Lions Tour: The Lions tour is back on track? How relevant a 100-pointer against a Division Two NPC side was with a view to the second Test on Saturday is debateable, but the midweekers certainly dipped their bread as the gravy train rolled by Palmerston North yesterday.
Nobody did so more than Shane Williams, the elusive, all-dancing, showboating little Welsh wizard, whose fifth try of the night brought up the tourists' century. He was the prime beneficiary as the Lions kept their attacking shape and width pretty impressively to ruthlessly turn the screw after the interval with a remorseless stream of 11 tries and 71 unanswered points.
About the most interesting events of the night occurred during the half-time interval with a triple substitution. The most relevant was surely the removal of Donncha O'Callaghan, to be replaced by Brent Cockbain, which would seem to have signified the Munster stalwart's inclusion in the team for the second Test, even if the second half produced the greater try feast.
How much could be read into the replacement also of the Scottish pair Chris Cusiter and Gordon Bulloch, and also Martyn Williams, by the time the second half kicked off would become more significant when the Test team was announced at around 1pm local time (2am Irish).
"I thought they played as a team tonight," said coach Ian McGeechan afterwards.
"I think last week we got individual and our performance suffered because of it. Tonight our performance got stronger because that was a team playing for each other.
"It was very important to have a game like that. To be honest I don't care what the opposition would have been - that (Lions) team was ready.
"I though there were some good individual and collective performances out there. We know it was miles away from a Test match but nevertheless to do what they did, they had to play well."
Williams himself wasn't quite on the scale of his Welsh team-mate Gavin Henson when commenting: "I came off the field pretty happy with myself. I tried hard and that's all I could ask of myself really. It's not up to me now. Hopefully I'll be included (in the Test side). If I'm not, I'm not, but at least I gave my best."
On another relatively mild winter's night a couple of hours' drive north of Wellington, a huge chunk of the 17,100 attendance bore Lions jerseys and among them was one banner that read: "Umaga, Mealamu and Michael Jackson are innocent. Yeah right."
Below a "Wanted" picture of Tana Umaga, a matching pair of T-shirts carried the inscription "For the Assassination of Brian O'Driscoll."
Out on another immaculate pitch, the supposed dirt-trackers went about their business in a far more cohesive and hungrier manner than was the case seven nights before against Southland. They'd had less travel, more rest and better preparation. And whereas the door to the Test team was closed this time last week, it was very much open seven days on.
For once the Lions dominated the one-on-one collisions and were able to play virtually the entire 80 minutes on the front foot, even in those rare little passages they were obliged to defend. Not only were they physically stronger, but they were blessed with inestimably more pace. Apart from one intercept and breakout, Manawatu never threatened the Lions line and increasingly looked just as likely to concede a try whenever turning over the ball as they did when the Lions kept it through three or four phases.
Even in these moderately competitive circumstances, it was good to see Gordon D'Arcy and Geordan Murphy score tries and recover a bit of their oul' zip.
One of the ironies of this tour is that the dirt-tracking outhalves, Charlie Hodgson and Ronan O'Gara, appear to be playing with more confidence and are striking the ball out of hand better than Stephen Jones and Jonny Wilkinson.
After Hodgson had given another polished 50 minutes and given way to O'Gara, the Munster man seamlessly appeared to give the backline even more width and momentum with his wristy, flat distribution - the best of any of the tourists' outhalves.
D'Arcy, particularly, started to look like his free-running self. O'Gara also popped up in support of two Neil Back offloads to run in a couple of tries, and a couple of touchline conversions at the end ensured a personal haul of 20 points.
Just shy of the 18-try haul and 116-10 winning margin over Western Australia in Perth four years ago, it comfortably eclipsed the previous record win by the Lions in a tour match in New Zealand, which was the 64-5 win over a combined Marlborough/Nelson Golden Bay/Motueta side.
Perhaps the Manawatu coach, Charlie McAlister, put it best when observing, "They (the Lions) will have a good trip back on the bus, have a few beers and a bit of a sing-song. It's a good tonic for them."
While regretting their hammering, neither McAlister nor captain Nathan Kemp were in the Lions' debt as for once the tourists drew nothing but praise.
"They were too big, too strong, too fast in all facets of play but they came into our dressing-room, swapped jerseys and had a talk to us. They were very good guys. The Lions coming here was a big event for the community, just a huge boost for the schools, and even brought some of the grumpy old has-beens back together. It was great for everybody. It's just unfortunate we were the doormats."
Nothing but praise at last. One suspects it mightn't last though.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: S Williams try 0-5; 11: Corry try, Hodgson con 0-12; 26: S Williams try, Hodgson con 0-19; 30: Murphy try, Hodgson con 0-26; 31: Robinson try 0-31; 35: Smith pen 3-31; 38: S Williams try, Hodgson con 3-38; 40: Smith pen 6-38; (half-time 6-38); 42: Hodgson try and con 6-45; 44: Smith try, Hodgson con 6-52; 47: S Williams try 6-57; 49: Back try, Hodgson con 6-64; 54: D'Arcy try 6-69; 57: O'Gara try 6-74; 63: Cueto try, O'Gara con 6-81; 67: O'Gara try and con 6-88; 71: Cooper try, O'Gara con 6-95; 79: S Williams try, O'Gara con 6-102; 81: Cueto try, O'Gara con 6-109.
MANAWATU: F Bryant; B Gray, J Campbell, M Oldridge, J Leota; G Smith, J Hargreaves; S Moore, N Kemp (capt), K Barrett, T Faleafaga, P Rodgers, H Triggs, J Bradnock, B Matenga. Replacements: S Easton for Matenga (37-40 mins) and for Bradnock (75 mins), C Moke for Triggs, N Buckley for Oldridge, B Trew for Gray (all 53 mins), P Maisiri for Matenga (56 mins), I Cook for Barrett (65 mins). Sinbinned: Kemp (30 mins), Easton (80 mins).
LIONS: G Murphy (Ireland); J Robinson (England), O Smith (England), G D'Arcy (Ireland), S Williams (Wales); C Hodgson (England), C Cusiter (Scotland); A Sheridan (England), G Bulloch (Scotland, capt), J Hayes (Ireland), S Shaw (England), D O'Callaghan (Ireland), M Corry (England), M Williams (Wales), M Owen (Wales). Replacements: A Titterrell (England) for Bulloch (40 mins), B Cockbain (Wales) for O'Callaghan, N Back (England) for M Williams, G Cooper (Wales) for Cusiter (all half-time), R O'Gara (Ireland) for Hodgson (51 mins), M Cueto (England) for Robinson (53 mins), M Stevens (England) for Hayes (61 mins), Bulloch for Corry (78 mins). Sinbinned: Stevens (74 mins).
Referee: L Bray (New Zealand).
