Men from the valleys give Sir Clive food for thought

Sir Clive Woodward offered a tantalising thought that he may lean towards more Welshmen in his opening test combination to challenge the All Blacks.

Whether it was a throw-away line to appease his critics and reinforce team unity or a genuine comment about his ideas will be revealed on Wednesday when he announces his starting XV.

But Woodward insisted yesterday his remarks were not gratuitous and the Welsh had made an even greater impression on him first-hand than they had when he observed them in camp during the All Blacks tour last year.

"There is a tag that they are not the best tourists but with this group that is nonsense, to a man they are fantastic to work with," he said.

"I don't think that Grand Slam was a one-off."

Their second-half performance against France was one of the best he had ever seen and the Welsh ability was quite scary.

After the Lions had beaten Otago 30-19 in a match where replacement No. 8 Ryan Jones starred in his debut, Woodward said the loose forward had given the lie to the notion that the Welsh were not great tourists.

In the next breath the coach said he "could also see why Wales had won the Grand Slam".

The fascination with that comment will be whether he will promote probable bench players such as Stephen Jones, Martyn Williams, Shane Williams or Ryan Jones to the test starting XV.

The test was all about working out which players would handle the pressure that would build throughout the week and during the international in Christchurch.

Before the Otago game, Woodward was adamant there were players at Carisbrook who "are going to be in the test team".

It was hard to accept that notion given the collection who took the field and another post-match comment from Woodward that he was settled on his 22 and would choose big-name players who were accustomed to big-game pressure.

But yesterday he suggested his ideas on the first test team had changed "a wee bit" in the last month.

"There have been people who have really stepped up to the plate on this trip and yeah it [test side] has changed a little bit."

However, while Woodward's ideas may have altered about his test squad, there is still a prevalent belief he will plump for a safety-first choice in the loose forwards.

Martin Corry, Richard Hill and Neil Back are a trio who know each others' games intimately and have been huge forces at test level, the question remaining is whether their impact is more past tense than present.

Ryan Jones' man-of-the-match performance may tempt Woodward to gamble on playing the Welshman at blindside flanker - instead of the slower Hill - where he played in the Six Nations.

And while the Dwayne Peel, Jonny Wilkinson, Gavin Henson trio are favoured to start behind the scrum, the inclusion of Stephen Jones would deliver more instinct.

That would concede Wilkinson's goalkicking genius and leave the onus on Jones or Henson, a tack Woodward would be reluctant to take.

Wilkinson was a player who thrived on preparation when he could get his mind set on a game and date.

"Then he can play and he has had enough rugby to really perform next Saturday if we need him to play so we will decide that later on," he said. "But I have no doubt about this guy, he is physically fit, mentally very, very strong and as long as you give him enough time to prepare properly, have enough people round him who he's played with, I think he is right back there."

While Otago coach Wayne Graham thought players needed continuity of matches to build spirit and organisational harmony, Woodward continued to suggest that preparation on the training field was more important than matchplay.

"It is all about working out the players who can handle pressure."

The Christchurch test would be like a quarter-final of a Rugby World Cup, players had to be rested and Woodward was certain the Lions had achieved that aim. The Lions forwards ground down the Otago team in the second half on Saturday, their thumping presence opening up gaps later in the match for their backline to use.

They were signs the Lions coach had been looking for in the accelerating push towards the test series.

"I am very confident we have a professional group of players all going in the same direction."