The British & Irish Lions have struggled so far on their tour of New Zealand, and things are set to get a lot tougher when they face the All Blacks in the first test on June 24.
The Lions have struggled in the tour so far, falling to defeats against the Highlanders and the Blues. Bookmakers are now predicting a whitewash for Warren Gatland’s men when they face New Zealand in a three test series.
Review Bet365 odds before you place a wager and you will see that New Zealand winning the series 3-0 is odds on at 8/13. Second favourite is a 2-1 victory for the All Blacks, but that is all the way out at 11/5, so bookies find it unlikely that the Lions will win a single game. A 2-1 Lions win is a 6/1 and Lions 3-0 is a huge 33/1. It makes pretty grim reading for Lions fans, but it is realistic given the way they have toiled so far in New Zealand.
Defeats against the Highlanders and Blues, games the Lions were expected to win, were bitter pills to swallow for fans to swallow, and pessimism is understandable going into a three game series against the world’s best team. To make matters worse, leading fly half Owen Farrell pulled out of training with a thigh strain, leaving him a serious doubt to face New Zealand. The squad is already depleted by injuries to Billy Vunipola and Stuart Hogg, while the All Blacks are looking formidable.
New Zealand warmed up for the Lions game with a demolition job on Samoa at Eden Park. The All Blacks scored 12 tries in a 78-0 rout, which gives a real warning signal to the Lions. "The execution got better as the night went on," said New Zealand coach Steve Hansen. "There was a fair amount of rust and a lack of cohesion at times. It got better, and I thought it wasn't a bad hit-out for the first one."
It was a superb all-round performance, and the scoring was shared between 10 different players, but fly half Beauden Barrett in particular impressed, with two tries, seven conversions and lots of strong creative work in the buildup to other tries scored by teammates. Ben Smith, who captained New Zealand for the first time, said: "I think Samoa started out really physical and really tested us. We had to be really disciplined and when we were we started to profit from that."
The Lions will be coming up against a powerful, disciplined side and will need to be at their very best to have a chance of success. But a whitewash is by no means a foregone conclusion. After all, England have been exceptional over the past two years and, when supplemented by some of the best Irish, Welsh and Scottish stars, they can put out a formidable side. And they are yet to show their full potential, as Gatland has tried to keep the All Blacks guessing. "There’s a little bit of juggling going on at the moment, a bit of mixing and matching," said Gatland after they beat the Crusaders. "We’ve got to make sure we're not fully showing our hand. We’re keeping some combinations back and we need to keep the All Blacks guessing a bit about what the final squad is going to be."
Whether or not the All Blacks will fear such comments is another matter entirely. The Lions will try to kick them out of the game, but New Zealand such fantastic backline talent that they will expect to run in a few tries in the first game. For that reason the All Blacks are just 1/4 to win the first game, while the Lions are out at 4/1. The odds are so high on the Lions that most of the action is going that way. It seems a little speculative from punters, but at such strong odds it could be worth a small stake as Gatland and the Lions could spring a surprise.
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