Late penalty sinks stuttering Lions
THE British and Irish Lions stumbled to a 23-22 defeat to the Otago Highlanders yesterday as they suffered the second loss of their tour ahead of next week’s first test against the All Blacks.
The Lions finally found their attacking mojo, scoring three tries to two – more than doubling their try tally so far – but lost from a winning position through a late penalty.
They now have two wins and two losses after four outings on their gruelling 10-match New Zealand tour, with the first test in Auckland looming a week on Saturday.
The match was played at a breakneck pace in front of a capacity 27 000 crowd at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
There was a chaotic scramble in the final minutes, when replacement flyhalf Marty Banks potted a penalty to give the Highlanders a one-point edge.
Elliot Daly attempted to return fire but his long-range penalty effort fell just short, before centre Jonathan Joseph’s knock-on after the siren dashed hopes of a last-gasp comeback.
The Highlanders decided against performing a haka before the match and were instead led out by a piper before captain Luke Whitelock handed Lions skipper Sam Warburton a giant claymore sword.
After a penalty apiece, All Black Waisake Naholo scored the first try.
Joseph hit straight back locking up the scores at 10-10 at the break.
Scottish winger Tommy Seymour put the Lions into the lead just after the restart.
Warburton then gave the tourists a third try, only for Highlander Liam Coltman to retaliate from a lineout drive.
That reduced the arrears to 22-20, and Owen Farrell missed a chance to give the Lions some breathing space with a penalty from out wide.
But Banks made no mistake after the Highlanders won a scrum penalty, coolly slotting over the posts to put the hosts ahead 23-22 with eight minutes to go.
Daly’s ambitious kick from 56m fell just short before Joseph’s mistake ended the match, a harsh result for the try-scorer, who was one of the Lions’ standouts.
The Lions next play the Maori All Blacks in Rotorua on Saturday.