Richard Loe: From start to finish the tour was a bit of a mess

This was a match where the intensity was clearly off but, in many ways, it was a fitting end to this tour. There was a moment which I thought typified the tour when the All Blacks put up a big up-and-under and Josh Lewsey made a real hash of it. That was it in a nutshell, right there, for the Lions.

It's sad to see a tour and a team end with a bit of a fizzer but this is how it has been all the way. I was surprised when they subbed off their skipper, Gareth Thomas, but I guess he had only a small influence in the midfield.

Do you blame him or do you blame the coach? I think all of New Zealand knows the answer to that.

Sir Clive Woodward was knighted for his services to rugby but I'd say they should look at revoking it when he gets home. That might sound a bit strong to some people but I think he made as big a hash of this team as Lewsey did of that kick.

This team has been poorly conceived, selected and poorly managed and they have played poorly. If you look at the forwards, none of them can run, pass and catch. Woodward brought over 50 players and, as far as I can see, about 90 per cent of them have been buggered up on this tour. The only ones who haven't been buggered up are the poor buggers who got no game time.

Even someone like Ryan Jones, who arrived here full of energy and running, has fallen foul of this Lions team.

When he started, he had real passion and push and was untainted and we all said what a good player he was. Since then, it looks as though they've drawn him into the camp and coached it out of him.

A Lions man of the match from last night? Can't think of one, I'm sorry.

The All Blacks did well enough, even though the intensity was way down. Tana Umaga's tries were well-taken and I thought the second, which he scored after a perfectly-timed short pass from Justin Marshall, was a real beauty.

Of the new guys, I thought Campbell Johnstone had a terrific game. He put Gethin Jenkins in trouble straight away when he replaced Tony Woodcock and, judging by the state of his ears, he also gave Graeme Rowntree a bit of a hiding. He was very impressive in the scrums.

Luke McAlister had a mixed game and I thought some of his kicks were not recovered which possibly made them look worse than they actually were. But it wasn't the worst debut and he has clearly got talent. His kicking was also obviously part of a game plan and he can't be blamed for that.

The player who disappointed me was Sione Lauaki. I think he could have confirmed his role as an impact player last night. He had a chance to impose himself but was largely missing. Yet, when he comes on late in the game, he seems to get the space and the time he needs to be at his most damaging. The All Blacks went miles better when he went off and Marty Holah came on.

But the match as a whole also suffered from the officiating, I thought. Jonathan Kaplan had a lopsided view, and the touch judges didn't help. Some of the penalties given were almost as if they were trying to even things up.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY