AUCKLAND
– Rieko Ioane scored two second-half tries as the world champion All Blacks
stamped their authority with a 30-15 victory in the first Test against the
British and Irish Lions on Saturday.
Both tries were off the back of demolition work by a
powerful New Zealand
pack. The All Blacks outscored the Lions three tries to two to win maintain
their 24-year unbeaten record at Eden
Park.
After a fevered build-up to the game, the All Blacks made
their mark early on with a penalty and Codie Taylor’s converted try to lead
10-0, and they were ahead 13-8 at halftime.
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.
Twelve years since the Lions were ‘blackwashed’ on their
last visit to New Zealand,
the game turned on a brutal scrum by the All Blacks.
It led to Ioane’s first try, and the second came when the
All Blacks forwards secured turnover ball.
All Black hooker Codie Taylor dives over for the opening try against the Lions. Photo: Reuters
TJ Perenara, taking a leaf from the playbook of his Lions
opposite scrumhalf Conor Murray, put in a box kick which Ioane gathered and
raced away to score.
As expected, the Test was a collision of two distinct styles
– enterprising running and audacious offloads, against box kicks and
close-quarter charges – but with a twist.
The All Blacks countered the renowned Lions’ defensive line
speed by employing the visitors’ tactics of a direct crash-and-bash up the
middle.
Murray’s
clever box kicks, which caused the All Blacks much discomfort in the opening 30
minutes, faded as the Lions pack started to wilt.
The convincing victory kept alive the All Blacks’ phenomenal
record, with 47 victories in a row on home soil since 2009 and no defeats at Eden Park
since 1994.
But it was a brutal, bloody encounter with collisions that
rocked the Richter scale. The All Blacks lost both fullback Ben Smith
(concussion) and outside centre Ryan Crotty (hamstring) in the first 30
minutes.
After being on the back foot for the first 10 minutes, the
All Blacks gave the Lions a taste of their own medicine with a series of
charges through the middle which had the tourists scrambling before they
eventually conceded a penalty, which Beauden Barrett converted.
Five minutes later, from a repeat of the same direct
approach, the All Blacks won another penalty close to the Lions line.
While the Lions switched off, expecting a shot at goal, the
All Blacks took a quick tap which resulted in a try to Taylor in the corner.
Aaron Smith is too late to stop Sean O'Brien scoring the first Lions try. Photo: Reuters
After an exchange of penalties by Owen Farrell and Barrett,
the Lions launched their running game with a counter-attack by Liam Williams
inside his own 22, which caught the All Blacks off guard.
He offloaded to Jonathan Davies, who took play deep into All
Blacks territory, where the ever-present Sean O’Brien finished off a brilliant
move.
In a torrid second half in the rain, the game broke
open with Ioane’s tries on 55 and 70 minutes.
Rhys Webb scored the Lions’ second try on fulltime to give
the visitors hope ahead of next week’s second Test in Wellington.
Points-Scorers
New Zealand – Tries: Codie Taylor, Rieko Ioane (2). Conversions: Beauden Barrett (3). Penalties: Barrett (3).
Lions – Tries: Sean O’Brien, Rhys Webb. Conversion: Owen Farrell. Penalty: Owen Farrell.