Lions and New Zealand draw in Auckland to share Test series

The Lions have drawn 15-15 with New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland, in the third match of their Test series, meaning the series is drawn, the first such occurrence on a Lions tour since 1955 against South Africa.

A game of brutal collisions and fantastic defence will go down as one of the great Test matches. The All Blacks edged the first half 12-6 as tries from Ngani Laumape and Jordie Barrett and a conversion from his brother Beauden pushed the Kiwis in front. Two Owen Farrell penalties kept the Lions in touch; however, and after the break it was the tourists who had the edge on the scoreboard. Farrell slotted two further penalties, with Elliot Daly landing a huge third penalty for the Lions, while Barrett notched two of his own.

Both teams had chances to win the tie and with it the series, but neither side found the necessary rapier edge in a final quarter that was defined by line speed in defence.

An electric opening to the tie saw both sides go end to end with first Beauden Barrett cutting the Lions open down the left, before offloading out wide to his brother Jordie, before Julian Savea knocked on with the line at his mercy. The Lions then worked their way to the All Blacks 22, where they looked set to go over in the corner, before an intercept by Jordie Barrett saw him take play down back to the Lions red zone. He fed Savea, who was hauled down by Jonathan Davies on the track back. The move came to an end, but the New Zealand attack didn’t as Beauden Barrett kicked crossfield for brother Jordie to knock down for Laumape to collect and cross from close range for the score. Beauden Barrett added two extra to give the Kiwis the start they so craved after defeat in the second Test.

But it was the Lions who chalked up the next score. Beauden Barrett was caught offside at the breakdown, with Farrell slotting the kick from the left. The Lions withstood another period of sustained pressure as the game passed the half-hour mark, with a number of Kiwi handling errors marring their attacking potential, before another All Blacks infringement for offside saw Farrell slot his second penalty of the day to make it a one-point game.

However, a second try for the Kiwis looked likely and came five mintes before the interval. A Brodie Retallick lineout take on the Lions 10 was spun to the middle where Laumape hit the line hard, before offloading to Anton Lienert-Brown on the support line, who then arced a pass out to Jordie Barrett joining the line to cross the whitewash. Beauden Barrett missed the conversion to leave the Lions within six, which is the way it stayed until the break.

Sean O’Brien failed to emerge after the interval, the Leinster flanker having taken a knock on his shoulder in the first half, with Munster’s CJ Stander taking his place in the back row

The Lions struck with their third penalty of the tie in the first minute of that second period. Kieran Read was pinged for obstructing Liam Williams, with Daly slotting an absolute monster of a penalty from inside his own half.

Johnny Sexton was next to call it a day as he was forced from the field for a head injury assessment on 48 minutes, from which he never returned, with Ben Te’o coming into the fray at 12 and Farrell moving to outhalf.

The tie took another twist as Jerome Kaino caught Alun-Wyn Jones in the face with a high arm and the blindside flanker was sent to the bin for ten minutes. The All Blacks defence did remarkably well to withstand the Lions attack until the final minute of that sin bin period, when Retallick caught Williams with a high tackle and Farrell slotted the resulting spot kick to level the tie at 12-12 with just over a quarter of the match remaining.

The Lions were forced to reshuffle their pack as Sam Warburton was forced off for a HIA, meaning Courtney Lawes slotted into the back row, as the tourists found themselves without a dedicated openside. Shortly after that change the Lions pack went down in the scrum directly in front of the posts, with Kyle Sinckler the man guilty of the infringment, and Beauden Barrett slotting over the penalty to push the All Blacks ahead as the match entered the end game.

Warburton returned to the field of play with seven minutes remaining, with Jones making way and Lawes slotting back in at lock.

And the Lions drew level with three minutes remaining as the All Blacks were pinged for failing to roll away at the breakdown and the boot of Farrell levelled the game once more.

An epic Test match was set up for a an epic conclusion and almost produced a game-winning score. The All Blacks won a scrum deep in Lions territory for accidental offside by Ken Owens, but the Lions won the ball in a scruffy scrum, before breaking through Rhys Webb only to see the ball go forward in the next phase. The Kiwis went hammer and tongs in the dying moments of the tie, but the Lions held firm with some last-gasp defending, meaning a first drawn series since the 2-2 series between the Lions and South Africa way back in 1955.

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