Blues 22-16 British & Irish Lions: Misery for the tourists in Auckland

The British and Irish Lions had promised ‘rugby chaos’ in the build-up to this clash. And they certainly delivered in the final five minutes. But in all the wrong way.

Leigh Halfpenny, with four kicks from four, looked as though he was going to pick up where he left off four years ago in Australia by kicking his side to victory, but the wheels fell off with the winning post in sight.

Firstly, Ihaia West blasted through a gaping defence to score what proved to be the match-wining try. Two quick bursts and two quick offloads opened up space, but West roared through a massive hole in the Lions’ defence - one far too big to leave at this level against opponents of this class - to race clear and touch down between the posts.

West then duly converted his own try to give the hosts a 22-16 lead which, despite some frenzied Lions pressure in the closing moments, they were able to hold on to.

And the Lions’ malaise was perfectly illustrated in virtually the final play of the game when they were handed a gilt-edged opportunity to claw victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Blues were penalised in midfield to give the Lions the opportunity to kick for the corner and set up the driving maul that had delivered their first half try through CJ Stander.

But no sooner had the chance been created than it was blown as hooker Rory Best overthrew horribly to hand the Blues the opportunity they craved to re-gather possession and smash it out of play to seal the win.

This defeat will be a shattering setback for Warren Gatland’s men who, although greatly improved from Saturday’s below-par display against the Provincial Barbarians, now move on to the South Island and a clash with the Crusaders with damage to repair.

And the task only gets harder from here on in, with the Blues widely recognised as the weakest of the Top 14 franchises the Lions will face.

Gatland will once more ring the changes for that meeting with the Crusaders but, with less than three weeks to go before the first Test against the All Blacks, he has plenty of questions to answer.

The Lions started firmly on the front foot, enjoying 16 phases of possession in the opening two minutes before being penalised in the tackle to turn the ball over for the first time.

And when Jared Payne was narrowly beaten by the ball to the dead-ball line in the very next passage of play after hacking a loose Blues pass into space, the visiting fans had plenty of early cause for optimism.

That bubble was burst after just seven minutes, however, when Augustine Pulu’s long mis-pass landed perfectly into the hands of Rieko Ione and he screeched past Jack Nowell on the left wing to score the game’s opening try, although Stephen Perofeta was unable to kick the conversion.

To their credit, though, the Lions quickly recovered their composure. Payne should have scored in the corner but some poor passing by Robbie Henshaw and Elliot Daly meant he was forced into touch rather than enjoying a comfortable run-in.

But on 17 minutes, the Lions were on the board as the forwards flexed their muscles. The Blues had already been penalised for pulling down one driving maul, but it was second time lucky for the tourists with the next play as CJ Stander drove over from the base.

Halfpenny duly converted to give the tourists a 7-5 lead, and the Welshman then added a penalty to make it 10-5.

And it looked as though Warren Gatland’s men would go into the break ahead, before there was one final twist in the tale. Perofeta’s stoppage time penalty bounced back off the post and, as the ball was knocked back over the try line by a Lions’ hand, Sonny Bill Williams burst through to touch down to level the scores, and give Perofeta the chance to convert to give the Blues the half-time advantage, a chance he gratefully accepted.

Chaos at the end of the first half. Chaos at the end of the second half. But it was not the chaos the Lions’ management had in mind.

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