The things we learned from a battering by Blues for Lions
Warren Gatland’s British and Irish Lions are nursing some bruised pride following a first defeat of their 2017 tour – a 22-16 loss at the hands of the Auckland-based Blues at Eden Park.
Afterwards, Gatland (pictured inset) insisted the tourists’ performance was a step up from the opener against the Provincial Barbarians, although Ken Owens and Co were left to rue lapses at key moments.
ROB LLOYD looks at the talking points to emerge from the first match against Super Rugby opposition... on the hosts and the penalty count against them was a major factor in that. The set-piece is the Lions’ primary weapon The ability of the tourists’ scrum to squeeze out penalties was one of the chief positives to emerge from Eden Park.
Dan Cole, Jack McGrath and Joe Marler all earned decisions in what proved a dominant area for the Lions.
The line-out also went well up until a point, with CJ Stander rumbling over from a short-range drive.
The otherwise impressive Owens will have been disappointed with a not-straight throw after hitting 11 out of 11 of his jumpers before that, then in the final minutes, replacement Rory Best revisited his 2013 Brumbies shocker when he made a complete hash of his throw as the Lions desperately went in search of a match-saving score.
The strength of this Lions squad is their power up front and they should not shy away from that. Chaos, what chaos? Attack coach Rob Howley waxed lyrical in the build-up to the match about ‘rugby chaos’ — what he termed as an ability of players to react to what’s in front of them, and relying on the X-factor within the squad instead of a pre-ordained structure (whisper it quietly, Warrenball).
Unfortunately, it was the home side, through rising star Reiko Ioane, All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams and supersub match-winner Ihaia West, who sprinkled the stardust, with a couple of sublime off-loads from Bristol-bound Steven Luatua and then Sonny Bill leading to the final try by West.
The Lions backs often either went route one or shuffled across field and it was hard to remember them crafting a line break.
In the opening two matches, there haven’t been many outside backs thrusting their hands into the air for Test selection.
We are likely to see George North and Jonathan Davies make a first appearance of the tour against the Crusaders on Saturday.
Opportunity is knocking for the Welsh pair. Every New Zealand franchise will boast box office stars Rieko Ioane announced himself as a future Test star when he left Jack Nowell in his slipstream to race over for the opening try of the match after seven minutes.
The 20-year-old flyer, a shining light on the sevens circuit, caused the Exeter favourite all sorts of problems out wide on what was a night to forget for the Cornishman.
Later in the half, Ioane pounced on a loose Dan Biggar off-load only to be denied by an off-side call, had another chalked off by the TMO for grazing the touchline with his boot and carried a number of red jerseys over the line only for referee Pascal Gauzere to adjudge a forward pass.
You suspect the Lions might be seeing Ioane again on this tour, but his talent is an indication of what lies in wait at all of the Super Rugby venues.
The New Zealand sides, as they have shown in the southern hemisphere competition this season, possess an array of mercurial game-changing players who can create something out of nothing.
The alarm bells are ringing long and loud. Leigh Halfpenny is looking more and more a Test pick Scotland’s Stuart Hogg has been inked in as most pundits’ full-back for the forthcoming series against the All Blacks, but after his error-strewn display against the Provincial Barbarians and Leigh Halfpenny’s assured display against the Blues, Gatland’s selection for the No.15 jersey isn’t looking as cut and dried.
The Gorseinon man wasn’t spectacular against at Eden Park, but as he does so often with Wales he tidied up loose kicks in difficult conditions and was a composed presence at the back.
He also landed every kick at goal, including a superb 71st-minute penalty which looked like it might snatch the spoils for the Lions.
Liam Williams’s rash interventions from the bench, which saw him yellow carded for twice taking out the same player in the air, wouldn’t have endeared himself to the coaching team.
Advantage Halfpenny. Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones are under pressure for their Tests spots Both players are coming back from long-term injuries, so it was understandable that Jones and Warburton weren’t at their best in the tour opener.
But chances to impress are going to be limited in the build-up to the opening Test on June 24 and Ospreys openside Justin Tipuric and English second rows Maro Itoje and Courtnay Lawes were among the Lions’ standout players against the Blues.
Second row competition was always going to be intense with Gatland also a fan of Saracen George Kruis, who has missed most of the season because of injury, but Jones and the tour captain are in need of big games — possibly against the Crusaders on Saturday.
Cometh the hour and all that ...