George North leads search for X factor to rouse lethargic Lions | Robert Kitson

‘We need to start kicking on now’ is Wales wing’s summary before his tour debut in the match against Canterbury on SaturdayThere is inevitably a battle to be won every time the British & Irish Lions visit the New Zealand stronghold of Canterbury. In the past it was a grimly physical one, not least when Sandy Carmichael and Ray McLoughlin were invalided out of the 1971 tour after the infamously dirty encounter at Lancaster Park. These days it is more of a mental challenge, arguably tougher than any other examination outside the Test arena.The all-powerful Crusaders no longer rely on their f…