Looking for a confidence-boosting performance to spark this New Zealand tour into life, Clive Woodward's British and Irish Lions came up well short of that as they struggled for long periods in a 34-20 first-up win over the Bay of Plenty Steamers in Rotorua.
Further, the victory came at some price, the Lions losing their match-hardened 32-year-old No 8 Lawrence Dallaglio to what looked like a tour-ending ankle injury at the end of the first quarter.
Early reports indicated a fractured ankle as a prone Dallaglio, in some agony, had to be driven from the field in the medical cart. It was a shame for the big, 73-test veteran had looked in good nick and full of fire and brimstone.
And, it has to be said, Dallaglio's ankle didn't look to be all that had some cracks in it, the Lions coughing up a 17-0 first-half lead and taking until the final few minutes to put the issue beyond doubt against the ever-gallant Steamers.
The tourists started and finished with a hiss and a roar but you can be sure the fairly large chunk inbetween that was a long way from convincing will cause Woodward the most concern. Especially so given the strength of the lineup he named for this match.
The Lions stormed out to a 17-0 lead within 11 minutes, but then lost both their lead and their experienced No 8 Dallaglio before the half was out.
The Bay Steamers responded to a three-try start from the tourists to finish with two converted tries of their own and went into the sheds at halftime deservedly locked at 17-17.
Barely a minute had passed and the Lions had their first try on this tour, an explosive beginning by the tourists rewarded with a touchdown wide on the left to fullback Josh Lewsey.
It was an ominous opening, particularly by the Lions forwards who rumbled up off handy lineout ball, fired-up No 8 Dallaglio handling twice. Finally when the Bay were in full retreat mode the ball shifted left and Ronan O'Gara's nice cutout pass left Lewsey with the easiest of finishes.
It was an awesome beginning, and even better was to come. Within the next nine minutes Lewsey had his brace and winger Mark Cueto was also on the board as the Lions switched into overdrive.
Lewsey's second touchdown was a carbon copy of the first, the pace and the precision of the attack impressive as phase play was built and nice flat passing put the fullback over in the corner. It went upstairs, but Paddy O'Brien ruled a close one in favour of the attacker.
Cueto's try came with the Steamers punished for a shoddy scrum clearance and a surging move up the left flank left the Bay defence in tatters. Quick ball found O'Gara and his delightful crosskick landed in the arms of an unmarked Cueto. At 17-0 this was what Clive Woodward was after.
Bay No 8 Colin Bourke got the home team on the board after a quarter of an hour, the Steamers taking a lineout option off a penalty and Nili Latu doing well to slip a nice pass to his No 8 who breezed past a struggling Dallaglio.
That closed the gap to 7-17, but worse was to come from the tourists.
As the first quarter ticked over and the Steamers at last got their game into gear, some desperate Lions defence yielded not a try, but a serious injury to Dallaglio, with early indications the veteran loose forward may have fractured his ankle.
This just keyed the Steamers into further action, the home team dominating possession and the flow of the match throughout the second quarter, Murray Williams adding a penalty on the half-hour mark and then crossing for a converted try four minutes from the break to level the scores.
It was nothing less than the home boys deserved, their forwards superb as they battled back into the match and their lively backs enjoying some ball to run on to.
It was from such ball that Williams had his seven-pointer, skipper Wayne Ormond showing some nice skill to slip a no-look pass for winger Anthony Tahana to steam on to. Halfback Kevin Senio continued the move and after hooker Aleki Luitui had a dab, quick ball found Williams with the space to easily beat Brian O'Driscoll.
The Lions regained the lead, 22-17, a dozen minutes into the second spell when Tom Shanklin made the Steamers pay for turning ball over, the winger powering through two tacklers on the left off another nice flat pass from O'Gara.
And, after the Steamers closed further with a Williams penalty, halfback Dwayne Peel darted over from a wheeled 5m scrum to stretch the lead back to seven, at 27-20. O'Gara missed the fourth of his five conversion attempts.
The issue was finally settled three minutes from the end when Lewsey, his team's standout back, sliced through off a scrum move and put replacement back Gordon D'Arcy over alongside the posts.
It was a win that the Lions will be pleased to take, especially given the nature of their opposition who rose splendidly to the occasion.
They did score six tries and looked sharp when they could lay on quality ball to their lively backs, Lewsey, O'Driscoll and Shanklin all looking dangerous with ball in hand. And up front Richard Hill led the pack with another solid performance, though some shakiness at scrum and lineout time will no doubt be examined closely.
Flyhalf Ronan O'Gara personified his team. He was both good and bad, his kicking for goal ordinary and defence non-existent. But his general play was good and some of his passing and tactical kicking was top drawer.
The Bay fronted splendidly, especially given their limited buildup. In the forwards Latu, Bourke, Lutui, Ormond and Upton all had stirring games, while new first five Murray Williams looks a find of the highest order. The Bay backs ran hard at their opposites all night, with Grant McQuoid and Alan Bunting losing nothing in comparison to their star opponents and Tahana busy on the left wing.
But in the end the Lions got the win which as Woodward repeatedly tells us is all that counts. We await the medical bulletin on Dallaglio, but that shapes as a less rosy outcome.
Bay of Plenty 20: Colin Bourke, Murray Willaims tries; Williams 2 pen 2 con.
Lions 34: Josh Lewsey 2, Mark Cueto, Tom Shanklin, Dwayne Peel, Gordon D'Arcy tries; Ronan O'Gara 2 con.
what a game, what a crowd.
we had that game until they pulled sims davidson off with about 20 to go, lost a lot of possesion so bay were up against it.
