is definitely not career-defining, I’ll tell you that.”

His belief, either way, that the 2017 Lions can make a bit of history remains unshakeable. “We haven’t spoken about this yet but they have an opportunity to leave a bit of a legacy. It’s an opportunity that hasn’t come around since 1971. They have the chance to do something special and you don’t want those moments to pass you by.

“People tried to pigeonhole us that we’d play a direct, boring game but I think we’ve played some great rugby. We know we’ve stressed the All Blacks at times and scored some great tries.

“We knew when we got on the plane we had the ability to win the series, even though we’d been written off from day one. We were conscious coming to New Zealand we wanted to be seen as good tourists on and off the field. I’d like to think we’ve done that.”

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