Thursday 29 June 2017 10:58, UK
Sam Warburton might have to calm the British and Irish Lions squad for fear over over-motivation ahead of the second Test against New Zealand.
Warburton will be back in the starting line-up as captain at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, having come off the bench in the second half of the 30-15 defeat at Eden Park last Saturday.
The Wales captain takes over the No 6 jersey from Peter O'Mahony, who skippered the side in Auckland and pays for the defeat by being omitted from the squad entirely.
But Warburton said the pain of that defeat needs to be set aside ahead of what he expects to be an aggressive and physical game.
"If anything I am going to have to calm the players down. Motivation is never a problem for Lions matches like this," Warburton said.
"But it's easier said than done. New Zealand are so efficient and play so quickly, you are tired and it's hard to get off the line quickly and put in those collisions. That's why it's so important to work hard early and slow the ball down in the first two or three phases.
"If you allow teams to go six or seven phases it's much harder to recover from a defensive point of view. The best teams in the world are very aggressive defence and they do that. It's not just with defending with line speed and collision, it's with the breakdown. You probably have 200 defensive breakdowns in a game so it's making sure you compete defensively all over the park.
"You play rugby because you enjoy the physical side, so when you come off second best there it does hurt you as a player.
"And we were beaten pretty well in the physical side of things in the first Test. So that's disappointing. And for that reason motivation won't be a factor this weekend.
"Guys will be looking forward to going back and trying to improve that area of the game. But credit to New Zealand, they took us on where we expected to be strong and they took away our threats. So now we have to find solutions."
Many headlines were made over the protection of Lions scrum-half Conor Murray in the opening game, but Warburton says that kind of "niggle" goes on in every game and he is keen that his side proves more of a physical match for the All Blacks as they bid to keep the series alive.
Warburton also admitted the Lions forwards will have to protect Murray better and hinted it was only the high-profile nature of the first Test that had made for so many negative headlines.
"I've probably played almost 200 games of professional rugby and that happens every single game you play in," Warburton added. "It's the little mental edges that players like to get over each other.
"With the incident on Conor Murray, the forwards take that responsibility, and we should look after him better as a forward pack.
"But stuff off the ball goes on every game: there's no defending that but people try to get into each other, whether at ruck time or mauls. Referees can't see everything and you just accept that as players.
"That's all part of the psychological battle, not just before but during a match as well. Players are always going to wind each other up and get into each other. But it's all handshakes after a match. And I've spoken to most of the Kiwi guys, they are a great bunch of lads and no one's taking anything personally."
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