1
One of the best I've seen! - Hansen raves about Lions try
By Jack Davies
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has labelled the British and Irish Lions’ opening try of the first Test one of the best he has ever seen.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Lions were beaten 30-15 in Auckland but treated their fans to a stunning try that saw them well in the match at 13-8 at half-time.
A magical burst from deep by Liam Williams led to an exchange of passes down the left wing between Elliot Daly and Jonathan Davies, who set up Sean O’Brien to finish off a memorable touchdown.
Two tries after the interval from Rieko Ioane put the game to bed before Rhys Webb scored a late consolation, but Hansen says the encounter was far from straightforward for his side.
“The final scoreline suggests it was easy, but it wasn’t,” he said. “I thought the Lions played magnificently.
“When you score tries like that first one, you think they should be doing that more often. One of the best tries I’ve ever seen.”
The @AllBlacks and Lions players clap each other off the pitch after a hard-fought contest at Eden Park 👏 #LionsNZ2017 #NZLvBIL pic.twitter.com/UdW8zYOFSO
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 24, 2017
Discussing his own team’s performance, Hansen reserved special praise for captain Kieran Read, who returned after a long spell out with a broken thumb.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I thought the team executed the plan very, very well,” he commented. “Kieran Read was outstanding. Not a bad night’s work after a seven-week holiday!
“I think the key was our ability to play off nine and hurt them and take away what they wanted to do.
“Once we looked after the ball and stopped offloading, we built the pressure on them and that leads to mistakes from the opposition.
“I thought our tight five were very, very good. If they do the job, everybody else can play. We won the tight-five battle.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We have got to be proud of what the tight five did. I find it amusing when everyone tells us they are going to beat up our tight five.
“We can play down and dirty as well as the flashy stuff we are known for.”
Hansen added: “The job isn’t done. It is a three-match series.
“We have an advantage because we are 1-0 up, but there are so many times the winning team gets knocked over the next week.
“The Lions are a good team, so if we don’t prepare well we will come second in Wellington and then we will come back here 1-1.”
Hanson also confirmed Ryan Crotty had sustained a hamstring injury, while Ben Smith did not return to the field following a head injury assessment.
