RUGBY Lions are just about ready for the real thing
A BRUTAL forward pack assault silenced the hosts and handed the Lions a vital, morale-boosting victory.
A penalty try and another score from Maro Itoje crushed the Maori spirit, and they were given precious little sniff of stealing a victory to emulate 2005.
Leigh Halfpenny’s six penalties and flawless 20-point haul from the boot underpinned a muscular triumph, with the tourists dominant at the set-piece and all tight exchanges.
The Lions badly needed this victory, which will raise hopes ahead of Saturday’s Test opener against the All Blacks.
But their attack is still yet to fire, and they can expect New Zealand to pick at that.
Warren Gatland came under fire for apparently prioritising geographic proximity over meritocracy when drafting in four Welsh players and two from Scotland, to ease the burden on his squad ahead of the All Blacks Tests.
Even Sir Ian McGeechan – Gatland’s Lions mentor – admitted the policy was “difficult to justify”.
Gatland has always maintained chasing Test-match victories against the back-toback world champions must trump all other concerns, however.
So he was delighted for the Lions to prevail in style in Rotorua.
“If you look at territory and position we dominated things,” he said.
“We had to tidy up a few things at halftime. But, apart from a couple of stupid penalties in the first half, I thought we played some good rugby.
“We managed the game really well and we squeezed the life out of them basically.”
When quizzed about his thoughts on the team to face the All Blacks, Gatland admitted: “I don’t know yet, we’ve got to get through Tuesday. That’s another big challenge for us.”
Promising breaks undone by no killer instinct proved the story of a frustrating first half for the Lions, who still led 12-10 at the break.
The tourists spent all week demanding an end to stupid errors, only to gift the Maori the only try of the half.
George North continued his indifferent form by failing to claim cleanly when sliding back in a bid to sweep up a kick in behind. Nehe Milner-Skudder hacked on and Liam Messam finished.
Damian McKenzie’s conversion pushed the Maori into a 7-6 lead, after Halfpenny had posted two penalties for the Lions.
The Maori proved savvy at killing the ball every time the Lions edged deep into their territory to stop Gatland’s men capping several smart moves with a try.
Johnny Sexton’s half-break almost set Tadhg Furlong away, then Jon Davies dummied and swept through the line, but neither time could the Lions finish.
Halfpenny’s third penalty put the Lions 9-7 ahead at the top of the second quarter, only for petulance from Itoje to cost his side.
The England lock threw the ball away after being choke-tackled, and referee Jaco Peyper pushed the visitors back 10 metres, enough to let McKenzie slot the goal, with the Maori sneaking a 10-9 lead.
Halfpenny’s fifth penalty pushed the Lions into a 15-10 lead to open the second-half.
Tawera Kerr-Barlow was fortunate to escape a yellow card when he shouldercharged Halfpenny in the face, with the Lions full-back sliding low after being tackled.
The Lions produced a smart driving lineout, Ben Te’o powered close, and then Jamie George burrowed to the line.
The try was chalked off however, with the officials unable to determine whether George had reached the whitewash.
The Lions then ruined the Maori scrum, not once but twice, with referee Peyper awarding a penalty try from the second. The new rules mean penalty tries are automatically worth seven points, so the Lions led 22-10 with half an hour to play.
The Lions turned the screw, forcing another five-metre scrum. Taulupe Faletau drove close, and Itoje finished off. Halfpenny’s conversion pushed the Lions’ lead to 29-10.
A 70th-minute penalty from the same man completed the scoring.
HARD
GREGOR TOWNSEND’S honeymoon period as Scotland coach got even better with a famous win Down Under.
After the despair of two nail-biting defeats to Australia in the last two matches – one, the thrilling Rugby World Cup quarter-final – Scotland exacted their revenge in some style.
The tourists started well and built up a lead which they never surrendered.
The most scintillating score came from Hamish Watson, who finished off a move that had all of the Townsend hallmarks – dynamic support play, precise passing and clinical finishing. It was exhilarating to watch. Yet the Wallabies are never a side who are going to give up, and in the latter stages of the game, they threw wave after wave of attacks on the Scottish line.
Such was the aggression and combativeness of the Scots defence, each attack was repelled and, better still, at times countered.
This Scottish team was not going to make the same mistakes as they had done in their two previous matches against the same opponents.
What was particularly noticeable was the impact that the bench made.
WP Nel, so often the cornerstone of the Scottish pack, came on and was immovable, while his countryman, Josh Strauss was relentless in getting over the gain-line from the back of the scrum and allowing his team-mates to clear the lines.