All Blacks coach Steve Hansen compared today's first Test with the British and Irish Lions to a World Cup final, as they prepare to take on a touring party that has been growing in confidence and form.
"There's several areas where we need to be better at the set-piece". And they are the best for a reason. No extras from Owen Farrell but it got them to 13-8 and that was the half time score. "We play across the venues in New Zealand, but this is probably the one we feel the most at home at".
Indeed, the hosts dictated the tempo of the match while the visitors, unable to find a way through, frequently resorted to box kicks, which more often than not just gave possession straight back to the All Blacks.
Instead New Zealand went direct, in a bid to negate the Lions' hugely-impressive defensive line speed.
"They're going to get better with another week together", he said of the Lions, "they're going to get a lot better".
However, it was New Zealand who scored first in the second half, with Rieko Ioane crossing in the corner for a converted score.
"If you look at the games we've played, that's been the disappointing thing, we've given away soft penalties and they've been costly", Gatland said.
Kick-off is at 7:35 pm and conditions are forecast to be cool and wet, which could suit the Lions' forward-based, kick-and-chase game.
National Basketball Association draft draws second-largest audience on ESPN
The Los Angeles Lakers used the second pick to choose University of California at Los Angeles point guard Lonzo Ball . Fox ended up in the same state as Ball, who he outplayed when Kentucky ousted UCLA in the NCAA Tournament.
He told Sky Sports: "I thought we had an excellent first half and created plenty of chances".
All Blacks full-back Ben Smith failed a Head Injury Assessment, while Ryan Crotty picked up a hamstring injury and could miss the rest of the series.
Had the All Blacks scored again quickly, the Lions might have been broken and New Zealand could have taken control.
But they were struggling to build on that lead in the second half before Ioane, selected ahead of prolific try-scorer Julian Savea, exploded into action. It has the stars to do that job - a tight five eager to show its worth backed up by quality loose forwards who will not back down.
With just two minutes gone, the Lions came within centimetres of the opening try, courtesy of Wasps and England winger Daly.
It was far from a vintage All Blacks performance, with few of the flicks and tricks that drove them to last week's 78-0 thrashing of Samoa. If that's how good he can be when potentially under-cooked, the Lions could be in trouble in next weekend's second Test.
The widespread expectation was that the All Blacks would play the counter-attacking rugby - and they certainly did in patches - and the Lions would look to grind their way to victory, but this brilliant Test match was a different sort of story.
But coach Warren Gatland has also indicated he is open to instinctive play, highlighted by the selection of the attacking Liam Williams, Elliot Daly and Anthony Watson as his back three. It wasn't flawless but it was only our second test of the year so we'll build on that.
Comments