Lions win despite lacklustre display

Jonny Wikinson, in his first game of the Lions tour, runs away from Wellington's Tane Tu'ipulotu tonight. Picture / Fotopress

FULLTIME Lions 23 Wellington 6 

The Lions failed to send any messages of intent tonight, though they secured a 23-6 win against Wellington at Westpac Stadium in the capital. 

They came out at pace, much as they did in the first game of the tour against Bay of Plenty, but they were lacking the killer punch. 

The second half in particular was a scrappy affair, littered with handling errors from the tourists. 

The succession of mistakes held the Lions up when they did manage to make an attacking break and the only tries of the match went to Gethin Jenkins of Wales after a lineout late in the first half, and countryman Gareth Thomas who chipped through and collected himself in the 77th minute.  

The match was played in cold and windy conditions with some light rain at the Cake Tin.  

Attacking opportunities had been squandered in the opening minutes of the game by Jonny Wilkinson and Welshman Gavin Henson – both players failing with drop goal attempts.  

Wilkinson, playing for the first time since arriving in New Zealand, was not as unflappable as usual also missing penalty opportunities. However, he finished with three penalties and two conversions.  

The Wellington team struggled to cope with the much stronger Lions side despite the British and Irish side's failure to turn pressure into points.  

Before Wellington's first genuine attack after 27 minutes only Tane Tu'ipulotu had managed to draw any attention – getting a warning from the referee early on for his efforts.  

The push forward resulted in a penalty which Jimmy Gopperth, coming off a successful Super 12 season, slotted between the posts.  

The first try of the night was finally scored in the 36th minute, Jenkins running in to the corner after a pass from England's Martin Corry coming off of a lineout.  

Wilkinson converted to give the Lions a 13-3 lead, which was then cut back to 13-6 when Gopperth benefited from a penalty awarded for an infringement in the scrum shortly before the break.

Lions 23 (Tries: Gethin Jenkins, Gareth Thomas; Pens: Jonny Wilkinson 3; Conversions: Wilkinson 2)
Wellington 6 (Pens: Jimmy Gopperth 2)


* Full analysis of tonight's game on nzherald.co.nz  from 5am Thursday NZT (6pm Wednesday BST/IST)