Like 'oul blue eyes, you can never rule out another comeback, but in what was probably his last hands-on involvement with the Lions over a period of 30-odd years, Ian McGeechan was palpably bursting with pride at the achievement of his unbeaten midweekers.

"I'm hugely proud of a group of players who played with their hearts out there tonight. I thought tactically we were very good in the first half and in the setpiece work, and then we had to dig in in the second half. We always said they were the best provincial side we would play, with dangerous players. That was a complete team effort in the second half and I'm hugely proud of them."

McGeechan argued that this Lions' vintage were probably a week or two, and a match or two, shy of optimum preparation. The midweek coaching ticket appear to have been operating as a separate entity and almost seem to be divorcing themselves from the rest of the tour.

In another fine defensive effort under the coaching of the upwardly mobile Mike Ford (in which the midweekers have only conceded four tries in five games) they largely kept an Auckland team, full of attacking brio and pace, at bay.

"I was really pleased with the effort," said Ford, in his customary northern twang and dialogue. "The boys were running on empty at the end of a long tour and a long, hard season. They asked a lot of questions, they threw the ball about, especially in the second half, but we scrambled well.

"The times they looked the most dangerous was from turnovers and quick penalties, but from setpiece and everything was structured I was very, very pleased. The defence through the midweek tour has been very good."

Matt Dawson was his typically spikey self after another spikey performance. "We focused really hard on this game since selection at the weekend as our Test match and all the players who have been involved in Midweek Massive as we're known, it's been a fitting end to a really good tour.

"There's been a great spirit built throughout the whole tour party, who are chuffed to bits."

Confined to bit parts in the two Tests, this was only his second start of the tour. "I want to start, like every player in this party. I want the number nine on my back. I will support the team squad wherever I'm picked, but I don't want to finish my career in the next couple of years being known as someone who's on the bench. That's not how I work. I want to be starting. It was a big game for me; it was a big game for a lot of players out there."

Ronan O'Gara had been told he was coming on at half-time, but in the event replaced Charlie Hodgson sooner than expected.

"We played some good rugby in the first half. The second half was a bit of a stop-start affair, we lacked cohesion at times, but in the end we battened down the hatches, got into their half and closed it out.

"We should have kicked a penalty when we were 14-3 up, maybe a little bit of over-confidence against a quality team and they came back, but we regrouped and finished quite strongly."

He'll know today whether his tour is over or not and felt a little frustrated that he and four fellow Irish backs didn't get to show more offensively.

"At times we did go wide we didn't hold on to the ball. So then you've got to weigh up whether you keep doing that or do you just try and get the forwards back into the game.

"At times you'd like to have a cut at them, six against six, but it never really transpired. Our scrum ball was kinda messy, it was whipped and their back row were out quick, so it was a case of being direct with Shaggy. He did that well, but we didn't retain the ball as well as we should have."

O'Gara's girlfriend Jessica had been expecting a summer holiday after coming out here last Sunday, but somewhat wearily he said: "I could be in Dublin or Cork, at this minute I'm here to play rugby and at work until Sunday, but at the minute I'm not really enjoying myself.

"I've had to tell the girlfriend that I'm going home on Sunday. She thinks she's going to Fiji," he admitted, laughing. "I need to go home. It's all over."

The Auckland head coach Pat Lam praised the performance of his old Northampton team-mate Dawson. "I thought Matt Dawson was outstanding. He was in the middle of everything. He was a real pest, as I know he can be," adding that the victory will "give the Lions a lot of confidence before the third Test on Saturday".

His assistant Shane Howarth, the former Newport Welsh full back of doubtful qualifications, maintained that the Lions midweek team have consistently endeavoured to play with a lot of width, while the tourists' lack of back-line fluency could be partly attributed to the defensive work of Sam Tuitupou and Ben Atiga.

Lam argued that "the All Blacks aren't only showing Europe how the game should be played, but the rest of the world as well, including us in New Zealand, in terms of the skill, power and pace of their game".