1) Has Daly powered his way into Test squad?
It remains to be seen how much can be read into Elliot Daly’s withdrawal immediately after his burst down the left led to Jack Nowell’s second try – particularly as he later came back on for Jared Payne – but there can be no doubting George North is under pressure for his place in Saturday’s Test side. Daly, Nowell and Liam Williams all enjoyed excellent performances, benefiting from the tireless work of their forwards, but it is Daly, with the added advantage of his powerful left boot, that appears closest to dislodging him. North has size on his side which, considering Julian Savea’s likely presence in the All Blacks XV, is significant, so perhaps Daly has played his way into the No23 jersey, in place of his England team-mate Jonathan Joseph. Warren Gatland says he has still not decided on his Test back three however and it has become the least certain aspect of his starting XV.
2) Gatland has made his point to the officials
When asked immediately afterwards what was most pleasing about the Lions’ first midweek victory of the tour, Gatland pointed to another match where the opposition were kept try-less. Privately though, the most satisfying aspect of their biggest win to date on this tour may well have been that the Chiefs centre Johnny Fa’auli was penalised twice for blocking Lions chasers. It is an issue Gatland publicly raised this week and with the referee Jérôme Garcès taking charge of the second Test in Wellington – and Romain Poite and Jaco Peyper, who ran the line on Tuesday, on duty in the other two – it appears it has not gone unnoticed. Regardless of how much of a problem illegal blocking actually poses, it can be considered a point scored by Gatland in his public jousting with Steve Hansen.
3) Haskell and Lawes rise to the challenge
While all of the back three caught the eye, they were not the only ones to impress with James Haskell, Courtney Lawes and Dan Cole all shining. Lawes may be the unluckiest member of the touring party if, as expected, he fails to make Saturday’s squad but it is increasingly clear that motivation among the “dirt trackers” is no issue. It would be surprising indeed if Lawes does not make at least one appearance in a Test squad but for someone like Haskell, who would most likely be relying on injuries elsewhere, the desire shown was impressive. When calling up six players last week, there was also the danger of Gatland affecting the dynamic of the squad but the way the rest of the side celebrated with Allan Dell – the only one of the six to get on the pitch – when his first act was to help win a scrum penalty suggests it has had the opposite effect.
4) Nowell try will take some beating
Four matches still to go but if the Lions manage a better try than Nowell’s second it will be required viewing. When it works it looks incredibly simple but Daly’s pass, at full tilt, inside to Payne was delightful and the composure shown to work the ball to Nowell has been conspicuous by its absence so far. Nowell and Williams also combined well to put Payne clear and while Tommy Seymour’s pass to the Irishman was dreadful, the line he ran to make the initial break was excellent. It is abundantly clear, then, that the Lions are improving in an attacking sense but, make no mistake, this was a victory based on the platform of set-piece dominance. The management will also be particularly pleased with how ruthless the Lions have been in scoring points when the opposition are down to 14 men in the last two matches, less so with the penalty count in Hamilton, which crept into double figures again.
5) Weakened Chiefs do not compare to All Blacks
Four tries for, none against – Gatland could not have really asked for more from this match but it must be remembered how inexperienced a Chiefs side it was. Among the absentees were Damian McKenzie, Aaron Cruden, Charlie Ngatai, Brodie Retallick, Anton Lienert-Brown and Tawera Kerr-Barlow and while the Lions will head to Auckland with as much confidence as they could have hoped for considering the grey clouds that were looming this time last week, the All Blacks will be a totally different beast. The Lions can take heart from how difficult the New Zealand sides have found their rush defence to deal with, and while the All Blacks know it is coming, navigating a way through it, or around it, is a different proposition. Beauden Barrett is the reigning world player of the year and watching him try to pick apart this formidable Lions defence will be fascinating.
