Sonny Bill Williams was forced to intervene as Blues coach Tana Umaga was grilled over the infamous spear tackle from 2005.
It was the ex-All Black captain along with hooker Keven Mealamu that controversially ended opposing skipper Brian O’Driscoll’s 2005 Lions tour with a joint spear tackle.
“It’s not about that time now,” replied the former centre.
“That was 12 years ago. If people can’t put it behind them, then I suppose they never will.
“It’s about this group now and their time against the Lions and the memories they make. Hopefully they are positive ones and we just move on from there.”
Then, when it came again, he had Sonny Bill Williams to step in and pull off an interception to change the subject.
“Hey, let’s just leave it alone mate,” he told the reporter.
“Yeah, we have talked about that,” he said.
“As the media does, they have got on the back of the Lions, which hasn’t helped us out a lot.
“When you have something like the Lions and how big that juggernaut is there is a lot of expectation around that.
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“I think they will come out and want a more polished performance.
“We have talked about the intensity they will come with.
“There is likely to be a backlash about a performance they are probably not too proud of.