British and Irish Lions boss Warren Gatland was understandably delighted with his team’s dominant 32-10 win over the Maori All Blacks.
Despite some issues in the first half the Lions went on to comfortably defeat the Maori side, scoring two tries in the second half.
Gatland was pleased at the way the Lions shut their hosts out of the match, with the Maori All Blacks failing to register any points during the second half when the Lions got on top.
“That was pretty good wasn’t it. If you look at territory and possession we dominated,” Gatland told Sky Sports.
“We needed to tidy up a few things at half-time, a couple of stupid penalties in the first half, but I thought we played some good rugby, managed the game well, and squeezed the life out of them basically.
“We were smart upfront. We have been guilty in other games of playing too much between the two ten-metre lines, putting ourselves under pressure.
“Today we had good go-forward ball, created some opportunities, defended well and they never really put us under pressure. Even the try they scored is a lucky, speculative kick through that has unfortunately bounced up off George [North].
“Ben Te’o just seems to be getting better and better in that position and is causing a lot of problems.”
Adding to his previous statements about the quality of the opposition helping the Lions prepare for the Test series, Gatland stressed how high the standards had been throughout the tour so far.
“We’re really pleased with the performance and the message to the players is what makes New Zealand rugby so strong is that they play at that level week in and week out.
“We are benefiting from that experience against these teams and the quality of the sides that we are playing.
“Hopefully that sets us up nicely for the first Test, by the looks of it, it is going to be a cracking series.”
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