New Zealand vs British & Irish Lions

Lore & Background

Wales coach Warren Gatland was head coach of the Lions, having also led the Lions to victory in the 2013 series against Australia. Former Wales captain Sam Warburton was appointed as tour captain, a role he also held on the 2013 tour. The Lions squad voted Jonathan Davies their player of the series. The ten-match schedule was announced on 9 July 2015, and included matches against New Zealand Super Rugby teams for the first time.

Initially, the Lions proposed a match in the United States against the U.S. national team to open the tour, but on 6 July 2015, the idea was dropped because of the unavailability of key American players due to club commitments. The opening match of the tour was originally planned to be against a Provincial Union XV, but this was changed to the New Zealand Barbarians in March 2016, following their win over the Māori All Blacks. Christchurch was initially planned to host a test match but, due to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake which damaged Lancaster Park beyond repair, it was deemed that the remaining stadiums in the South Island were too small to host a test match.

Reader's Guide

The Lions arrived in New Zealand just two days before their first match against a Provincial Barbarians team. The Barbarians led 7–3 at half time, before Anthony Watson scored for the visitors to give them the lead with 30 minutes to go. They held on to open the tour with an unconvincing 13–7 victory. The next match was four days later against the Blues; the Lions led 16–15 with 10 minutes remaining before a Sonny Bill Williams break and offload to Ihaia West led to the match-winning try.

A try-less 12–3 victory over the Crusaders in Christchurch followed. This was the first time the Crusaders had lost in 2017. It was another close game against the Highlanders, and Marty Banks from the Otago-based side kicked the winning penalty with six minutes remaining. The next match was against the Māori All Blacks; the Lions beat the Maori team with ease, winning 32–10.

This was followed up three days later as they put another dominant display against the Chiefs in Hamilton, winning 34–6. The final mid-week game against the Hurricanes was played after the first All Black test match. The Hurricanes came from behind to secure a 31–31 draw in Wellington. In the first test, New Zealand won 30–15. In the second test, the Lions won 24–21. The third test was drawn.