The video review of this New Zealand score is not going to be pretty.
The Lions lost 30-15 to the All Blacks at Eden Park to go 1-0 down in the Test Series.
New Zealand were electric, relentless and remorseless but one of their three tries will sting for days [weeks, months and years] to come.
17 minutes in and, after 13 frantic phases, Jaco Peyper awarded the home side a penalty. Scrum-half Aaron Smith faked a quick-tap but when he put the ball under his arm, many Lions assumed the All Blacks would either go to the corner or take the points.
Five players either had their hands on their hips [Jonathan Davies, Mako Vunipola and Tadhg Furlong] or knees [Alun Wyn Jones and Owen Farrell]. They were gasping air back into ragged lungs.
Smith had a quick word with captain Kieran Read [clip below].
Read had spotted a massive gap out wide and he gestured to Smith. Tap and go!
When Smith took the tap, many Lions were still asleep at the switch. Alun Wyn Jones is done for this play. So is Mako Vunipola.
Toby Faletau breaks into a sprint, quickly followed by a jog. Sean O’Brien and Jamie George get off the line but Lions captain Peter O’Mahony knows something big is needed. He knows there are numbers out wide.
O’Mahony sprints up on Ben Smith but Beauden Barrett has other ideas. He cuts out Smith with a searing skip pass to Israel Dagg and O’Mahony is out of it.
Ben Te’o is lining up Dagg but, for some reason, Elliot Daly decides to step in. This lack of trust in Te’o’s defence proves crucial.
As Daly bites, Dagg releases a low slinger to Codie Taylor. Most wingers would struggle to hold onto the ball but Taylor picks it up off his laces and glides home.
Daly is disgusted with his lazier teammates but he will have to take a look at his own role here. There was a two-on-two but his decision to drift in was the last in a long series of mistakes.
The Lions would get back within five by half-time but, like this try, they completely ran out of steam and were left with lots to regret.
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