Rugby: British and Irish Lions likely to be killed with kindness

The British and Irish Lions' charm offensive since their arrival in New Zealand means they are more likely to be killed with kindness when they arrive in Whangarei tomorrow than to be seriously challenged by their Provincial Barbarian opponents.

But the tourists have all done their due diligence on the men from the second tier of the game here, those who have gathered from Northland to Southland and various points in between.

That much you would expect from such a professional outfit and for them the match at Toll Stadium on Saturday is probably the perfect pipe opener.

The tourists will be welcomed by a Northland community which hasn't been host to this sort of rugby talent since the 2011 World Cup, and the game will allow Warren Gatland's men to run the rust off and test their fitness and skills against a side who will have plenty to prove, likely enjoy the experience of being in the spotlight, but will be outgunned across the field.

Really, the Lions management will have the next two matches earmarked as far tougher challenges - the Blues next Wednesday and Crusaders on the following Saturday on the Super Rugby teams' home grounds.

Significantly, the two outfits who will be bolstered by their All Blacks. Unfortunately, due to the proximity of the matches to the first and second tests, the Highlanders, Chiefs and Hurricanes will be without their biggest stars, but even then they will be able to mount a significant challenge and perhaps cause a surprise or two.

Lock Alun Wyn Jones was in the Waikato Stadium stand last year when the Chiefs beat Wales 40-7 thanks in part to a Stephen "Beaver" Donald masterclass - which he was happy to comment on today - and the flatness of Wales' own performance.

He knows well what's at stake over the coming weeks in particular even before Gatland fine-tunes his likely match-day squad for the first test at Eden Park on June 24.

Jones, on his third tour with the Lions - countryman Leigh Halfpenny is the only other tourist on his third Lions trip - believes this 41-player squad is probably the strongest he has been associated with, but it needs to be.

"I'd like to think yes, it would have to be," he said. "We are playing the world champions and a host of quality Super Rugby franchises, so it's going to have to be.

"When we played the Chiefs we were probably out-smarted, I'm not going to use any excuses. The quality of play that was produced that day, particularly from the Beaver, was good to watch probably from the neutral but not for ourselves.

"That level of intensity is going to exist throughout the course of the tour, it's down to ourselves to get to a level that we can maintain that and be equal to the test. We'll be red-lining all the way through.

"A lot of these games are going to go down to the wire... because of the intensity and decision-making these New Zealand teams are able to produce."

Already, it seems, the decision by Kiwi coach Gatland to prepare his men for the cultural differences on this tour is paying off. The Lions sang a Welsh hymn in response to the official powhiri at Auckland airport yesterday and will do something similar in Waitangi on Sunday before they travel back to Auckland.

Responding in kind allows them to celebrate their own cultures as well as New Zealand's.

During a press conference in a room overlooking a sun-light QBE Stadium pitch, Jones spoke well about the need to celebrate and protect the native languages of the four home unions, and made the point that the same was happening in New Zealand with Te Reo Maori.

"I think a tour of this nature needs that approach," he said. "Having been here before, and not really responded or bought into it, I think it's good that we're able to respond and there's a level of expectation [that we will]."