Lions: Who starred and who struggled?

Editor

After their defeat to the Blues at Eden Park, who stood out for the Lions and who left us demanding more?

STARRED

Rhys Webb: Zip on his pass and box-kicked with assurance throughout, all in all Webb was a major upgrade on Greig Laidlaw from the first game. Made sure the Lions’ quick ball at the breakdown in the first half didn’t go to waste and in general looked very composed, suggesting the race for a starting Test place isn’t entirely shut.

Maro Itoje: Soft penalty against him but Itoje’s work-rate cannot be faulted. Has to make the Test side, if not at lock then at six, and was often the fastest up in the Lions defensive line, doing his best to stop the Blues early on. Did miss a tackle in the build-up to West’s try, but others were found more wanting than the 22-year-old who was excellent.

Courtney Lawes: Again, full of energy in the second row, and far more effective than others at getting over the gain-line. Lawes brought the physicality and he and Itoje, while not the heaviest locks, helped the Lions’ scrum to gain dominance and win four penalties. Also the Lions top tackler with 14.

Jack McGrath: Highly impressive in a scrummaging clinic for the Lions before he was replaced in the second half, and the Ireland loosehead will have enjoyed having a crack at Charlie Faumuina ahead of the start of the Tests. Not a lot of action with ball in hand but tackled well, finishing with 13.

CJ Stander: Taulupe Faletau set the bar against the Provincial Barbarians and while Stander didn’t match him, the quality of the opposition has to be considered. After being stripped early on by Sonny Bill Williams, Stander went to work and finished with 19 carries, the most by the Lions. Faletau remains in the driving seat, but Stander’s engine can’t be faulted. Grabbed the Lions’ only try from the maul.

STRUGGLED

Jack Nowell: A much better player than this, and coming off a top season too with Exeter, but Nowell was continually exposed in the Lions’ blitz defence, either leaving too much space out wide or failing to keep Rieko Ioane at bay. Despite a cover tackle to prevent Ioane getting a second, uncharacteristic handling errors and the misfortune of being the player to tap the ball back for Sonny Bill Williams’ try made this a night to forget.

Liam Williams: Surely one of the worst Lions debuts. Williams was barely on the park, having replaced the injured Jared Payne, before he committed back-to-back penalties for taking out Matt Duffie in the air, leaving the Lions down to 14 men following his yellow card. Was outstanding in New Zealand last year with Wales so expectations are high. Never came close here.

Rory Best: Hasn’t laid down a marker in the first two matches to suggest he is the answer for the Test spot, and the botched lineout with the Lions in position to set up a maul for a possible win here didn’t help Best’s reputation for failing to hit his man under pressure. Jamie George has a big chance to become the Test starter on Saturday.

Johnny Sexton: On early for Dan Biggar after the Wales number ten went off with an HIA, not having had a fine game himself, but this was a chance for Sexton to exert the control and accurate kicking sorely missed in Whangarei. It never happened, with the Ireland number ten still appearing out of form. Missed more tackles (four) than he made (three).

Rob Howley: Frankly the Lions attack looked strait-jacketed. The initial pick-and-gos from the forwards around the fringes was the right approach, particularly when it settled the Lions down in the opening stages, but once the ball went the way of the backs the lack of angled runs and penetration was crystal clear, a four-on-three going begging in the opening minutes.

The Blues made double the clean breaks (9-4), double the offloads (8-4) and comfortably beat more defenders (20-13), and the argument that the Lions are lacking imagination would have stood had they won or lost.

These might be early days, but the Lions return of one backs try from their (supposedly easier) first two matches reflects poorly on Howley as backs coach. Rugby chaos? More like a coma.

by Ben Coles