The Lions will need to move on quickly as they depart for Wellington tomorrow, with a fixture against the Hurricanes to come on Tuesday before the second Test on Saturday.
Such was the pace of the first-half, Vunipola was unable to show just how much he's improved in the set-piece, and particularly the scrum, and he will hope to get another chance next weekend.
After a rousing Haka, the Lions nearly got off to the flawless start with a line break from Jonathan Davies who fed Elliot Daly, but the winger was held up over the line.
"The All Blacks sacked our mauls very well; we need to negate that".
Read backed his side to keep focused with the job nearly done, having played in plenty of high-stakes matches in the past six years.
Halfpenny was deemed the safer choice, considering his superior kicking game, but Gatland's decision paid off as the Lions' exciting back three tore New Zealand's defence apart in the first-half.
His players will tell him that these All Blacks are no Super Rugby opposition and that this was a Test like nothing they had experienced.
Barnes also suggested Rhys Webb could be sprung from the bench early in the second half of the next Test - replacing Conor Murray - while former Lions coach Ian McGeechan believes the starting XV from Saturday would be an even better unit for the Second Test.
We take a look at the key moments that decided the series opener. An offside call at the wrong time or killing the ball near your posts or at their end can take games away from you.
Nicola Sturgeon: "Reckless" pursuit of hard Brexit must be stopped
The SNP argued that Scots deserved a do-over of the 2014 independence referendum, which the "leave" campaign lost by around 5%. Scotland delivered the only good news for a Conservative Party that lost its overall majority in the British parliament .
"We created chances and shifted the ball pretty well". 'They capitalised on our errors better than we did theirs. But it was the hosts who struck again when Liam Williams failed to collect a high kick and it fell to Ioane who outpaced both Daly and Watson to the line.
"The All Blacks haven't played champagne rugby and thrown the ball around all over the place but, to be fair to them, they were very direct and so we need to make sure we get better in those areas".
"I thought our tight-five were very, very good".
"We had to work hard for that, I guess momentum changed a few times in that game and we had to scramble really well and take our opportunities", said All Blacks skipper Kieran Read.
It was the said trio that, with the score at 13-8, launched two counterattacking raids from which they could have and probably should have scored.
After penalties were exchanged around the half-hour mark, Warren Gatland's men made arguably the biggest statement of their tour when they uncorked a breathtaking 80m breakout try sparked by the brilliance of Liam Williams, continued by Daly and Davies and then finished by tireless flanker Sean O'Brien.
"We were looking to get the upper hand up front, but in fairness to them they got it today".
Kieran Read had 17 gain line busting runs, Jerome Kaino looked similarly risky and Sam Cane did his best Richie McCaw impersonation in a stellar performance.Whereas the Lions relied on the counterattack as their only way to the tryline, the All Blacks produced offload after to offload to ensure a lightning quick pace and it was those offloads which won them the game.
Comments