The Lions were closer than you might think to the All Blacks last week
A big loss on paper, the British & Irish Lions weren’t hugely off the mighty All Blacks in game one.
The Lions fell to a dispiriting loss in Auckland in the first test, but this was not the pre-ordained affirmation of All Black dominance that many would have you believe.
This game had been hyped for months, but all fans really wanted was an exciting contest. We got the game we wanted, well for 50 minutes anyway; the Lions ran the ball, the All Blacks kept it tight and we got to see a real battle. Don’t let the score fool you, this was a very tight game. Steve Hansen will certainly not be getting carried away. As with all games of rugby at the elite level though, the game is won and lost in the tiny details and the team that takes their chances usually wins, the All Blacks took their chances, with ruthless efficiency.
From the kick off Taulupe Faletua took the ball into contact and we were treated to the first of many box-kicks from Murray, this was poorly dealt with and the Lions regathered. Aaron Smith launched in from the side to hit Murray illegally, conceding the penalty. This showed us a few things; Murray would kick early and often and New Zealand were not going to make it easy for him.
Moments later Jonathan Davies made an excellent break right through the heart of the defence, only a tap tackle on Murray preventing a try. From the quick recycle Owen Farrell played scrum half and slightly off balance threw a looped pass to Elliot Daly right on the touchline, Daly tip-toed down the wing and was only denied by an excellent tackle from Israel Dagg who targeted the ball and rolled Daly onto his back. The Lions had showed their intent, but unfortunately exited with nothing.
The New Zealand gameplan became obvious early as forwards were taking narrow runners at speed and producing short offloads in the tight to keep the defence moving backwards. Phase after phase was repelled until the Lions were penalised for offside five metres from their own line. Beauden Barrett slotted the kick for three points, lifting the siege for a small price.
It wasn’t long before the Lions were back defending on their own line again. Strong tackling rebuffed repeated efforts, but eventually a penalty was conceded for the tackler not rolling away. Aaron Smith was not settling for three points this time, a quick tap was swung wide immediately to expose an overlap left by Elliot Daly creeping infield. An excellent low catch by Codie Taylor from Dagg’s dying pass saw Taylor score the first try of the game. Barrett, whose kicking has been under the microscope recently scored the difficult conversion to put the All Blacks up by ten.
The Lions were not phased and stuck to their own expansive plan. Owen Farrel put in an accurate crossfield kick which Daly did well to win, but he couldn’t manage the offload and the referee brought them back for a Lions penalty. A few phases later, Murray was again hit illegally, this time by Owen Franks diving over the ruck. Farrell put the kick over for a well earned and much needed score.
One of the all time great Lions tries was just what was needed to spark the crowd and the contest to life. An uncharacteristic error from the excellent Kieran Read is what presented the chance. From a long kick, Read chased hard and went too far ahead of his teammates, Liam Williams stepped him and took off from his own 22 on a magical run, Ben Te’o did a nice job of “sealing the edge” (in NFL parlance) to keep Sonny Bill Williams at bay and from there Williams was in the backfield. Elliot Daly received the ball and with a lovely in-out step he drew the defence to release Jonathan Davies who was strong enough to pop to Sean O’Brien to dot down. Unfortunately, Farrell missed the conversion, but the game was now nicely poised at 13–8 approaching halftime.
To open the second half the Lions were again on the attack. A wonderful Davies break saw Liam Williams stopped just short. The Lions had an overlap on the right with Faletau all alone, however, Te’o held the ball and slipped while looking to go himself and the chance was gone.
Soon after, Liam Williams again got the ball in a deep position and with a simple switch he put Anthony Watson through a gap, Watson showed great balance and beat a number of defenders making excellent ground. This chance again came to nothing.
Just after the 50 minute mark the All Blacks had a scrum near the Lions 22. New Zealand got the shunt on and referee Jaco Peyper stuck his arm out for a penalty. From that point there was chaos; both front rows popped up and wheeled around, Murray kicked the ball from between Read’s feet and Sam Cane held Sean O’Brien back. This all left the ball on the ground for Read to leap on. He performed an exquisite pop off the ground to Aaron Smith who whipped the ball away to Barrett, he gave it on to Aaron Cruden whose long flat pass put Rieko Ioane away in the corner. This showed a few things; first the benefit of two outhalves to provide width for passing and second that the Lions had once again fallen asleep with the award of a penalty, on replay you can see that Anthony Watson is outnumbered three to one and has no chance when the ball comes his way.
From there something needed to change and Gatland sent Sexton onto the field for Te’o. It almost paid immediate dividends with Sexton getting the ball to Farrell with Watson in space, unfortunately the pass from Farrell was poor and another chance was lost as Watson had to slide to deck to gather the ball. Sexton and Farrell failed to gel and far from feeling the benefit of two playmakers, they rued the loss of Te’o’s physicality.
Then came the final nail. From an innocuous high kick, Liam Williams failed to regather and pouncing on the loose ball Rieko Ioane showed blistering pace to leave Elliot Daly flapping at air as he raced in for the try to kill off any lingering hopes of a comeback.
Final score 30–15. New Zealand were deserved winners, but the Lions were not steamrolled. The All Black scores came from two lapses on penalty advantage and a bouncing ball. If Daly had scored early or Te’o had passed the ball rather than going himself then things could have been very different. This will be seen as one that got away for Gatland and may have been the only chance to catch the All Blacks off guard.
Steve Hansen has made two injury-enforced changes with Waisake Naholo starting on the wing and Ngani Laumape coming onto the bench. They both offer huge power, but the Lions will hope they possess some defensive naivety that can be exploited.
Gatland has made three changes for the second test; he has brought in Sexton to pair with Farrell for more width, plus Warburton and Itoje join the pack in hopes of a stronger breakdown presence. But, he should not throw the baby out with the bathwater, his gameplan very nearly worked and he should be careful to retain the positives rather than just trying to fix the negatives.
