Rugby: How the wheels could fall off for Lions

For the moment the wheels are on. But if the Lions lose at Eden Park against the Blues, the wheels will most definitely become a little loose and by this point next week, they could fly right off.

It's such a fine line for them at this early stage of their tour. There's no point in anyone pretending the Lions were anything other than awful in their first game: laboured, slow, disjointed and unimaginative.

They will hope their first outing was simply a reflection of their lack of preparation. They will hope they can pass off their ineffectiveness on a bit of jet-lag and the madness of arriving in New Zealand just three days before game one.

But what will be troubling them privately about their performance is that the team that played in Whangerai had been training together for nearly three weeks back in the UK.

The New Zealand Provincial Barbarians really were thrown together at the last minute, the Lions weren't. Still, if the Lions can take a big jump at Eden Park and find some urgency and accuracy, play with some energy and poise, then we can all move on happy that game one was just running the rubbish out of the system.

That's certainly coach Warren Gatland's hope: "There's an opportunity for people who want to be critical and we experienced that four years ago," he says.

"People decided to be critical and obviously they got caught with their pants down afterwards didn't they? We didn't play so well on Saturday and that gives us the opportunity to play well against the Blues."

Gatland's view is sensible. And expected. But there is also the danger that it proves to be a hollow warning.

New Zealand is not Australia and just because the Lions found a way back to form and ultimate success in 2013, doesn't mean it will happen in 2017.

This tour could hardly be more different to the last for the Lions and things could go unbelievably wrong, almost unbelievably quickly.

The Lions could find themselves heading to Christchurch on Thursday following a hugely unconvincing win against a group of amateurs and a defeat to the Blues.

If that's what happens, they will be metaphorically cast to the seas, left with only a small hope of finding safe passage to shore.

They will have just one day to get ready to play the Crusaders and while the Lions are hinting strongly with the first two selections that they will pick their best side in Christchurch, that creates both hope and fear.

The hope is that with their best men on the track, they will be better equipped to win. The fear is that if they don't, they could be one win from three games and wondering how to recover if they throw their best shot at the Crusaders and it's not enough.

Not that they will have much time to fret as they will be off to Dunedin to play the nearly equally rampant Highlanders on a pitch the Lions may be bamboozled by.

So the pressure is firmly on the Lions at this early stage. As Blues captain James Parsons said, his side have no burden of expectation. That all sits with the Lions and that's a scenario that is exciting for a young if erratic team.

The Lions arrived saying they would be content to lose a few tour games along the way if it meant paving the way for victory in the tests. Maybe that will happen, but the bigger worry for them is that defeats along the way simply demoralise them, crush their spirit and see them wondering why indeed they agreed to such a tough schedule.