After 1428 days of anticipation since the final test in 2013 against Australia, the Lions returned.
All the debate over Gatland’s selections settled down and 23 of those selections were given the chance to prove their worth on the first match of the tour.
Their opponents, the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians, were a young side with limited Super Rugby experience. Bar centre Dwanye Sweeney and number 8 Peter Rowe, all of the team were under the age of 30 but they didn’t play like it.
They surprised everyone by scoring the first try of the game through captain Sam Anderson-Heather and they led the Lions at halftime.
They played like a team who had nothing to lose. Free-flowing, fast paced, exciting rugby, something the Lions would do well to emulate. In the end, the international experience of the Lions proved too much for them but they gave a showing which they can be proud of.
The Lions struggled. An error-ridden performance that was slow and sluggish proved that there is a lot of work to do before the first test on June 24th. However there were a number of positives to take from the game. Obviously starting the tour off with a win was key and there were individual performances which highlighted key battles for test places.
Here are my Lions player ratings:
