By Alex Lowe, PA Sport

Sir Clive Woodward had two options this week: bring out the red marker and make the changes necessary to try to claw the Lions back into the Test series or stick with 'plan A'.

Thankfully for all concerned he went with the former. Which, in truth, is all he could do after those long formulated plans had been shredded in such embarrasing fashion by the All Blacks last weekend.

Even the public campaign against Tana Umaga for the X-rated tackle which ended Brian O'Driscoll's tour could not obfuscate the debacle which had occured in Christchurch.

So Woodward held his hands up, admitted he made mistakes in sticking by the old guard and on Wednesday announced a side featuring 11 changes.

But hang on a minute.........11 changes?

After 12 months of exhaustive planning have the All Blacks managed to ruin everything in just 80 one-sided minutes?

Well, yes. The Lions made panic changes to their lineout just days before the first Test because they feared New Zealand had cracked their code.

And what happened? Chaos. The Lions lost eight of their 10 lineouts and with it the match.

Graham Henry, the All Blacks coach, led the Lions four years ago when they suffered a similar lineout problem in Australia. He clearly knows how to put the fear of God up the forwards coaches.

The plans have unravelled but has that wave of panic now spread throughout the coaching staff and up to Woodward, the all-seeing eye who promises clear thinking at all times?

Well actually, no. Eleven changes sounds dramatic and it is. But four of them are positional - the loss of Brian O'Driscoll had a significant knock-on effect - and Woodward had no other choice after his major mistakes of last week.

Woodward got himself bogged down in presumptions. Presumptions that the England old guard were firing as well as they had 18 months previously. Presumptions that just because Welsh half-backs Dwyane Peel and Stephen Jones played well in the RBS 6 Nations there was no need for a review when the tour got going.

In short, much of his first Test team had been pencilled in some months before the squad even left for New Zealand and there are questions about that selection which will probably remain unanswered until the various tour diaries are published in time for Christmas.

For example: Why was Josh Lewsey on the wing and Jason Robinson full-back? Why was Gavin Henson not playing, or even on the bench? Where was Shane Williams?

Woodward maintains the side he selected last week was the right one, it just misfired terribly when the conditions were perfect for their tight, set-piece dominated game.

But he disappointed so many by going back on his word and picking on reputation rather than form. Supporters who had paid thousands of pounds to make the trip tried to challenge him over it in the hotel foyer.

Yet in 48 hours of mayhem, Woodward was probably made to pay for it more than he deserved. After the defeat it was confirmed O'Driscoll, Richard Hill and Tom Shanklin, who would have played a significant role in this second Test, were all injured and out of the tour.

Then Danny Grewcock was banned for two months for biting All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu (although he denies it).

Doom and gloom indeed. The situation demanded a rethink.

Now, in a masterstroke, Woodward has his public humming in anticipation again. With one chance to ensure the Lions remain a going concern heading into the final Test, caution has not so much been cast to the wind as given wings and thrown off the nearest cliff. Woodward has gone adventurous.

A radical change in emphasis sees the inclusion of Williams on the wing, Lewsey back in his most devastating position and Henson in the midfield alongside newly appointed captain Gareth Thomas.

The Wales skipper has not played Test rugby at 13 in a number of years but on Wednesday Jeremy Guscott described his selection in the position vacated by O'Driscoll as "inspired". And he knows a thing or two about winning Lions Test series' as an outside centre.

The inevitable changes in the pack are all ambitious. Ryan Jones and Simon Easterby, the two late-comers who have been the most inspiring players on tour, come into a new-look back row with Lewis Moody, that bundle of perpetual energy, starting at open-side flanker.

Donncha O'Callaghan starts alongside his Munster colleague Paul O'Connell in the second row and Steve Thompson has come in for Shane Byrne at hooker. Attacking intent indeed.

The selection of Robinson - ahead of the unfortunate Geordan Murphy - has raised eyebrows given his less than startling scoring ratio of one try in 17 games. But Robinson is a proven matchwinner and one spark of brilliance back in his best position could be enough.

Woodward's preparation may have failed to develop a tactically astute side but they do have the fitness to outlast the All Blacks. Woodward will hope they now also have the ambition to outwit them. The All Blacks, at the very least, will find the Lions an unpredictable force.

The rest of us pray the Lions sharpen their claws and unleash some passion.

Not of the Grewcock variety, obviously, but we want to see the Lions impose themselves physically in the opening exchanges of Saturday's Test. Handbags if necessary. Nothing serious, or yellow-card worthy, just let the All Blacks know the Lion will not roll over in submission.

Woodward has already has indicated as much with his team selection. Now the players must prove it.