 |  Jones (pictured) and Easterby could make huge names for themselves - that's exactly what a certain Martin Johnson did 12 years ago |
You don't make 11 changes to your team unless you realise you've got your game plan and your tactics badly wrong.
As a result Sir Clive Woodward's been getting it in the neck from everyone - from old-has-beens like me down to every Kiwi on these two islands.
They're calling him "Channel Clive" over here because of all the stuff he's doing to try and prove that Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu are guilty for that tackle.
Kiwis see things in black and white and the majority I've spoken to know Umaga and Mealamu did something wrong. It wasn't intentional, but it was reckless.
And they wanted to see Brian O'Driscoll just as much as Lions supporters. They've paid money to watch him and they also feel sorry for him - but they do not like the spin that has been attached to it.
Despite the talisman's absence and the first Test defeat the mood of the fans is pretty good.
Whilst they realise the Manawatu game was a total mis-match, it has put things back on track and a lot of supporters are coming out praying we go to Auckland all square.
Christchurch was a lot smaller and more compact so you could really feel the supporters there.
Wellington is a very different place, spread out over a much bigger area so you're not seeing the concentrations of supporters - yet.
| Donncha O'Callaghan sounds like quite a character |
That will change at the "Cake Tin" on Saturday when all those clad in red will be hoping to acclaim players who could become new Lions heroes.
Just look at that back-row.
Ryan Jones and Simon Easterby are starting when two months ago they weren't considered good enough for the tour and they could now make huge names for themselves.
That's exactly what a certain Martin Johnson did 12 years ago down here with the Lions when he replaced Wade Dooley after winning just one England cap and was outstanding.
He had nothing to lose and just ripped into it and hopefully Jones and Easterby will follow suit along with some of the other new faces in the side.
They need to.
For obvious reasons, one newcomer who particularly excites me is fellow second row Donncha O'Callaghan.
I've never met him, but I've read interviews and he sounds quite a character. He seems a free spirit, is very athletic and I think he'll just go out there, enjoy himself and get stuck in.
Paul O'Connell's the same - a physically outstanding second row but in Christchurch it just looked as if the world was on his shoulders.
They all did, they all suffered, just as I did on that touchline.
It was abysmal - and that was just the weather.
I found that out to my cost that one pair of long johns just wasn't enough when I instead needed a neoprene wetsuit and was left freezing my bits off on the side of the pitch.
The Lions just couldn't get the ball and Shane Byrne's taken the hit for that.
But as a line-out forward I know there are so many reasons for it going wrong and it's not just down to the hooker.
 Byrne missed his first two throws in Christchurch but line-out malfunction wasn't all his fault |
It starts with the calls, then you're hoping the jumpers are in the right place jumping athletically and the lifters are with them and that the movement in the line-out is good.
Nothing was right and to lose 10 of your own line-outs is terrible.
But that's in the past now and Woodward has chosen an exciting team for Wellington.
What a lot of people find frustrating though is that the guys who are playing now are those who have been playing well all along - not just on the tour but during the Six Nations.
Clive obviously had an idea in his mind of how he wanted to play before he came out, took a gamble and picked a team to play that way.
For various reasons they came up well short and if the guys had simply underperformed I don't think you would have seen changes, or at least not that many.
Hopefully on Saturday this new-look Lions team can put that right.
MMIX
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