FULL REPORT & ANALYSIS
Poite’s huge call lets the Lions off hook
THEY admitted it was ‘weird’, but it was wonderful, too. The Lions had been chasing history and had to settle for honour instead, as a bloodand-thunder tour ended in a surreal and somewhat farcical stalemate.
It just did not feel right. It was a comma where a full stop should have been. Two mighty teams had slugged it out with warrior commitment and courage and intensity, then the clock stopped and there was no winner. After six weeks of the Lions giving body and soul to the cause here in New Zealand, there was no winner.
Romain Poite blew his whistle and all the combatants in black and red stood around looking bemused.
This was not the outcome anyone wanted. The Kiwi fans evidently were not impressed, as they did not even hang around long enough to see All Blacks captain Kieran Read receive a commemorative silver cap for his 100th Test appearance. He had to settle for being given a raucous ovation by the ‘Red Army’ instead, as players on both sides tried to make sense of it all.
Six weeks of high-intensity thrills and spills, drama and controversy finished with the two captains — Read and Sam Warburton — engaging in a polite tussle over the series trophy; with the two men raising it between them. Then came the etiquette dilemma; who should keep hold of it? The diplomatleaders returned it to its plinth as a compromise. So surreal.
Next came the all-in celebration, with rival players mingling for official photos, which at least allowed rugby to claw back some of the credibility deficit by demonstrating how it remains a fierce brotherhood. Sport relies on the stark divide between victor and vanquished, triumph and disaster. But this was a blurring of the lines that left those present and a vast global audience stuck with an unexpected emotional cliffhanger.
It did not help the collective sense of frustration that an epic, threematch campaign culminated in the tedious routine of a refereeing decision being dissected, with a predictably polarised view on whether Poite had been right to award a scrum to New Zealand in the 79th minute.
Initially, the French official raised his arm for a home penalty but eventually relented in favour of the tourists. In that sense, these were lucky Lions. It would have been no miscarriage of justice if Ken Owens had been penalised for trying to play the ball from an offside position. However, the way Beauden Barrett’s goal-kicking had gone here — and in Wellington seven days earlier — there is a strong chance he would have missed from right of the posts anyway.
Six weeks of blood, sweat and tears came down to these finest of margins in a heart-stopping climax. One Test to the All Blacks, one to the Lions and one draw. The visitors led their vaunted opponents for a grand total of three minutes in the whole series but it was enough to earn them the win they needed. They had come together in quick time, against overwhelming odds, and shared the spoils with the world champions.
They had been portrayed as doomed crusaders; destined to lose 3-0 — maybe even 10-0 on the entire tour. But in the final reckoning, Warren Gatland’s squad emerged with real credit and respect and a scorecard which reads; played 10, won five, drew two, lost three. In this hostile territory, that is a decent return. They were written off as rugby dinosaurs, only to engineer a perception-shift in these parts.
The Lions could have lost this game by a reasonable margin, such was the Kiwi dominance before half-time. If the hosts had not kept knocking-on in range of the line, they would have been out of sight by the break. But the Lions were dogged and tenacious. Jonathan Davies — players’ player of the series — was sensational in attack and defence. Maro Itoje was monstrous and magnificent. Again.
The whole contest was ferocious, breathless and absolutely epic. It lived up to all the hype. New Zealand hurled a huge kitchen sink at the Lions and Gatland’s men withstood the barrage. Then came the revival and at certain points in the final quarter, it looked as if they might snatch the win and their ticket to immortality.
On this occasion it was the All Blacks who made the line-breaks and scored the tries; two to none. Both came before the break. Ngani Laumape scored the first when the Barrett brothers combined. Beauden’s cross-kick to the right corner was patted back by Jordie and his Hurricanes team-mate gathered to score from close range.
Just before half-time, Steve Hansen’s side struck again. Brodie Retallick drove hard on the right, Laumape made a half-break to send Anton Lienert-Brown into space, and the young centre’s pass allowed Jordie Barrett to score. Yet, in defiance of all the possession and territory stats, two Owen Farrell penalties had kept the Lions in touch in the first half and after the interval, they narrowed the gap to three points. A penalty 55 metres out was lined up by long-range specialist Elliot Daly and the man with the ‘cannon’ right boot slotted home. When Jerome Kaino was sin-binned for a swinging arm into the face of Alun Wyn Jones, the Lions capitalised on the numerical advantage, with Farrell landing another penalty to tie the match.
A scrum penalty to New Zealand in the tourists’ 22 allowed Beauden Barrett to nudge his side in front again but two minutes from time Farrell had a shot to level from near halfway and he showed staggering composure to knock it over.
From the restart, came the close call by Poite which went the Lions’ way. There was still danger and Gatland’s men had to scramble to keep out Jordie Barrett at the death. But they held the line. They could not make history but they depart with honour. And respect. And with the whole Lions concept safeguarded and acclaimed.