Audition as creative cards
drive and their main area of dominance being the scrum.
But they had fought their way into a winning position, so it was frustrating to see it slip away, especially given the setting.
Eden Park has long been a fortress of New Zealand rugby. You have to go back to 1994 for the last time the All Blacks were beaten at the Auckland arena, while the Blues haven’t lost to non-Kiwi opposition at home for some four years.
So any win by a team from overseas here is to be valued. It would have given the players and the tour as a whole a real lift. Instead, you are left with a bit of a flat feeling.
What is of particular concern so far is the lack of creativity, because you need to score tries to have a chance out here against sides that will definitely do just that.
But after two games, the opposition whitewash has only been crossed twice. So, where now for the Lions? Well, Christchurch is the answer and that means the Crusaders, who have won 14 out of 14 in Super Rugby this year. Yikes!
In contrast, the Blues have only won seven of their 14 games and are the lowest-ranked of the five Kiwi franchises.
So, that gives you an indication of how the size of the challenge will step up again this weekend.
In fairness, there are positives to take out of a performance which was improved from the clunky opener against the Provincial Barbarians, while they can count themselves unlucky with the try the hosts were awarded on half-time.
I’ve mentioned the scrum, which was a real strength, and there was also more control at the breakdown and better ball retention, particularly in the first period, while much of the defensive work was good, albeit that it was unpicked for the first and last Blues tries.
On the individual front, all four props can take a bow, while Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes had big games in the second row, making 24 tackles between them.
Try-scorer Stander, who put in 19 carries and made 13 hits, showed up well in the back row, as did Justin Tipuric, with Rhys Webb looking sharp with ball in hand and a threat around the fringes. But outside him, there just wasn’t that much for me to write home about.
Line breaks were virtually nonexistent, while the one handling move of note ultimately came to nought, with Jared Payne just putting a foot in touch before getting the ball down in the corner.
It speaks volumes that the scrum was the main attacking weapon on a night when it was more prop idol than X-Factor.