‘Relief’ as Owen Farrell boots British & Irish Lions to much-needed win over Crusaders
Coach Gatland admits his side need to be more clinical after spurning a number of try opportunities in 12-3 victory
Coach Warren Gatland admitted a sense of relief on Saturday as a much-improved British & Irish Lions ended the Canterbury Crusaders’ unbeaten run 12-3 in the best performance of their New Zealand tour.
Owen Farrell kicked all the points as the Lions wasted several try-scoring opportunities but impressed in defence and won the aerial battle to hand the Southern Hemisphere’s leading club their first loss of the season.
The Lions were lacklustre in their first two tour games – including Wednesday’s shock defeat to the Auckland Blues – but Saturday’s performance is likely to make the All Blacks sit up and take notice, two weeks from their three-test series.
Captain Alun Wyn Jones called it a “confidence-boosting win”, as Gatland singled out the Lions lineout and the tactical kicking of Conor Murray for special praise.
The New Zealander described the victory as “obviously a bit of relief because we’ve been under a bit of pressure”.
