It was a dreadful start to the series for the Lions who must now try to bounce back in Wellington next week when the two sides do battle once again, at the Westpac Stadium. Of the Welsh players on show, Dwayne Peel and Stephen Jones tried their best, but spent all night on the back foot. Gethin Jenkins found life tough against a rampant All Black pack; as did replacement Ryan Jones, and Gareth Thomas had precious little to do.
The Lions suffered tragedy within two minutes when captain O’Driscoll was stretchered off with what looked like a serious arm ort shoulder injury. O’Driscoll tackled full back Leon MacDonald on the right flank but stayed on the floor motionless before being taken away to hospital for x-rays.
The response, however, was immediate and when Paul O’Connell charged down Justin Marshall’s kick, the Lions almost scored. Unfortunately, the chasing Shane Byrne was unable to beat Doug Howlett to the touchdown. However, after a break and chip and chase from Daniel Carter on the left, the All Blacks took the lead when the Lions were caught offside in midfield. Carter kicked the penalty.
The outside half doubled his side’s lead when the Lions were once again caught offside. Furthermore, O’Connell was yellow carded for deliberate offside and the Lions were not only six points down, but they were one man down too. All of a sudden the concerns that many of the 20,000 Lions had expressed in the build up to the game, were coming true.
Sitiveni Sivivatu was held up just short on seventeen minutes by Jason Robinson and at the same time, Richard Hill was forced off with a knee injury. Ryan Jones came on and the Lions were in tatters. It became even worse on twenty-four minutes when a careless cross field kick from Stephen Jones enabled the All Blacks to break from deep and after Byrne lost yet another line out, five metres from his own line, lock Ali Williams collected and barged his way over.
When Gareth Thomas chased back with Sivivatu after a chip ahead from Tana Umaga, referee Joel Jutge went to his fourth official after Thomas appeared to impede the Fijian wing. Fortunately, for the Lions, Thomas was let off and the Lions cleared the danger. Wilkinson spurned a penalty on thirty-seven minutes; their first clear opportunity to score, but the Lions managed to get through to half time without any further damage. However, the writing was very much on the wall.
Carter’s third penalty, after O’Connell was penalised for pulling down at a line out, made it 14-0 after forty-four minutes. It was 21-0 three minutes later after Dwayne Peel had tapped and knocked on at a penalty on the All Blacks ten metre-line. The hosts won the ensuing scrum and after Umaga had burst through the centre, the captain through out a long pass to Sivivatu who stepped inside to score. Stephen and Ryan Jones both continued to battle hard for the Lions as did Peel, but it was Wilkinson who managed to break the Lions’ duck on fifty-six minutes with a penalty.
