British and Irish Lions vs All Blacks: New Zealand inflict punishing 30-15 defeat on Lions in first Test

New Zealand 30 British and Irish Lions 15: Rieko Ioane scores twice to secure the first Test for the world champions but Sean O'Brien's try will live long in the memory of Lions folklore

New Zealand taught the British and Irish Lions a lesson in clinical finishing as they won the first encounter of their three-Test series 30-15, despite Warren Gatland’s men scoring one of the side's all-time great tries.

Codie Taylor’s early score suggested it would be business as usual for New Zealand but Sean O’Brien’s try, coming minutes before the break, offered hope the Lions hope of a shock victory at Eden Park. The expansive running rugby employed by the Lions hinted they were about to do what the reigning world champions have done to so many other sides over the last seven years.

But two further tries from the devastating Rieko Ioane ensured the All Blacks were well clear by the time Rhys Webb touched down in the final minute, and the Lions now face a hugely important week if they are to find a way to keep the series alive by the time they leave Wellington next weekend.

The Lions have endured three and a half weeks of criticism, particularly from the Kiwi media, for not scoring tries or playing beautiful rugby. The press nearly had their criticism rammed back down their throats in the second minute when a Jonathan Davies break saw him pass inside to Conor Murray. A good tap-tackle from opposite man Aaron Smith stopped him, but Owen Farrell was on hand to whip the ball out to Elliot Daly, who took aim at the corner, and only a superb tackle from Israel Dagg prevented him from touching down.

Afterwards, flashbacks of the 2005 series soon sprung to mind. The All Blacks were too strong and too quick for the Lions for the next 20 minutes and, as a result, had no problem in breaking over the gainline. The Lions were trying to compete for the ball in the ruck with O’Brien leading the charge, but as they failed to disrupt their possession it gave the All Blacks the advantage in the collision.

Jonathan Davies hands off Codie Taylor (Getty)

The speed with which scrum-half Smith was playing was catching out the Lions defenders, and both Taulupe Faletau and Alun Wyn Jones were caught out as a result. The first lapse in concentration brought three points for the All Blacks from Beauden Barrett, but the second would hurt much more. Jones was guilty of not rolling away, and while the Lions dallied, Smith tapped and went. He shipped the ball out to Barrett, who in turn passed to Dagg, and his wide pass to – of all people – the hooker Codie Taylor saw him scoop down to take a superb catch and beat Daly on the outside to score in the corner, with the No 10's conversion giving the hosts a healthy 10-0 lead.

The try would kick-start the Lions into life, though, and good work to the All Blacks 22 produced a penalty and the first points for the tourists when Owen Franks took out Murray without the ball. Farrell’s three points would immediately be cancelled out though with another Barrett penalty when Jamie George was caught offside. But then something magical happened.

Sonny Bill Williams is tackled by Owen Farrell and Ben Te'o (Getty)

Receiving a quick offload from Anthony Watson in his own 22, Liam Williams stood up Kieran Read and, with space to work with, took off. He squeezed through a gap that may have been enlarged by Faletau tracking back, but the officials were happy with it and the Welsh full-back charged forward. He passed left to Daly who hit the afterburners to clear Ioane, and he duly passed back inside to Davies. It looked like the centre would go all the way, but he was hauled down a metre short, yet had the awareness to offload and O’Brien crashed over to score one of the greatest tries in Lions history.

The tourists could taste blood, and despite trailing 13-8 at the break, they were nearly level four minutes after it. Again, it was Williams who created the move, with Sonny Bill Williams’ attempted offload only finding George Kruis who fed the full-back. Williams broke left and again linked up with Daly and the England win galloped into the opposition half before finding Davies inside him, the outside centre playing a very smart game. Davies passed inside to Ben Te’o, who was hauled down, and Watson went quickly, with the entire All Blacks defence caught offside on their five metre line.

The Lions celebrate scoring their first try (Getty)

Farrell went for the corner rather than the posts, yet they would be taught a valuable lesson when they came away with nothing after losing control of the ball. The All Blacks would not be so wasteful.

In the 56th minute, the Lions scrum lost its concentration again, just as it did against the Crusaders, but the All Blacks would not be content with just a penalty. The superb Read did supremely well to pick up the loose ball, flick it round to Smith and launch a slick move that would end with Ioane diving over in the corner. A television match review confirmed there was no knock-on from Read and that the grounding was good, and it felt like a devastating blow to the Lions.


 Williams makes the offload as he's brought to the deck 
 (Getty)

Barrett added another penalty when replacement fly-half Johnny Sexton was caught offside, before the Lions shot themselves in the foot to confirm defeat. The brilliant Williams had been cautiously warned by Gatland this week about avoiding another “brain explosion”, but it was his failed catch from a box-kick by replacement scrum-half TJ Perenara that opened the door for Ioane to collect and outpace Daly for his second.

That the Lions saved face with a late try from Rhys Webb, the replacement No 9 stepping inside Scott Barret to touchdown in the final minute, at least gives them something to build on ahead of the second Test in Wellington next Saturday. Yet the Lions will face the Hurricanes on Tuesday first, and Gatland must now weigh up changes to this side if the Lions are to keep the series alive.

Teams

New Zealand: Ben Smith [Aaron Cruden, 27]; Israel Dagg, Ryan Crotty [Anton Lienert-Brown, 33], Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane; Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith [TJ Perenara, 55]; Joe Moody [Wyatt Crockett, 54], Codie Taylor [Nathan Harris, 67], Owen Franks [Charlie Faumuina, 54]; Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock; Jerome Kaino [Ardie Savea, 46], Sam Cane, Kieran Read [Scott Barrett, 77].

British and Irish Lions: Liam Williams [Leigh Halfpenny, 72]; Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Ben Te’o [Johnny Sexton, 57], Elliot Daly; Owen Farrell, Conor Murray [Rhys Webb, 68]; Mako Vunipola [Jack McGrath, 52], Jamie George [Ken Owens, 68], Tadhg Furlong [Kyle Sinckler, 59]; Alun Wyn Jones [Maro Itoje, 48], George Kruis; Peter O’Mahony [Sam Warburton, 54], Sean O’Brien, Taulupe Faletau.