JONNY WILKINSON warned the Lions to keep things simple in New Zealand — and avoid the chaos of 2005.
Sir Clive Woodward’s disastrous tour to take on the All Blacks 12 years ago ended in a humiliating 3-0 Test series defeat.
And England World Cup hero Wilko believes his Lions bombed because they tried a gameplan that they did not have time to make work.
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He said: “We went out for the First Test and it was like chaos I had never seen before. We had 12 of us in rucks at times. We were all over the place.
“Everything has to be driven in one direction.
“If that means it has to be kept simple, then that’s the way it must be.
“Once you get all that energy travelling in one direction it can be amazing. But when you spread it into a more complex situation, those directional changes are magnified by the New Zealand team.
“They pulled us apart. At times I was defending against five people.
“How many times now do you see a five or six-man overlap? Never.
“There were four or five in that first half.
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“The Lions have to be clear. They need to have fewer things to do, but be clear on each of them.
“If they go in with a complicated plan they will get pulled apart.”
The Lions were ripped apart off the pitch, too.
Woodward’s decision to take Tony Blair’s old spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, as head of press backfired as the messages he tried to push caused friction with the public.
Wilkinson, an ambassador for Land Rover, added: “One thing to take from 2005 is the only thing that matters is rugby.
“That’s how you communicate with the New Zealand public.”
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