Building trust will be vital for Farrell

AS THE Lions settle in Australia having played their first warm up game against Western Force, it has given head coach Andy Farrell the chance to see if the Argentinian loss was just a case of his players trying a bit too hard to impress him, or if there is some real need for change.

- JEFF PROBYN

Despite what some may think, the squad had been together long enough to understand each other's game and use it to complement their own game. Yes, it was the first time the players had played together in a 'real' match, but they would have trained as a team against each other in opposed and semi opposed games. This would have helped build the foundations of the touring squad and the team that took part in that first game.

I don’t believe the reports of Farrell being furious about last week’s result and giving the squad a complete dressing down, as it would have been counter productive of him to undermine the bonds and trust between coach and players that are needed if you are going to succeed.

When I first joined the England squad the coaches at the time were virtually always dropping players if the team lost a game. So, after every match we lost, there was an element of fear that if you were a new cap you might end up an OCW (One Cap Wonder) which is something no player wants to be known as.

Clubs used to keep records of their international players in lists on the clubhouse walls, with dates of the players' international careers which reflected the number of OCWs during the late 70s to mid 80s until Geoff Cooke took over the England coaching role.