Maori All Blacks draw on historic victory for inspiration

The Maori All Blacks are looking to the past for inspiration against the British and Irish Lions tomorrow.In 2005 the side beat the Lions for the first time in eight contests spread over 75 years, 19-13.

Speaking before the captain's run this afternoon, coach Colin Cooper said the team had talked about that historic victory during the week and had Matt Te Pou, who coached in 2005, coming to talk to the team.

"He'll talk about that special occasion - we left that until later in the week so we could be in the preparation phase for the whole week," said Cooper.

"It's about taking that in and being ready for tomorrow.

"Even without Matt coming in they're feeling the pressure - [the 2005 victory] has been talked about a lot."

He said Lions first five-eighth Owen Farrell being ruled out of the test with a quadriceps strain was an advantage for the Maori.

"He's a top player and he's been playing really well, so not having to face him is probably good for our team."

The Maori side had been preparing for the Lions' "aerial attack" since their 27-14 loss to Munster in November last year, said Cooper.

"We know that's going to come - it was surprising that it didn't come earlier [in the tour] but in the Christchurch game we certainly saw it."

The Maori squad was "definitely" excited about going up against the Lions.

"For me it's keeping them in the preparation mode - they've got a battle tomorrow and they can't be thinking about the game too far ahead.

"The team always comes first, I've made that pretty clear with every team I've coached.

"[Playing against the Lions] is pretty special, it's an opportunity that a lot of us won't get to have again."

Captain and hooker Ash Dixon said the Maori team had looked at the Lions' previous performances during the tour, but most of their concentration had been on their own preparation.

"I think the first half is going to be pretty crucial for us, they're going to come with a lot of pressure in that opening stanza.

"They've got a good scrum - they're a quality team across the park.

"I think it's going to be a fairly hard battle at scrum time and we've got to get there and make sure we get our processes right."

Dixon said one of his roles as captain was to make sure the players enjoyed themselves.

"I've got to make sure they enjoy themselves and have a few laughs today and at the right time they flick the switch.

"Even though the rugby is really important tomorrow, it's about each other this week and how we can bond as quickly as we can."