{"id":285609,"date":"2025-07-23T16:16:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T16:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/285609\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T16:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T16:16:13","slug":"george-gregan-backs-ardie-savea-clone-to-keep-the-lions-series-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/285609\/","title":{"rendered":"George Gregan backs Ardie Savea ‘clone’ to keep the Lions series alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wallaby legend George Gregan<\/a> is backing Joe Schmidt\u2019s players to keep the British and Irish Lions<\/a> series alive by \u201c writing their names in the history books\u201d in Melbourne on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Defeat at the MCG would give the Lions an unassailable 2-0 lead after their triumph in Brisbane, where weaknesses and inexperience in the home side were clinically exposed until the Wallabies staged a late fight back as they lost 27-19.<\/p>\n

However, the 139-cap World Cup winner is taking heart from the return of No.8 Rob Valetini<\/a>, who the former captain believes can deliver the kind of game-changing performance Ardie Savea<\/a> produces for the All Blacks<\/a> to win the breakdown and gainline battles.<\/p>\n

Gregan said: \u201cIt\u2019s probably the biggest game in this country for the Wallabies for a very long time. Rob fights for metres after contact, and like Ardie Savea<\/a>, you don\u2019t tackle him and he drops, he keeps going. Rob will have a big impact in the contact area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Team Ruck Speed \"Team <\/p>\n

Gregan, who was a key player in the 2-1 series win over the 2001 Lions, knows what it takes to come back from a first Test defeat in Brisbane, having endured that body blow in a match made famous by Brian O\u2019Driscoll\u2019s brilliant solo try. However, in the second Test in Melbourne the Wallabies rebounded from that 29-13 loss with 35-14 victory, and then took the final Test and the series with a 29-23 win in Sydney.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cYou know heading into the second Test that you have to front up or the series is done. As a player these are the moments and games you want to be part of, showing some grit and character and turning things around. To be able take the series to Sydney, as a Wallaby you wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else this week in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Australian rugby union it doesn\u2019t get any bigger than this and it\u2019s a chance to put everything on the line. Rugby league has just finished their State of Origin and everyone wants to have a game three decider, but that is up to the Wallaby players.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes there will be a lot of noise around the squad and there will be changes, but this group has a chance to write themselves in the history books and this a wonderful opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is never any magic science or magic sword, and if you lose the gainline battle the game becomes more difficult. It\u2019s hard to attack, your playmakers have less time on the ball and you are really under pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe picture the referee is seeing is one that has you looking like you are on the back foot rather than the front foot. It means the rub of the green goes your way because you are better and more accurate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe breakdown is huge and this was always going to be the most important battle in this series. When the Lions get that quick ball you can see what they can do, They get numbers, play with width and score points quickly. Rob Valetini<\/a> and Will Skelton<\/a> will really help in that battle on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Team Turnovers \"Team <\/p>\n

The Wallabies opted to start the first Test with rookie Tom Lynagh<\/a> and Jake Gordon<\/a> at half-back, but their best moments came with try-scorer Tate McDermott<\/a> and Ben Donaldson<\/a> in those roles.<\/p>\n

Gregan added: \u201cThe breakdown was hard and so the half-backs were struggling to find rhythm in that first 40-50 mins with most of the play in the Wallaby half.<\/p>\n

\u201cTate always lifts things, playing with a lot of energy and is dangerous around the ruck and provides a different picture to what Jake does. The Wallabies started to get gainline parity and some quality ball they could play off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike the current Wallabies team, Howden tour ambassador Gregan was part of a vastly experienced 2001 squad that had won the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the Tri-Nations series and Bledisloe Cup.<\/p>\n

The pressure is on Wallaby head coach Joe Schmidt to give his team the tools to dismantle the Lions machine and the return to fitness of key forwards Valetini and the massive Skelton could be crucial.<\/p>\n

Gregan said: \u201cWe had an experienced squad and were very consistent in how we approached and reviewed every match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we had a loss were very honest with ourselves in the review and identified a couple of key areas that let us down quite badly in the first 2001 test against quality players. If you give quality players an inch then they take a mile, and this is exactly what they did in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike any team, we played really well when we got quick ball on the front foot and then the opposition loses those metres in contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were also a team that liked to play with ball in hand for extended periods. We had a very experienced group that was up for that task. The great thing about a three-match series is that you get to rectify a loss within seven days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am confident the Wallabies can fix up the key areas and the breakdown will be huge. First up tackling is important and then winning that crazy contact area. It\u2019s about adapting to the referee\u2019s interpretation or else you will struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart says the Wallabies for this second Test, and what I saw in that final quarter was promising because that is the way to make the Lions feel a bit uncomfortable and not find their rhythm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it comes down to who executes in the big moments and I hope that is the Wallabies. I will be there in my gold Wallaby jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wallaby legend George Gregan is backing Joe Schmidt\u2019s players to keep the British and Irish Lions series alive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-285609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114903448630834954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}