New Zealand are expecting a fired-up Lions to pose a greater physical challenge in Wellington this Saturday, according to All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster.
After last weekend’s 30-15 victory at Eden Park, the world champions can wrap up the series with a game to spare when the sides meet at the Westpac Stadium.
After a bright start, and a period of possession and territory dominance at the start of the second half without troubling the scoreboard, the Lions were deservedly beaten, but Foster doesn’t believe the visitors were caught unawares by the New Zealand challenge and is expecting a big response from Warren Gatland’s side.
"I don’t think they were too surprised by what we did," he told RTÉ Sport.
"They will be disappointed I guess in some aspects, the physical side was probably an area.
"You’d have to assume that they are going to come out strong in that area and also a continuation of a lot of things they did actually do.
"They stretched us in some areas."
With speculation rife over possible team changes – Julian Savea and Sam Warburton are two who could come into the fray at the weekend – Foster doesn’t envisage wholesale changes, but does expect both sides to be more clinical with their scoring opportunities.
"It was a huge game last week. It was tense," he said.
"While the scoreline probably flattered us a little bit at the end, we knew we were in a massive arm wrestle.
"I don’t think there will be massive changes on either side, but both teams will be looking to execute a little bit better."
Join us for our New Zealand v Lions match tracker on RTE.ie and live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 for the second Test in Wellington (kick-off 8.35am).
