Pride still at stake, says Thomas

If you listen to Lions captain Gareth Thomas for long, you'd think it was one-all with everything on the line at Eden Park this Saturday night.

Thomas insists he won't be part of a Lions team which goes to sleep with the chances of a series win over the All Blacks in tatters.

"We have to approach this test as the match to win the series," versatile 30-year-old Thomas said.

"There's so much pride behind the Lions jersey. This is the pinnacle of our careers and for us to go out and accept a loss because we can't win the series would be a disgrace."

Thomas, who took over the captaincy when Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the start of the first test, said he doubted he would get over that loss in the sleet in Christchurch "because we didn't play".

"But I'll get over this one easy because there wasn't one minute of the game we didn't try. It was a hell of a game and we got great passion and pride out of our performance."

Thomas said the Lions had to concede they had been well beaten by a better team but he doubted the gulf between the teams was huge.

"Yes, we've lost two matches but this team has been together a week. That's the magic of the Lions and you don't want to take that away."

Thomas, who scored the Lions' opening try with a sharp cutback through a gap in the defensive line in the opening 90 seconds, labelled the All Blacks "the complete team at the moment".

He added: "They can mix it with the toughest and run with the fastest.

"You can't relax against these guys, they can attack from anywhere, the forwards can pass and step and hit where the spaces are."

He said the All Blacks class hadn't happened by chance. It had taken a lot of hard work over time.