Lions rip up team and start again

In Lions terms, it marks the most dramatic shift in personnel since before the First World War. In 1910, when a team under the captaincy of the Irish forward Tom Smythe played a three-Test series in South Africa, 11 changes were made between the second and third matches in the rubber. The difference? On that occasion, the Lions tinkered with a winning team, largely because of injury, and lost the final game. Maybe Woodward will find some solace in that snippet of information, for he has performed his surgery on a losing side.

Where to begin? Up front, where it went so badly wrong five days ago. Steve Thompson, not the most accurate line-out thrower ever to grace a rugby field but a whole lot more dynamic around the pitch than Shane Byrne of Ireland, plays at hooker, with Donncha O'Callaghan making a deserved first appearance in a Lions Test at lock. The back-row formation is completely new, with Simon Easterby and Lewis Moody flanking Ryan Jones, the young Welsh No 8 and star of the tour to date.

Outside the scrum, the alterations are every bit as comprehensive. Jonny Wilkinson moves from inside centre to his more familiar position of outside-half at the expense of Stephen Jones, while Gavin Henson – yes, he's made it at last – and Gareth Thomas, the new captain in Brian O'Driscoll's enforced absence, form a fresh and high-risk centre partnership. Shane Williams, who put five tries past Manawatu on Tuesday, is in at left wing, while Josh Lewsey and Jason Robinson switch roles.

Exciting? Definitely. A gambler's call? For sure. Woodward was deeply upset by some of the personal criticism hurled in his direction after the shambles in Christchurch – "Sometimes, you're angered by the amount of vitriol and bile that comes your way and you don't forget the things some people say when you're down," he remarked, darkly – but as he is not one of life's natural depressives, his levels of self-belief remain stratospheric.

"I've had better weeks," admitted the head coach, "but strong people come away stronger from these experiences. I've been involved in rugby for a long time now and I have to say that last Saturday night was right up there at the top of my list of disappointments.

"Clearly, things were not right. As this is a Lions tour, not a development tour, it simply isn't appropriate to pick the same team and attempt to sort it out in training. I needed to shake it up and I've shaken it. I'm not hiding and I'm not burying my head in the sand. I'm here to make the difficult decisions and here they are."

Woodward could easily have made more changes. He admitted that Robinson, badly out of sorts, would not have made the cut had he felt able to keep Thomas in the back three. Fortunately for the former England captain, the Lions have run out of specialist No 13s in the way Basil Fawlty ran out of duck. O'Driscoll is off the tour, Ollie Smith of Leicester is "battered" and unavailable for selection. Thomas, who last played outside centre in a serious match more than a year ago, at least has the power to confront Tana Umaga, the fearsome All Black captain, man on man, and his relocation left a space in the rearguard.

Julian White, too quiet by half last weekend, is fortunate to hang on to his place at tight-head prop – the Lions coaches were tempted to shift Gethin Jenkins across the front row and unleash the freakishly strong Andrew Sheridan on the New Zealand scrum – while the decision to keep faith with Wilkinson has not met with universal approval, especially as Charlie Hodgson, the secular saint's successor in the England team, has played a blinder since arriving in All Black country.

But while Woodward has ditched three of the men he most trusted during his time with England – Will Greenwood, Ben Kay and Neil Back – his faith in Wilkinson remains unshakeable. "Had O'Driscoll not been injured, I might have kept Jonny at inside centre," he said. "I was genuinely excited by the potential of his midfield link with Jones. Under these circumstances, I believe it's best to run him at 10. I thought he had a tremendous Test last weekend – he was our best back. Physically, he's up to it; mentally, he's right there. Based on his pre-tour performance against Argentina, his game against Wellington and the Test match, I feel it's right to pick him. He's our best goal-kicker. He's the man."

Some, perhaps many, will cast an eye over this line-up and feel more than a little bemused. Woodward places great store on familiarity, on units and combinations working together. So what has he done? Picked the Irish line-out in its entirety, yet dropped the Irish hooker; picked most of the Welsh back division who sent some serious voltage through this season's Six Nations Championship, yet demoted Jones, the man who made them tick, to the replacements' bench.

There is, however, a logic there somewhere. With Woodward, there generally is. As he said yesterday: "I've been in these corners before – not quite as tight as this maybe, but similar – and come away smiling." And off he walked, smiling from ear to ear.

Lions team

Second Test v All Blacks, Westpac Stadium, Wellington, Saturday:

15 J Lewsey (England)

14 J Robinson (England)

13 G Thomas (Wales, capt)

12 G Henson (Wales)

11 S Williams (Wales)

10 J Wilkinson (England)

9 D Peel (Wales)

1 G Jenkins (Wales)

2 S Thompson (England)

3 J White (England)

4 P O'Connell (Ireland)

5 D O'Callaghan (Ireland)

6 S Easterby (Ireland)

7 L Moody (England)

8 R Jones (Wales)

Replacements: S Byrne (Ireland), G Rowntree (England), M Corry (England), M Williams (Wales), M Dawson (England), S Jones (Wales), S Horgan (Ireland).