Life just got a whole lot tougher for the touring British & Irish Lions who lost to the Blues 22–16 in a stirring encounter at Eden Park last night.
It took 73 minutes for the home side, but two off‑loads, one from acting captain and No.8 Steven Luatua, and the second from Mr Offload himself, Sonny Bill Williams, created the match‑winning chance which saw replacement first five‑eighth Ihaia West burst onto the ball at speed to beat Lions first five‑eighth replacement Johnny Sexton with ease to score under the posts.
It was sweet reward for West who has been under‑rated while the Blues forward pack were performing below standard.
There were stages when the Blues let opportunities slip, and they were not as strong in the set‑pieces as was required to dominate the Lions.
The determined defence of the Blues stood the test as the Lions threw everything at them but they rarely gained significant breakthroughs to make a difference.
Luatua, Akira Ioane and Blake Gibson were solid but it was a great effort by the side generally in defence.
In the second half the Lions were only able to score via fullback Leigh Halfpenny's goal‑kicking boot as he landed two penalty goals to go with one he kicked in the first half.
The Blues first try was scored by Rieko Iowane who received a wide beautiful pass from Sonny Bill Williams while Williams dived through a spilled ball from Stephen Perofeta’s penalty which hit the goalpost to score the second try.
The Lions try was scored from their rolling maul in the 17th minute.
But trouble for the Lions came when replacement wing Liam Williams twice, within moments, infringed when challenging Matt Duffie in the air and bringing him down by wrapping his arm around him.
That resulted in a yellow card in the 56th minute.
The Blues couldn't capitalise on his absence but even at full‑strength the Lions were unable to find a way to thread through the home side who emerged deserved winners in the last minute.
The British & Irish Lions will now prepare to take on the Crusaders at 7.35pm Saturday.
Source: AllBlacks.com
