David Leggat: Take a bow Mr Cueto for one of those rare magic moments

Take out the rip-roaring first 15 minutes of the opening tour match at Rotorua and think of a moment of Lions magic which has stuck in the mind.

Didn't think so. We saw one last night, when wing Mark Cueto - another of those whose names doesn't trip off the tongue - set up the Lions' only try against Auckland.

First the try, then the odd part.

He shimmied away from an onrushing Auckland defender around halfway in the final minute of the first half, switched on the after-burner to evade four tackles before being caught just short of the line.

From the resulting quick ball, Martyn Williams scored in the corner. That made it 14-3 and gave the Lions the cushion, and the inspiration, to hang on for a win they deserved.

It doesn't sound like much, but on a tour where special moments have been seriously rare it deserves a place.

Cueto plays his rugby for Sale, scores buckets of tries wherever he goes, managing eight in eight tests for England.

Yet he wasn't in the original 30 - sorry, slip of the fingers, 45 - and the word is he's not a favourite of Sir Clive Woodward.

Here's Cueto's tour: started against Bay of Plenty, scored a try; then sat on his tod for four games before playing at Invercargill, that being the match in which the chosen 22 were told in advance they'd no chance of making the first test.

Then he comes off the bench at Manawatu and scores two tries. Even allowing for the opposition, the pace was there to see.

In the second half last night, Cueto was on hand to calmly tidy up an awkward spot.

He can clearly kick and defensively is no slug. Strange.

Then again, the All Blacks aren't immune to choosing players who, for whatever reason, just don't fit.

Remember poor Ash McGregor, the Southland loose forward on the Grand Slam tour of 1978, who played three games out of 18 - and one of those was the only loss of the trip, the famous defeat at Munster.

Now contrast Cueto's moment of brilliance with poor old Denis Hickie on the other wing.

All tour we've watched the Lions butcher chances which would have made life a whole lot easier out here.

Which is not to say it would have helped them get any closer to the All Blacks.

In the 26th minute, Ronan O'Gara banged another of those patented crosskicks for Hickie to run onto. He judged it perfectly and got clear of his marker.

So far so good.

Then poor Denis had another dose of the fumbles. He had the line begging 25m away. All he had to do was hold the ball.

Instead he gave it six grabs - by which stage you knew he had that sinking feeling - before it hit the ground.

That moment was symptomatic of too much of the Lions' work in New Zealand. One fumble after another.

And the game?

The first half was loaded with errors but in the end it was a rousing old night and an enjoyably tight finish.

Of the home side, Joe Rokocoko got in one of his trademark spins but didn't really threaten; Sam Tuitupou punched one of Ben Kay's lights out in a scrap after the whistle; and Isa Nacewa and Ben Atiga were Auckland's most threatening runners.

The Lions were protecting an unbeaten midweek record. They gave it a lash, toiled hard, were a bit rough round the edges - familiar that - but will have enjoyed themselves last night.