Elliot Daly's late attempt at a match-winning penalty fell short as the British and Irish Lions were narrowly beaten by the Highlanders in Dunedin.
Second-half tries from returning captain Sam Warburton and Tommy Seymour looked to have put the Lions in control, before the hosts responded.
Owen Farrell dragged an effort wide for the Lions before Marty Banks kicked what proved the decisive penalty.
It was a second loss in four games for Warren Gatland's side in New Zealand.
Waisake Naholo's try had given the hosts a first-half lead, before Jonathan Joseph replied with a converted score.
But Liam Coltman drove over for the Highlanders and Lima Sopoaga added his second penalty after the break to set up the nervy finish.
Gatland made wholesale changes to the side that outfought the Crusaders in a 12-3 win on Saturday, with Warburton looking to prove his fitness after a knee injury.
The Lions coach was forced to replace Courtney Lawes when the lock took a heavy blow to the head in the first half.
The tourists return to action against the Maori All Blacks on Saturday (08:35 BST) - their fifth of six warm-up matches before the first of three Tests against the All Blacks on 24 June.
Lions improve in attack
The Lions headed into Tuesday's game having scored just two tries in their opening three fixtures in New Zealand, and were looking to establish their attacking credentials.
Despite failing to show the same resilience in closing out the game as they had against the Crusaders three days earlier, the tourists did outscore the hosts by three tries to two.
Centre Joseph accelerated through a gap from a fine Dan Biggar offload to touch down for their first, with Seymour intercepting a hanging cross-field kick from Sopoaga to dart over after the break.
Outscoring the 2015 Super Rugby champions, who have averaged more than four tries a game this season, is no mean feat, but Warburton's score ensured Gatland's men did just that.
Scrum-half Rhys Webb and forward Kyle Sinckler also broke the line, but a touch of inaccuracy and too many dropped passes stopped the Lions from adding to their try count.
It was a tale of the kickers in the end, as the normally reliable Farrell pulled his effort wide, and fellow replacement Daly's kick two minutes from time dropped agonisingly short.
Match report to follow.
Teams:
Lions: Payne; Nowell; Joseph, Henshaw; Seymour; Biggar, Webb; Marler, Best, Sinckler; Lawes, Henderson; Haskell, Warburton (captain), Stander.
Replacements: Owens, McGrath, Cole, Jones, Tipuric, Laidlaw, Farrell, Daly.
Highlanders: Buckman; Naholo, Fekitoa, Walden, Li; Sopoaga, Hammington; Lienert-Brown, Coltman, Tokolahi; Ainley, Hemopo; Hunt, Evans, Whitelock (captain).
Replacements: Pleasants-Tate, Seiuli, Halanukonuka, Dickson, Lentjes, Renton, Banks, Osborne.
No comments:
Post a Comment