Gregor Paul: The Lions' style debate: Why it's flawed

The Crusaders and Lions pack down for a scrum during their clash on Saturday night. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

The contrasting styles of rugby on offer during the Lions tour has been a constant theme.

At times it has got under Lions coach Warren Gatland's skin and at others, it has seemed irrelevant to be carping at the lack of tries the tourists have scored when they were so effective with a kick-chase game in Christchurch.

Much of the debate seems flawed - with New Zealanders often wrongly equating a lack of tries with a negative approach.

The Lions did kick a lot against the Crusaders and they did keep their passing game relatively tight - but their mindset was positive. They attacked with purpose and direction and were aiming to exert pressure every time they had the ball and when they didn't it.

The somewhat tired accusation of Northern Hemisphere rugby lacking attacking intent is a failure to recognise that the European game especially is not missing desire to take opponents on, it is simply more wedded to a different way of doing it.

England's Kyle Sinckler, a refreshingly honest and articulate character who will start at tighthead prop against the Highlanders, summed up the differences about as succinctly as anyone ever has.

"Say if you are watching a Premiership game or a Rabo12 game, teams like to scrum for penalties," he says. "Especially in their own 22, there is a massive emphasis on penalty exits.

"But when you come to Super Rugby, the ball is in play a lot longer than in Premiership games. Teams want to play. They have guys out wide like [Malakai] Fekitoa and [Waisake] Naholo so they are obviously going to want their hands on the ball in space.

"It's all about the emphasis on the scrum and what teams do. You tend to say in Super Rugby guys like to get the ball in and out and play but then you have the Crusaders who scrum for penalties. The Bulls like to do that as well but in the Premiership every scrum you come up against they are going for penalties so you have to be on your mettle."

And with that Sinckler has alluded - unknowingly - to the fascination of seeing the Lions play the Highlanders under the roof in Dunedin on what must be the fastest, driest track in world rugby.

The Forsyth Barr Stadium is not the place to try to scrummage an opponent off the park. It is not, or hasn't been since it opened in 2011, the place for teams to prevail with a mindset of keeping the game exclusively confrontational.

The Lions may have to adapt their approach, or at least come with a different attitude in regard to how wide they are willing to move the ball.

What was so effective against the Crusaders may not work against a team that will be confident they will still be able to offload out of the Lions rush defence and counter attack from deep if the Lions kick as much as they did on Saturday night.

The final component that has been a factor for all teams who have played in Dunedin, is coping with the aerobic content. The Lions kept their defensive intensity for 80 minutes against the Crusaders.

It was an impressive display of commitment and accuracy. But it was aided - and the Lions deserve the credit for this - by the slow pace of the game and the stop-start nature.

Neither team came close to going into oxygen debt - which is unlikely to be the case against the Highlanders.