Lions stagger to shaky win

Lions wing Jason Robinson is caught by Wellington's Luke Andrews and Ma'a Nonu at the Westpac Stadium. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Lions 23 Wellington 6

The Lions got the win they desperately needed last night, but beating an average Wellington by 17 points is a long way from challenging the All Blacks in 10 days.

They scored the only two tries of the match on a miserable night in the capital before a near capacity crowd, but should have done so much better.

They enjoyed the vast bulk of the territory and possession, dominated the Wellington scrum from the start, but were guilty of squandering half chances.

The problem was a mix of anxiety to get things right after last weekend's demoralising loss to New Zealand Maori, plus muddled running, hesitancy and butterfingers.

Still, there were some encouraging signs.

The forwards attacked the breakdown area with an increased ferocity and succeeded several times in turning over Wellington possession.

The lineout work was generally impressive and several players put their hand up for test contention.

Up front, none did better than Welsh prop Gethin Jenkins, who was outstanding around the field, put in a couple of decent hits and got the opening try, a reward for smart backing up.

New faces Jason Robinson and Gareth Thomas did well on the wings.

Thomas grabbed the second try in the dying minutes, beating the defence to the ball after a smart kick ahead, and ending a messy period of sloppy to-and-fro football.

Jonny Wilkinson, who kicked five from seven, was a bit up and down, with some of his tactical kicking leaving plenty to be desired.

However, the pick of the backs was Welshman Gavin Henson, who was good value with his boot, defended soundly and had an eye for setting up his outsides.

The Lions should have had more than one try in the first half.

They had the wind and the lashing rain at their backs and the vast bulk of territory, but they weren't able to make those edges count.

Wellington, for their part, recognised it was a case of hanging on. They defended stoutly, even if their scrum was in trouble from early on.

Wilkinson, who chucked out some dreadful passes, got the Lions on the board with a ninth minute penalty from a handy range. He missed another attempt from 38m before doubling the lead midway through the half when the Wellington scrum shot up.

But by then Thomas had sliced through, courtesy of a nice bit of work from Henson. However, an untimely slip by Thomas on the turf ended that.

The first try should have come on the half-hour when No 8 Martin Corry had surged to the line before being tackled by Mahonri Schwalger.

Lock Ben Kay arrived and had only to gather and fall over, but instead fell over himself and spilt the ball forward.

The Lions first try was cleverly worked by halfback Dwayne Peel, who looked lively against pugnacious Piri Weepu, a few minutes later. He ducked through the Wellington lineout and fed Corry. Corry passed to the hardworking Jenkins, and he charged the last 15m to score.

Jimmy Gopperth's second penalty kept Wellington seven points adrift at halftime, but Wilkinson increased the margin early in the second spell.

Ma'a Nonu was well controlled by the Lions defence, but produced one lovely break, skipping round Thomas in a tight space on the left, kicked ahead and caught fullback Josh Lewsey near the left corner.

From there, Wellington had some moments of pressure, No 8 Thomas Waldrom coming close after charging through only to be penalised a metre off the Lions line.

The second half largely drifted along, with the Lions in control for most of the time, but unable to apply the coup de grace until Thomas obliged with his late try.