Maori All Blacks 10-32 British & Irish Lions: Player ratings, report and reaction

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Match Stats: Maori All Blacks 10-32 British & Irish Lions 

Maori All Blacks tries: Messam (12)
Conversions: McKenzie (13)
Penalties: McKenzie (22) 

British & Irish Lions tries: Penalty (51), Itoje (55)
Conversions: Penalty (51), Halfpenny (56)
Penalties: Halfpenny (5,10,20,33,44,70)  

Match Report

A brutal forward pack assault silenced the Maori All Blacks and handed the British and Irish Lions a vital, morale-boosting 32-10 victory.

A penalty try and another score from Maro Itoje crushed the Maori spirit, with the home side given precious little sniff of stealing a victory to emulate their predecessors of 2005.

The Maori stunned the Lions 19-13 some 12 years back, but here the tourists wrestled their hosts into submission.

Leigh Halfpenny's six penalties and flawless 20-point haul from the boot underpinned a muscular triumph, with the tourists dominant at the set-piece and all tight exchanges.

The Lions badly needed this victory, which will raise hopes somewhat ahead of next weekend's Test opener against the All Blacks. But their attack is still yet to fire, and they can expect New Zealand to pick at that in the almost endless talking shop ahead of the Test clashes.

Still, the win and its inherent solidity will have proved some boon to Lions head coach Warren Gatland.

The tourists' boss came under fire for apparently prioritising geographic proximity over meritocracy when drafting in four Welsh players and two from Scotland, to ease the burden on his squad ahead of the All Blacks Tests.

Even Sir Ian McGeechan - Gatland's Lions mentor - admitted the policy was "difficult to justify", with the Lions claiming players from England and Ireland had too tiresome travel times to join the tour from Argentina and Japan.

The Lions will put their new recruits on the bench for Tuesday's Chiefs clash in Hamilton, to protect their front-line 23 ahead of Saturday's first All Blacks Test in Auckland.

Gatland has always maintained chasing Test-match victories against the back-to-back world champions must trump all other concerns however. So after copping some flak, he will have been delighted for the Lions to prevail in style in Rotorua.

Promising breaks undone by no killer instinct proved the story of a frustrating first half for the Lions, who still led 12-10 at the break.

The tourists spent all week demanding an end to stupid errors, only to gift the Maori the only try of the half.

George North continued his indifferent form by failing to claim cleanly when sliding back in a bid to sweep up a kick in behind. Nehe Milner-Skudder hacked on and Liam Messam finished.

Damian McKenzie's conversion pushed the Maori into a 7-6 lead, after Halfpenny had posted two penalties for the Lions.

The Maori proved savvy at killing the ball every time the Lions edged deep into their territory, to stop Gatland's men capping several smart moves with a try.

Johnny Sexton's half-break almost set Tadhg Furlong away, then Jon Davies dummied and swept through the line, but neither time could the Lions finish.

Halfpenny's third penalty put the Lions 9-7 ahead at the top of the second quarter, only for petulance from Itoje to cost his side.

The England lock threw the ball away after being choke-tackled, and referee Jaco Peyper pushed the visitors back 10 metres, enough to let McKenzie slot the goal, with the Maori sneaking a 10-9 lead.

Another Sexton half-break had Davies stealing through the line, only to spill the ball in contact.

Halfpenny's fifth penalty pushed the Lions into a 15-10 lead to open the second half, with George Kruis increasingly vocal as the tourists ploughed through profitable tight phases.

Tawera Kerr-Barlow was fortunate to escape a yellow card when he shoulder-charged Halfpenny in the face, with the Lions full-back sliding low after being tackled.

The Lions produced a smart driving lineout, Ben Te'o powered close, and then Jamie George burrowed to the line.

The try was chalked off however, with the officials unable to determine whether George had reached the whitewash.

The Lions then ruined the Maori scrum, not once but twice, with referee Peyper awarding a penalty try from the second. The new rules mean penalty tries are automatically worth seven points, so the Lions led 22-10 with half an hour to play.

The Lions turned the screw, forcing another five-metre scrum. Taulupe Faletau drove close, and Itoje finished off. Halfpenny's conversion pushed the Lions' lead to 29-10. By the time Kerr-Barlow returned, the Lions had won the game.

Match Reaction

Lions coach Warren Gatland: "If you look at territory and position we dominated things.

"We had to tidy up a few things at half-time...but, apart from a couple of stupid penalties in the first half, I thought we played some good rugby, we managed the game really well and we squeezed the life out of them basically.

"We we smart. There was a period in that first half...we've been guilty in other games of just playing too much around the 10-metre line, putting ourselves under a bit of pressure, but we got some good go-forward ball, created some good opportunities and defended well.

"They never really put us under any real pressure, even the try they scored. We're really pleased with our performance.

"Up front the scrum was good and the line-out in the game was excellent.

"What's so strong about New Zealand rugby is that these guys play at that level week in and week out and we're benefiting from that experience against the teams and the quality of the sides we're playing and hopefully that sets us up nicely for the Test next week.

"By the looks of it it's going to be a cracking series."

Lions Player Ratings

15 LEIGH HALFPENNY Flawless off the tee and very solid at the back in defence: 8/10

14 ANTHONY WATSON Quiet overall but did not do anything wrong: 6

13 JONATHAN DAVIES Always a threat and often cut the line, but still needs to add killer instinct: 7

12 BEN TE'O Another bullish showing from the battering-ram centre who could so easily start the Tests now: 7

11 GEORGE NORTH Struggling for form and can surely not be worthy of a Test start on this evidence: 5

10 JOHNNY SEXTON Commanding, decisive and gritty - everything the Lions need from a Test-match fly-half: 8

9 CONOR MURRAY Inch-perfect box kicking yet again, that allowed the Lions to suffocate their hosts: 9

1 MAKO VUNIPOLA The all-round performance he needed to nail down the starting Test shirt: 8

2 JAMIE GEORGE Pioneered the Lions' potent scrummage and so nearly snuck in for a try: 8

3 TADHG FURLONG So solid as the scrummage cornerstone, Gatland's starting tighthead without issue: 8

4 MARO ITOJE If Itoje starts in the Test match next week, this all-action showing will be the reason why: 8

5 GEORGE KRUIS Grew in leadership terms throughout, shouting, cajoling and pushing his pack around the field: 9

6 PETER O'MAHONY (C) Another totemic showing from the Munster skipper - Gatland can ill afford to leave him out of the Test team: 8

7 SEAN O'BRIEN The bullish openside that can stick it to the All Blacks in Test match action next weekend: 8

8 TAULUPE FALETAU Another classy performance from a true number eight of substance, grit and no little wit too: 8

Replacements:

16 KEN OWENS (for George, 64) One sumptuous offload almost set the Lions clear: 7

17 JACK MCGRATH (for Vunipola, 59) Scrummaged well and put himself about to good effect: 7

18 KYLE SINCKLER (for Furlong, 64) As niggly as always, in the Maori faces to good effect: 7

19 IAIN HENDERSON (for Kruis, 59) Bullish performance in carrying around the field: 7

20 SAM WARBURTON (for O'Mahony, 62) Scrapped to the end in a bid to close out the victory: 7

21 GREIG LAIDLAW (for Murray, 66) Still struggling to crank up the pace off the base of rucks: 6

22 DAN BIGGAR (for Sexton, 66) Tidy enough effort in guiding the Lions over the line: 7

23 ELLIOT DALY (for North, 62) Unable to cut loose but a smart enough cameo: 7