Lions 2013: Warren Gatland warns tourists 'no fighting allowed' , even if provoked "We are here to play rugby, not to get drawn into silliness," Rowntree said. We can't be doing with getting drawn into anything. That's what a genuine hard man does. It is a different era [to 1974] now. You get on with doing your job well. There are enough opportunities to be physical and put your mark on a game. We don't want to be getting into fights. Warren told them that at training. We'll be very strong internally about it. We'll leave it to the referee to deal with it if anyone decides to take liberties. If not the referee, then a touch judge or a citing officer. The Lions management are well aware of the all-seeing eye of television and mindful of retrospective judgments. Disciplinary hearings are often where the real damage to the prospects of a successful tour occurs. A bloody nose, even a loss of face, is a fleeting nuisance: a three-game ban ruins an entire campaign. "You could miss a tour if you are not switched on," Rowntree said. The modern player understands that perfectly. They know that sanctions are in place if they overstep the mark. Provocation is always there in a game. We had a few issues around that on Saturday night [against the Barbarians in Hong Kong] and we can't be drawn into anything here. If we're getting drawn into something, we're not doing our job elsewhere. The forwards know their roles. They have to be in one place or another, not stood messing about, getting drawn into fights or intimidation. We have to just get on with our game. We are being very strict on that. The stiff upper lips will be put to the test by a Force team who are trying to deflect criticism of their own shortcomings in selection by being bullish about the abrasive approach they intend to take. "We don't intend to take a backward step but we need to be disciplined," Rory Best, the Lions hooker, said. You can be physical without going over the top. Given that the Force have rested several front-line players ahead of their Australian derby Super 15 fixture against the Waratahs on Sunday, there is an air of all-mouth-and-no-trousers about them. There is, though, plenty of precedent for the softening-up process adopted by southern hemisphere provincial teams. "It's about the guys who are picked getting stuck in," Nathan Sharpe, the most capped Wallaby forward of all time and former Force captain said. He played for Queensland against the Lions in 2001 and is a veteran of 116 Tests. There were a lot of midweek games in 2001 where guys who had never played for the Wallabies were given a go. I've got memories of good fisticuffs; Duncan McRae [who belted the living daylights out of Ronan O'Gara in the NSW game], Justin Harrison - who ended up playing for the Wallabies in the last Test - having run-ins with Austin Healey in the Brumbies game. There was a dust-up in the Reds game I played in. Everyone got stuck in. No one is saying that the guys making their debut for the Force will be better than someone like Brian O'Driscoll. But the one great leveller in rugby is the physical element; it's the will to win that dictates most results. You can have all the skill but you have to have that attitude. I love all that, I want all the teams to get stuck in and create an "us-versus-them" mentality. All the guys who play against the Lions in these tour games are representing Australia too. Each provincial side is going to take a little nibble out of them. They can try. The Lions have quality across the board, with an entirely new starting XV from the game against the Barbarians. The mantra at this stage of the tour is simple: this is your chance to impress and your obligation is to raise the standard of the team from the game before. There are eight Irishmen in the side, an all-Wales combination in the second-row in Ian Evans and Alun-Wyn Jones, and potency about the back three. The force will truly have to be with the Force if they are to get anywhere near troubling the Lions. Nathan Sharpe is an HSBC spokesperson. Follow the Lions" Legendary Journey with HSBC's interactive experience at youtube.com/LionsHSBC