In the moments before the action got under way Scott Quinnell, prowling the touchline, tried to sum up the emotion of the occasion. “New Zealand will never have seen this kind of thing before,” he roared. “It’s not only going to be 15, it’s not only going to be 23, there’s going to be 30,000 British and Irish Lions. Tonight – tonight – our Lions – our Lions– will roar. The Lions are here for victory. And I believe, you should believe too: this is going to be epic!”
An hour earlier the buildup had begun with a pumping, inspiring pre-prepared video introducing the touring team, at the end of which the camera cut abruptly to live footage of the dressing room, allowing us to see exactly how pumped-up the Lions were. The answer was, so far as viewers could see, not at all: a few players flicked idly through the match programme. Peter O’Mahony put his down and sleepily wiped the corner of an eye. Nearby, others stood around folding clothes. Whatever activities the directors might have expected to find the players engaged in, laundry was probably not among them. Many predicted the Lions would be taken to the cleaners, but this was going a bit far.
A short while later Graham Simmons cornered the All Blacks coach, Steve Hansen, in the tunnel. “For all the major games that you and your team have been involved in,” he asked, “how unique a tingle is this game tonight?” Hansen paused briefly, as if dredging his memory for previous tingles and coming up blank. His reply was more than deadpan: it was perished-pot. It was stiff-skillet. He did acknowledge that “there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation in our group”, but in the manner of someone whose prize marrow has just come fourth in the county show. “Well he certainly manages to contain his excitement, doesn’t he?” quipped Alex Payne, the anchor.
Sky’s was the third greatest team in Eden Park. The brilliantly compelling Quinnell stood outside, intercepting Lions fans and roaring at them. Will Greenwood patrolled the touchline, with occasional assistance, contributing excellent tactical previews. Both assisted with commentary, led by Stuart Barnes and Miles Harrison, while Simmons was in the tunnel asking people about tingles. Payne held things together from the top of the stands, with Sir Ian McGeechan, Sean Fitzpatrick and Stephen Ferris his three wise men, the latter providing not just informed opinion but also, when others were talking, occasional comic grins to camera.
Some of those involved will look back on these moments as their most enjoyable of the series, a time plump with possibility, when nobody was losing and the only limit to the greatness to come was imposed by their imaginations. “Spine-tingling,” said Payne, responding to a McGeechan-voiced slow-motion, tinkly‑piano‑soundtracked video package. “My word, there’s a lump in the throat. Just imagine the emotions among those men.” A combination of excitement and abject terror sprang immediately to mind.
As the team in red ran out, Harrison, for the first time conceded the possibility of defeat, even humiliation, with a reassuring declaration that “these players know, whatever else happens, they will not be lacking support”.
But it was his description of New Zealand’s approach to the series that stuck in the mind, as the hosts emerged on to a field where they had not lost in 46 matches, now 47, dating back nearly a quarter of a century:
“There’s undoubtedly a sense here,” Harrison said, “that almost above all other things this country yearns for a series of meaning, and a time when they are tested.” This is a nation that dreams of finding a team capable of briefly extending their own before being emphatically defeated, simply because it would represent a rare and thrilling interruption to the mundanity of watching teams simply being emphatically defeated.
The Lions scored one beautiful try and one more prosaic one, came close to three more and enjoyed a golden period either side of half-time without making the most of their chances.
The All Blacks, meanwhile, were either nowhere near scoring a try or scoring a try, with very little in between. “That first half was epic. I’ve never seen footie like it,” enthused the former All Black Jeff Wilson, cornered by Greenwood. “That’s as good as footie you’re going to see ever, that first 40 minutes.”
New Zealand, it seemed, had got what it was yearning for. The Lions, however, will have to wait.
