Lions Tour of New Zealand 2017 - Game 1 vs Barbarians review - Did the Lions meet expectations?4/6/2017 The Lions face the traditional Maori challenge before kick off. It was finally here, the Lions Tour was about to begin. The people of Whangarei alongside some passionate British and Irish Lions fans filled the seats at the Toll Stadium as they waited patiently for what was going to be a stimulating game. As it got to a start, the Barbarians were very strong and near the halftime point of the first half, they were able to break some great defense by the Lions to get across the line with Sam Anderson-Heather opening the tour with the first try. Jack Stratton of the New Zealand Barbarians passes the ball out. As the game went on the Lions struggled to get past the kiwis and score a try and so they opted for penalty kicks instead. Irish international - Johnny Sexton missed his first attempt at goal before finding his confidence and having success in his second try. Tommy Seymour of the British and Irish Lions gets pulled down by Baabaas' back Sevu Reece. Perhaps, it wasn't exactly what everyone had expected, considering the Baabaas' were full of provincial players and they were going up against internationals. But the locals weren't complaining. Instead they were enjoying the maiden match of the tour. Towards the dying moments of the first half, the Lions were scrambling to get a try to get in front for the first time in the encounter but some strong defense from the Baabaas' rejected their many attempts. So the Lions had to go back into the locker room and regroup so that they could somehow find away to grab a 5 pointer in the second half. Inside the Lions changing room. Coming back from the break the Lions looked rejuvenated as they looked inspired and did their best to create something special. They were able to break the spirited defense from the home team and many phases later, English representative - Anthony Watson scored his team's only try of the night, out wide which gave hope to Lions fans. Owen Farrell who came off the bench, nailed the conversion and the score was 13-7. Unfortunately that was how the scoreboard looked for the rest of the night as there was never really a real challenge, but it was a relief for the Lions as it seemed at the beginning of the night, that it could've been a whole lot worse for them. They were able to sneak past the resilient Barbarians who didn't do too bad for a provincial team and you'd expect some banter here and there with Head Coach of the Lions - Warren Gatland and his son Bryn Gatland who played superbly for the Baabaas'. The Lions second match of the tour is on Tuesday 6th June at Eden Park against the Blues. Kick off is at 7:35 pm.
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