The war of words having already started with the announcement of the Lions' 37-man squad two days ago, Robbie Deans has dismissed the derogatory "Slabs of Red Meat" headline in the Sydney Morning Herald as "nonsense", and used the Wales-England Six Nations decider to talk up the tourists.
“It is a powerful Lions squad, no doubt about that, it is powerful in every way, but to suggest that is all they bring is nonsense,” said the Wallabies coach in reference to the notion that the Lions’ squad was picked with power and physicality in mind.
“I refer once again to the Six Nations and there was some great attacking play from these players during the Six Nations. Both sides like to play. That has always been the nature of Lions series and this one will be no different.
“They will pose a big, physical challenge – that has always been the nature of Lions’ series and this one will be no different. The critical question is, both sides will look to play in a way that suits them and how will the opposition cope with what they bring to the table?”
Deans was not surprised by the make-up of the Lions squad. "We are pretty familiar with the playing group. In this situation there are always unlucky players when there are so many good players available. We saw Jonny (Wilkinson) play very well at the weekend and wondered whether he may come.
'Robshaw unlucky'
"Chris Robshaw is unlucky, you only have to go back to the start of the Six Nations – look at the eventuality that England were playing for the Grand Slam and could have won the Grand Slam and there is no doubt that final result must have had a big bearing on the nucleus of the touring group. The last one from this side that stands out as being unlucky is (Rory) Best from Ireland. It is a very strong squad, a lot of these blokes are experienced touring with the Lions previously and that will stand them in good stead."
The tourists four-day warm-up camps in the Vale of Glamorgan and Carton House – when the Lions’ arrive in Kildare on May 20th it will be their first visit to Ireland in their 125-year history – are likely to be limited to around 20 and 25 of the touring party, bearing in mind the PRO12 and Premiership finals of May 25th.
Not unreasonably, therefore, Warren Gatland has cited lack of preparatory time together as their biggest challenge, but Deans cites the Wallabies' lack of preparatory time, and particularly warm-up games, as a disadvantage.
Deans confirmed that he will name a 25-man Wallabies squad on May 19th, which will come together three weeks out from the first Test. “This is a necessity,” he maintained. “We need the preparation.”
There would be some discussion with the Australian franchises about which players may be released for a couple of Australian derbies on the second weekend in June, and for the franchise games against the tourists.
“The critical thing is we need to prepare and even with that opportunity together it will be the shortest preparation for a Lions series,” said Deans by conference call to the British and Irish print media yesterday.
“It is an advantage the Lions will have to play some games and prepare and with essentially being a French Heineken Cup final there will have more opportunity to prepare. We have to make the most of time we get.
“Our philosophy is that we want to give everybody the opportunity of playing the Lions because it’s such a rare privilege,” said Deans, who maintained there would be little to be gained from sending out seriously weekend regional sides.
"Rest assured that the franchise teams will be very strong. You will see every top player in Australia play against the Lions, whether that will be the franchises or in the Test series."
Off-field sledging
Maintaining the big sell in again seeking to play down the likelihood of off-field sledging, Deans said: "There's a huge amount of interest in the tour – tickets sold out in 15 minutes. When you get that sort of passion colliding in the grandstand and on the streets there will be – I don't know about controversy – banter. It's going to be a great series, maybe the best ever. These series just get better."
Being forced to expose 41 players at Test level last year, with another 11 sidelined, coupled with the way an impending Lions’ tour has concentrated minds, has helped a strong showing by the Australian franchises in the Super 15, with the Brumbies setting the pace and the Reds in their slipstream after the return of leading players like possible Wallabies’ captain James Horwill, Will Genia and Quade Cooper coinciding with a five-game unbeaten run.
‘We’re in a better position than we were in a year ago, when we had a lot of long-term injuries which meant we were down in the depths. I think we’re better for that now, which can be seen in the slightly more consistent nature of our franchises in Super 15. They’re not playing the house down, but they are more competitive.”
Cooper, of course, famously described the Wallabies’ camp as “toxic” in stating he would not play for his country under the Deans regime, but the latter maintained: “There was never an issue from my perspective. If Quade earns the right to represent Australia he will have done that the right way and in doing that he will have earned the respect of his peers.
“Quade is back out there playing consistently which is great. He was injured post-World cup, had various operations and then relapses. It’s good to see him out there working hard and he clearly wants to be involved. It is an era where fortunately we now have good competition which was a luxury we didn’t have not so long ago.”
