NZ media reaction: ‘Lions teetering on brink of collapse’

“What can you say? Typical Blues maybe?,” said Gregor Paul of the New Zealand Herald. “There they were, drifting out of the game because their scrum was being destroyed and the Lions were slowly grinding them to defeat and wham, four bits of individual brilliance and they pulled off the most sensational win.”

One of those bits was Sonny Bill Williams’ offload for West’s try towards the end of the match.

“Magic. Maybe the try of the season so far and with one passage the Blues not only re-wrote their own history, they have left the Lions teetering on the brink of collapse just two games into the tour,” he continued.

That was accompanied by the headline: “Rugby: Brilliant Blues claim sensational win over British and Irish Lions,” before Paul finished his piece.

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“Who is going to give them the magic offload, or unforgettable step to break a defence with something other than brute force?,” he asks.

“They talked during the week about the emphasis they have placed on chaos – creating it and thriving in it. But from what has been seen so far from them, they are well out of their comfort zone.”

New Zealand website Rugby Heaven was equally unsympathetic and pointed to creativity as the main difference between the two sides.

“It took all of 74 minutes but the difference between New Zealand rugby and the Lions eventually came to the fore. Creativity, endeavour and offloads saw the Blues record a historic 22-16 triumph over the tourists at Eden Park, piling the pressure on Warren Gatland,” said the website under the headline: “Blues silence Lions’ roar after fumbly Eden Park clash.”

They followed by putting the win into an historical framework.

“While the Blues are the first Super Rugby team to face – and beat – the Lions, they also follow the Auckland provincial teams to knock over the same opposition on the same ground in 1930, 1983 and 1993. Memorable indeed.”

Phil Gifford for Stuff.co.nz said that the Lions were incompetent and suggested that humiliation is not far behind the embarrassment felt in Eden Park.

“How could a team stacked with nothing but internationals for so long look so leaden footed, so lacking in confidence they took kicks at goal instead of looking for tries from a lineout, so lacking in co-ordination and attacking ideas?,” he said.

“If the Lions struggled to pin down runners in the Baabaas’ ranks, how will they deal with the Blues on Wednesday, and how much should they fear the prospect of humiliation when they get to Christchurch next weekend?”

The New Zealand Herald rightly picked out Williams as the agent provocateur in the Blues lineup.

“Sonny Bill Williams stars as Blues claim famous scalp with win over British and Irish Lions,” rand their headline.

“The Blues have done what many among their loyal support may have thought impossible this season, and have claimed a famous scalp not by the “rugby chaos” that the Lions were expecting at Eden Park, but by a ruthless adherence to the basics,” said Patrick McKendry.

“The chaos was there all right, and especially in the winning of this match which came via flat-out brilliance from the Steven Luatua and Sonny Bill Williams, superb both, and Ihaia West, the replacement first-five who received Williams’ offload and set off for the posts like a startled rabbit.”