British and Irish Lions vs Chiefs: Elliot Daly the real winner as Lions run in four tries to prepare for All Blacks challenge

Chiefs 6 British and Irish Lions 34: Two tries from Jack Nowell paved the way to victory but Daly looks the likeliest to play in the first Test against the All Blacks

Daly put himself in contention for a spot in the Test 23 (Getty)

The final warm-up match before the British and Irish Lions face the All Blacks proved a very different affair to the corresponding fixture four years ago, with a four-try romp against the Chiefs ensuring that Warren Gatland’s side ended with their first midweek victory of the tour and the perfect preparation for Saturday’s first Test.

Two tries from Jack Nowell were a welcome sight for the England wing who finally showed what he is capable of, with Jared Payne and a second penalty try of the tour proving more than enough to see off the Chiefs 34-6, with Dan Biggar completing the scoring with 14 points from the boot.

The big winner of the day looks like Elliot Daly though, with the Wasps back taken off in the 60th minute in what looks to be a sign from Gatland that he will play some part in Saturday’s match at Eden Park, while the head coach will be relieved to end the talk of his controversial call-ups over the weekend with an emphatic victory that only saw prop Allan Dell play little over 10 minutes.

It was billed as the game that nobody wanted to play in, at least on the Lions’ behalf, as those players poised to start the first Test with the All Blacks were rested from the FMG Stadium encounter, and for much of the game that shone through the two disjointed performances.

The Lions were by far the dominant side against a Chiefs team missing nine first-team players after being raided by both the All Blacks and Maori All Blacks. What was left was a side that looked like it had spent even fewer minutes together than the Lions squad, as their lineout massively malfunctioned early on and their scrum was taken apart 13 minutes in.

By that stage though, Joe Marler had already earned himself a yellow card when he let his over-eagerness get the better of him, with a late shoulder charge on opposite man Nepo Laulala being picked out by television match official Ian Smith.

Nowell looked back to his attacking best against the Chiefs (Getty)

It led to the early introduction of Scotland prop Allan Dell, one of the six players called up last weekend in controversial circumstances by Gatland, but he immediately helped win a penalty for his side and it was a welcome impact to help forget a turbulent week.

The Lions had already been guilty of wasting a golden chance to score, as they went through 19 phases before Liam Williams knocked the ball on, though the penalty advantage gave Dan Biggar a simple shot at goal that he took before doubling the lead in the 18th minute when flanker Mitch Brown infringed. It wouldn’t be the last time the Chief fell foul of the law.

However, it was another Chief who made the first real impact, though one that hailed from Exeter and not Waikato. Jack Nowell hadn’t shown his true potential in the games against the Blues and Highlanders, but here he was doing himself justice. The winger made a nice break after a Courtney Lawes offload, before turning supplier to feed James Haskell. With the ball recycled and taken up to within two metre of the line by Biggar, Nowell was on hand to go straight from the base of the ruck to score.

Biggar's kicking was exemplary as it has been all tour (Getty)

The Chiefs would get on the board through their veteran fly-half, Stephen Donald, with the club centurion landing two penalties with the second coming on the stroke of half-time after Daly was caught offside.

However, the second half saw the Lions click into gear, and the 13-6 lead they held rapidly built as they kept the opposition scoreless after half-time for the second consecutive match.

Yet before the floodgates opened, there was a worrying moment for Lawes and Marler when they clashed heads trying to tackle loosehead prop Sigfried Fisiihoi. The two were allowed to pay on for four minutes without play being stopped. Only Lawes would depart for a head injury assessment, his second in the space of a week after being knocked out in the defeat by the Highlanders, while Marler was strangely allowed to continue. Lawes would return, but you could not help question whether the Lions should have been taking the risk.

Williams was outstanding at full-back for the Lions (Getty)

Their back line soon helped the coaches forget about the negatives though as they moved up a gear, though not before the pack ground out the second penalty try of the tour as Brown was guilty of pulling down a driving maul bound for the line, earning himself a trip to the sin-bin.

The third try was a beautiful move a minute short of the hour mark that showed just what the Lions can produce. Broken-field rugby has not been their friend so far this tour, but when Daly broke down the left wing, he produced a sublime pass right to Payne, who in turn found Robbie Henshaw. Although the Irishman was halted on the 22, quick ball was whipped to the right, and Iain Henderson fed Nowell who straightened the line, cut inside full-back Shaun Stevenson and charged over for his second.

Nowell crossed the whitewash twice during the rout (Getty)

The Chiefs allowed their heads to drop, and the result meant they were beneath their posts again four minutes later, when a mis-hit Donald clearance kick found Nowell with room to work with. He drifted in-field where Williams cut a brilliant line cutting back against the defence, beating two defenders, and he took on both Stevenson and replacement wing Chase Tiatia before offloading to Payne for an easy walkover.

The only sour note came in Payne being forced off at the end with a head injury shortly after a certain try was butchered by replacement wing Tommy Seymour, whose poor pass gave Payne no chance of holding on five metres out, but the scoreline was a deserving one and the Lions can finally focus fully on the enormous challenge ahead of them.

Teams:

Chiefs: Shaun Stevenson; Toni Pulu (Chase Tiatia, 12), Tim Nanai-Williams, Johnny Faauli, Solomon Alaimalo (Luteru Laulala, 66); Stephen Donald, Finlay Christie (Jonathon Taumateine, 58); Siegfried Fisi’ihoi (Aiden Ross, 65), Liam Polwart (Hika Elliot, 60), Nepo Laulala (Atu Moli, 65); Dominic Bird, Michael Allardyce (Mitch Karpik, 65); Mitchell Brown, Lachlan Boshier, Tom Sanders (Liam Messam, 55).

British and Irish Lions: Liam Williams; Jack Nowell, Jared Payne, Robbie Henshaw, Elliot Daly (Tommy Seymour, 60); Dan Biggar, Greig Laidlaw; Joe Marler, Rory Best, Dan Cole; Iain Henderson, Courtney Lawes; James Haskell (Allan Dell, 12(off 24)), Justin Tipuric, CJ Stander.

Replacements not used: Kristian Dacey, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones, Gareth Davies, Finn Russell.