AUCKLAND // The spectre of the Brian O’Driscoll incident finally reared its head on the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand on Monday.
O’Driscoll, the captain of the last Lions team to visit New Zealand in 2005, dislocated his shoulder inside the first two minutes of the opening Test after counterpart Tana Umaga and All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu upended him at a ruck.
The Irishman was ruled out of the tour and the incident created fury among the team and travelling media, with neither Umaga nor Mealamu sanctioned, ultimately casting a shadow over the remainder of a series won comfortably by the All Blacks.
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Auckland Blues coach Umaga, who addressed the incident in his 2007 autobiography, was questioned about it again when he named his side to face the Lions in their second tour match at Eden Park on Wednesday.
“I knew we were going to talk about 2005,” Umaga said when asked about what the last series had meant to him. “That wasn’t the question I was expecting but thank you for that.
“Back then, as a player ... it was very special to be a part of the team to play against the British & Irish Lions.
“But it’s not about that time now. That was 12 years ago and if people can’t put it behind them then I suppose they never will.
“It’s about this group now and their time against the Lions and the memories they make, hopefully they’re positive ones then we move on from there.”
Umaga wrote in his autobiography that he had initially thought O’Driscoll was a “sook” (cry-baby) for the way he had responded to the incident, while he had become incensed at a perceived smear campaign orchestrated by Lions media manager Alastair Campbell.
Watch Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu’s tackle on Brian O’Driscoll
“The sustained personal attack they launched against me was hard to believe and even harder to stomach,” Umaga wrote in 2007.
“You don’t want to take it personally but it’s almost impossible not to when another player, a guy you had some respect for, attacks your character in the most direct and damning terms.”
Several players and former coach Graham Henry, have since said the furore helped galvanise the All Blacks, with the entire team standing behind the captain in a public showing of unity ahead of the second Test in Wellington.
"It was hard to escape and it struck us deep down," fly-half Daniel Carter, who scored 33 points in the 48-18 victory, told the Daily Mail earlier this week.
“We felt like it was our responsibility to protect him and the best way to do that was to play well in the second Test. It became a game for our fearless captain.”
Wales hooker Ken Owens will lead an all-new Lions side for the match against the Auckland Blues on Wednesday with the tourists looking for a step-up in performance.
Coach Warren Gatland announced a completely new side to that which scrambled to a 13-7 tour-opening win against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians on Saturday.
Wales pair Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb will fill the crucial halves roles, with Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton, an unimpressive starter in Whangarei, on the bench.
“We have a few work-ons from last weekend and we know we need to be more clinical,” Gatland said when naming the side on Monday.
“We created some good opportunities against the Barbarians but didn’t see them through and that is something we want to improve on.”
Owens was unavailable for the tour opener because of the ankle injury which also kept him out of the Scarlets’ Pro12 final win against Munster last month.
But Gatland said he was fit to take over from tour captain Sam Warburton for what will be the Lions’ first Test against a Super Rugby team.
“We have stated from the off that we want to give every player a start in the first three games and Wednesday is an opportunity for this set of players to show what they can do in a Lions jersey,” Gatland said.
“We have made 15 changes to the starting XV and we are excited to see what this team is able to do against the Blues.”
Jared Payne, a late scratching from the Barbarians because of thigh injury, will also start, partnering Ireland teammate Robbie Henshaw in the centres.
* Reuters
