Honours deserved to be even as tourists weathered the expected All Blacks onslaught with a superior kicking game and superb defenceLike most people I had a sense of anticlimax at the final whistle. It was a strange feeling. I couldn’t help but think: “Even if they flip a coin, surely it can’t end like that?” But thinking about it a bit more, it means that the 2017 series will go down in history. We will look back on it in the future and there will be a bit of mythology to it.And for all that it was a perplexing end to the tour, I don’t think there should be any changes to the laws. It is so rare that it...
The Lions captain did not make the starting XV for the first Test but his influence in the second and third matches against New Zealand was incalculableThere are several defining images from the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour, many of them involving the same colour: the red card shown to Sonny Bill Williams in Wellington, Warren Gatland’s red clown nose, the oceans of red in the stadiums and, perhaps above all else, the red‑shirted Lions captain, Sam Warburton, jokingly yanking the trophy towards himself as he and his New Zealand opposite number, Kieran Read, posed for end-of-series photographs. Related: Warren Gatland sees Lions’ draw against All Blacks as next best thing to success | Andy Bull Related: Warren Gatland...
Head coach is justifiably proud of his team’s achievement of a tied series against the best team in the world on their home territoryWarren Gatland lost his red nose somewhere along the way on Saturday night, but he did have a couple of black bags under his eyes on Sunday morning. He said he was feeling fresh, but you would not have guessed it to look at him. It had been “a pretty quiet night,” he said, “quiet for me, anyway.” Related: Sam Warburton the Lions’ brightest star in series that had everything Related: Warren Gatland says his Kiwi instinct was a crucial factor in Lions series draw Continue reading...
Are the All Blacks, who are used to flattening every team they face, actually starting to flatline, as England close in on them at the top of the global rankings?The players voted Jonathan Davies the Lion of the tour after the third and final Test on Saturday. The recognition for the Wales centre was notable for at least two reasons: he was a back on a trip when they were expected to do little more than chase kicks, and he was not from the country with the largest single representation. His defence in the second half at Eden Park on Saturday made it hard for New Zealand to achieve width and it was a series when the loss of so many experienced players...
With the All Blacks missing three golden opportunities and a questionable late decision going against them, the crowd left Eden Park feeling deflatedIt rained on Sunday morning in New Zealand. Absolutely teemed down in Auckland, so it was tough to see if the sun rose on the morning after the night before. It seemed fitting, somehow. Nature’s attempt to wash away the stain left at Eden Park by a Test that had promised so much. A game that fell flat just when we were expecting a crescendo.There was no euphoria when the final whistle blew. The crowd stunned into silence after 80 minutes of raucous support trickled away from Eden Park, disappointed it had come to this. Related: The Lions are priceless: meddle too...