British and Irish Lions video diary: James Haskell delighted to be back in Dunedin as Andy Farrell calls for improvement

With less than two weeks to go until the Lions first meet the All Blacks, the game against the Highlanders represents three games to go until the tour series begins

Day 13 of the British and Irish Lions tour saw the players afforded some time to themselves ahead of Tuesday’s clash against the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin, with many choosing to take the time to visit the seafront and catch up with some of the fans that have followed them from north to the south of New Zealand.

For flanker James Haskell, the match will be particularly special as he spent a year of his career living in Dunedin and representing the Highlanders, with the Wasps back-row taking to Instagram upon his arrival to the seafront at St Clair – an area known for its surf and for its sharks.

This downtime only followed once the matchday squad for the clash at the Forsyth Barr Stadium had gone through their final training session with the captain’s run in the morning, while defence coach Andy Farrell spoke of his pleasure with the display against the Crusaders at the weekend.

However, Farrell also called for an improvement, and has asked for those stepping into the starting line-up to match their levels of intensity to continue raising the bar as the tour progresses.

With less than two weeks to go until the Lions first meet the All Blacks, the game against the Highlanders represents three games to go until the tour series begins, and it is where Warren Gatland’s Test side will start to shape up with auditions beginning to run out of time.