Sam Warburton lead the British and Irish Lions to a hard-fought 13-7 win in their opening New Zealand tour match against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians side in Whangarei yesterday.
Tour openers are always a concern for a Lions side with limited preparation and the effects of travel fatigue resulting in a lack of polish making points hard to come by.
For coach Warren Gatland, who has promised all his players a start over the first three games, the opening match would not have answered many questions about the shape of his first Test lineup. There was only one successful penalty by Johnny Sexton in the first half as the Lions trailed 7-3 at the turn and it took 52 minutes before Anthony Watson scored their only try.
Photo: AFP
The previous time the Lions were in New Zealand, in a 2005 tour, they were held to 17-all at halftime in their first match against the provincial Bay of Plenty side before pulling away to win 34-20.
This time they found it even harder to secure control.
Before a sellout crowd of 20,000 at Toll Stadium, it was the Barbarians, a side representing a cross-section of New Zealand provincial rugby players, who made the most of the running for the first 30 minutes. In a brief foray into enemy territory, after 16 minutes of play, the Lions put the first points of their tour on the board with Sexton’s close-range penalty.
Photo: AFP
It was a short-lived lead as the Barbarians relished the counterattacking opportunities offered by the Lions kicking away possession.
The home side fired back with a Luteru Laulala break that took an exceptional tackle by Taulupe Faletau to prevent a try when he flipped Barbarians center Inga Finau on his back over the line.
A few more minutes later the constant pressure told on the Lions, with Barbarians captain Sam Anderson-Heather driving over for the try and Bryn Gatland, a son of Warren, added the extra two points.
Photo: AFP
The first half ended with the Lions opting for a scrum instead of an easy penalty shot at goal in front of the posts, but their drive for a try evaporated when outside center Jonathan Joseph was held up over the line.
Greg Laidlaw took over the Lions’ kicking duties after the break and narrowed the gap to one point with a handy penalty.
Tellingly, Sexton was replaced soon after by Owen Farrell, who converted the Lions try by pacy wing Watson, but later missed a handy penalty opportunity.
Photo: AFP
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