Lions tour: Crowd enjoys mammoth fixture

The New Zealand Provincial Barbarians put in a mammoth effort to almost upset the touring British and Irish Lions but ultimately went down 13-7. Photo / Michael Cunningham

With almost 20,000 fans snuggled together at Toll Stadium, the atmosphere at the opening match of the DHL New Zealand Lions Series 2017 was electric.

The New Zealand Provincial Barbarians put in a mammoth effort to almost upset the touring British and Irish Lions but ultimately went down 13-7.

About 2000 of the 19,591 strong crowd were part of the Barmy Army, possibly the most notable travelling fan base in sports.

Michael Holland, who travelled from Oxfordshire in England, said the crowd showed up in voice and force.

"It was an awesome atmosphere. It's a really good thing to happen to Whangarei," he said.

"You could see the crowd was right in behind the Barbarians. They gave the Lions a great match. It was really close and at one time we thought we were going to lose but they pulled through for us.

"The Lions need to work on their passing and tackling. They were missing both of those but the Barbarians were well up for it and gave us a great start to the series."

Holland arrived in Whangarei two days prior to the clash and will be touring New Zealand with the Lions for six weeks. He said despite the weather he has loved his experiences in Northland.

"We've gotten a lot of rain over the last two days but luckily it held out for the game. We've had great hospitality and the people of Whangarei have been really friendly," he said.

Meanwhile the hometown supporters loved the feeling a full home stadium brought to the night's proceedings.

Ngunguru's Lesley Armstrong-Jennings said an event like this was brilliant for the city.

"Great event, great atmosphere and there's happy people. It's fabulous for Whangarei; more events like this are needed."

A highlight of the night for Northlanders was the kids getting the opportunity to head out on to the field. They spelt out Aotearoa and waved flags during the pre-match musical performance from Stan Walker, Maisey Rika and Troy Kingi.

Whangarei's Chanelle Salmon said it was a great experience for the children.

"Having our Whangarei Marist Junior Rugby kids go out on the pitch to hold the flags was awesome. They were so excited and they did amazing!"