Lions panicked - Woodward

13 April 2012

England manager Clive Woodward does not believe Jonny Wilkinson should be singled out for criticism after the Lions' 35-14 defeat in the second Test at the hands of Australia.  

Wilkinson's pass was intercepted by Joe Roff, who stormed clear to square the game seconds after the restart and lift the Aussies.

But Woodward said: "It's wrong to criticise Wilkinson. He made the wrong play - but it's what happened after that that is disappointing."

He added: "Panic set in and we made a few mistakes very quickly.

"But there should have been more scores in the first half - the score at half time didn't reflect the Lions' domination."

Woodward does not believe Australia's crushing second half display will make much difference ahead of next week's decisive third Test in Sydney.

He added: "We'll go into next week's game 50-50 - and I think they'll be fine.

"The Aussies have showed they can come back from a poor performance and the Lions have got to do exactly the same next week."

Scotland coach Ian McGeechan, like Woodward watching the game as a pundit for Sky Sports, said: "We've got to keep it in perspective. They had a very good 40 minutes.

"Primary possession in the second half fell away. The turning point probably was the scrum when Australia came away for Roff's second try.

"It put Australia away and I thought they played some of their best continuous rugby in the five minutes either side of that."

"The momentum can change very quickly - and the Lions will be disappointed they lost their discipline.

"They will now have to regroup if they are to win the third Test."

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