The British and Irish Lions have pipped the All Blacks 24-21 in Wellington to take the series to a decider.
There was plenty of drama throughout, not least the red card to Sonny Bill Williams for a shoulder charge on Anthony Watson in the first half, leaving New Zealand to play 55 minutes with 14 men.
The grisly weather set the game up as a tough, grinding affair and that was the prevailing pattern early on as Beauden Barrett and Owen Farrell went kick for kick.
The scrum was a focal point but neither side gained consistent ascendancy up front.
On first glance, the Williams contact looked innocuous, but replays told a different story, with dangerous contact on Watson’s head, who was pinned by another tackler.
The officials deliberated and referee Jerome Garces was adamant that there was no choice but to dismiss the number 12.
Following the Williams send-off, coach Steve Hansen threw a curve ball, dragging off backrower Jerome Kaino for centre Ngani Laumape.
Anton Lienert-Brown was charged with supporting the the scrum when required.
Despite the advantage, the Lions struggled to gain momentum, guilty of ill discipline and making errors in the wet conditions. At half time the scores were locked at 9-9.
The dynamic continued in the second term, with both teams jostling for territory and trying to force penalty opportunities.
Barrett kicked the home side to an 18-9 lead and the Kiwis looked well in control. The Lions weren’t done, however, and kept asking questions of the defence.
Toby Faletau was the beneficiary, lurking on the end of a left wing overlap after strong lead-up work from Watson on the far side.
He held off Israel Dagg to get the game’s first try.
Again, New Zealand looked to have settled, nudging the score to 21-14 via the boot of Barrett. Lions prop Mako Vunipola made it an uphill battle for the visitors as he was sin-binned for an illegal cleanout and repeated infringements.
It wasn’t over. Front rower, Jack McGrath was an unlikely game breaker when he charged into space from a Johnny Sexton short ball.
The All Blacks were scrambling and Connor Murray raced over from the ensuing ruck. Farrell converted to tie things up at 21-all.
Ultimately, the game was decided by another moment of controversy when Charlie Faumuina was penalised for tackling a man in the air, despite the attacker jumping into the tackle to gather a high pass.
The All Blacks were fuming and Farrell capitalised, slotting the match-winning penalty.
It was the first time the All Blacks have been held tryless for three years, since the first Bledisloe against the Wallabies in 2014.
That was just reward for the starchy Lions defence, the likes of Sean O’Brien and Maro Itoje tenacious from start to finish.
The result keeps the series alive at 1-1, with the decider to be played at Eden Park next week.
Alex the jock
Guest
Imagine how dangerous they will be in the tri nations after losing 2 in a row :)
soapit
Guest
cheers. will do
Jumbo
Guest
Stick to watching your wobblies or your reds.
rebel
Guest
Um ok. Reading a lot into it you say. Gotcha. Take it easy
soapit
Guest
just an expression, like catch you round. tho funnily your response to it does bring the other use of it into some greater relevance. i feel like you are reading an awful lot into my original senseless onomatopoeic comment. good on you about the no petty names thing btw. that probably a positive on balance despite your seeming attempt to turn it into some kind of insult to someone. (btw re: your comment: its probably only a little more silly than the team you actually support affecting your mood given its just a game being played by people that arent us) so i'll see ya later then (just an expression, it will be written text only at most in future, as before).
Bakkies
Guest
Daly's head clash than his head hitting his own mate's shin had more to do with him being knocked out. Naholo was gone after Daly's head banged in to the back of his. That's probably why O'Brien got off.
Bakkies
Guest
He copped on eventually when the camera panned to him sitting on the bench
Bakkies
Guest
In any case there was no arms wrapped in the tackle on Sinckler.
Bakkies
Guest
It appears that Daly clashed heads with Naholo after he was hit by O'Brien. Then he collided with his own player's shin.
Bakkies
Guest
Dangerous (Peyper) and rubbish referees are found south of the equator that's why there are so few been given games on this tour. People like Veldsman, Peyper and Ayoub have bad reputations for a reason
Bakkies
Guest
'Bakkies! I was talking with my Bro’ in Law in New Zealand this morning who went to the game having paid $580 for his seat ~ for as he called it, “absolute garbage”, ~ bigger fool him as to pay anything like that money you’ve got rocks in your head. So that Red Card warranted or not ruined a game for at least one Spectator to the tune of $580, I guess he’d argue with you on that one!' He should divert his anger at SBW not the laws which are fine as they are. As for the rest of your post it doesn't warrant a response.
Bobby Fizzicola
Guest
Oh, that's BS. The ABs did not create enough opportunities and both kickers missed kicks. Some of the misses were not easy kicks. Get off your high horse...
Ralph
Guest
Thoughtful rugby followers will remember.
Jacko
Guest
What about DRS?
rebel
Guest
Take it easy? I just explained what birging is. It's not like I lost control and started calling him petty names. I leave that to the unhinged.
Chivas
Guest
Pity he missed Mako's deliberate shot to the head of Barret, which he would have seen if he had the courage to take his time and watch the video.it wasn't a shoulder. That was just the late charge kno King Barret off his pins. It is the way he placed his forearm on Barrera face and leaned on it when coming down on top of him. Watch it again if you missed that cheap shot. His consistency in ruling on shots to the head is poor like your own bias and inconsistency when it comes to comments on Hansen or the AB's versus other players and coaches. I do agree with you however that the sanction for a red card remain, but disagree with your biased view on to who and who they shouldn't be issued to.
dirtyrottenscoundrel
Guest
Jacko 24 Hours and still moaning. :(
Chivas
Guest
There was no falling, it was a cheap shot to the head period.
Jacko
Guest
Red was 100% correct IMO...I have a problem with SIBs tackle not being seen or reviewed and that led directly to a try ( unconverted) and the last penalty was rediculas and unfair
Chivas
Guest
Actually Makp's forearm hit Barret in the face in an intentional dirty act... which totally deserved a red in the same way as SBW's stupid intentional shoulder to the face did.