RUGBY COLUMN – JULY 11
By Daire Walsh
THERE were mixed emotions at Eden Park, Auckland on Saturday, as the British & Irish Lions encountered their first drawn series in the professional era.
With one win each under their belts, the stakes were high for the Lions and New Zealand heading into their final game of this 2017 Tour. There was little to separate the two teams throughout, but thanks to a 77th-minute penalty from Owen Farrell, the sides were deadlocked (15-15) at the end of an absorbing contest.
The last time that the Lions shared silverware with a competing nation was back in 1955, when they were evenly matched by South Africa over the course of a four-game series. The prospect of a tie seemed unlikely after their opening game on June 24th, when New Zealand claimed a 30-15 success.
Yet, after the dismissal of All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams handed them a numerical advantage in the second Test a week later, the Lions claimed a much-desired 24-21 triumph. This gave Warren Gatland’s charges a fighting chance heading into Saturday’s finale, and the former Ireland head coach kept faith with the same starting line-up for a second game in succession.
This ensured that Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray, Tadhg Furlong and Sean O’Brien retained their places, while Jack McGrath and CJ Stander were once again included amongst the replacements. A fired up New Zealand made a bright start to the action, and would cross the Lions whitewash through Ngani Laumape and Jordie Barrett in the 14th and 35th minutes respectively.
Yet, the visitors kept themselves in the reckoning throughout the opening period, and a brace of penalties from Farrell left the deficit at just six points (12-6) heading into the break. Stander took the place of the injured O’Brien when the action resumed, and within a minute of the restart, a superb long-distance place-kick by English winger Elliot Daly cut the New Zealand lead in half.
At around the same time that McGrath entered the fray instead of Mako Vunipola (just prior to the hour mark), Farrell moved Lions back on level terms with another successful three-pointer. The hosts settled themselves once more with a Beauden Barrett penalty on 67 minutes, but this was eventually cancelled out by the reliable Farrell.
It looked like the All Blacks might have an opportunity to win the game in the dying seconds of a bruising affair, but after referee Romain Poite determined that replacement hooker Ken Owens was accidentally offside, he awarded a scrum rather than a penalty.
This meant that All Blacks skipper Kieran Read (making his 100th international appearance) was joined on the podium by counterpart Sam Warburton, though both men may feel it was a game they left behind them.
Meanwhile, it was a memorable weekend for the Ireland Women’s Sevens side, as they qualified for next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens Tournament with an excellent third place finish in the final leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series in Kazan, Russia.