Nowell’s break-out try shows Lions have big claws
The Lions mid-weekers finally got the job done on this tour, beating the Chiefs by first relentlessly grinding away on defence and then, amazingly, scoring their best try of their trip.
The standout score came midway through the second spell, and perhaps hinted for the first time at what these Lions can do on attack. It was a break-out effort, finished by Jack Nowell – his second of the night – and came via several pairs of hands and an appreciation of time and space.
Many among the crowd of 30,000 were stunned to see such ambition and skill combine so perfectly because there has been precious little of it so far on this trip.
The Lions’ scoreboard dominance and the Chiefs’ relatively porous defence provided the platform for the try and the victory. Jared Payne’s try several minutes after Nowell’s second was nearly as good.
Both were refreshing sights on a clear and still night perfect for running rugby but such was the torpor they had endured in the lead-up to them most among the sell-out crowd were neither shaken nor stirred.
Normal service resumed when Payne, in the clear for another try, dropped a poor Tommy Seymour pass. Warren Gatland’s mid-week battlers will be triumphant at such a resounding victory against what was very much a Chiefs’ B or even C team, but the result, while deserved and good for those involved in the red jerseys, will have little or no impact on the first test at Eden Park on Saturday — for virtually none of them will be involved in it.
What it did display was how important the set piece and defence is to this game.
The Chiefs were poor in both areas here and will be disappointed not necessarily in losing but in not putting in a performance they can look back on with pride.
It was also a happier homecoming for Gatland after his Wales team were humiliated by the Chiefs here 12 months ago.
The home side needed set piece parity – like the Highlanders achieved in Dunedin – to have any chance, but
they lost three lineouts in the first half, their first about 10m from the Lions’ tryline. It was their first attacking opportunity and effectively set the tone for what was to follow.
They missed too many tackles – 24 to the Lions’ 23 — and initially their attack was based around getting the ball wide along a static backline with the red brick wall advancing at pace. It was a road to nowhere.
Stephen Donald’s kicking game wasn’t quite on the mark either and in the end that weight of possession and pressure told.
The Chiefs made a concerted effort after halftime to make an impression on the 13-6 deficit, with second-five Johnny Fa’auli shaking his opposite Robbie Henshaw to the core twice in succession, but a penalty try for collapsing a maul – deja vu from Rotorua and the New Zealand Maori a few nights ago — knocked the stuffing out of them.