The test series was drawn 1–1 – one victory each and a draw in the third match. Of the other tour matches, the Lions won four, lost two and drew one.
Wales coach Warren Gatland was head coach of the Lions, having also led the Lions to victory in the 2013 series against Australia. Former Wales captain Sam Warburton was appointed as tour captain, a role he also held on the 2013 tour. The Lions squad voted Jonathan Davies their player of the series.[1]
Schedule
The ten-match schedule was announced on 9 July 2015, and included matches against New Zealand Super Rugby teams for the first time. Previously in New Zealand, the Lions had played provincial sides or combined provincial selections.[2] However, this was the first tour to New Zealand where the visit fell in the middle of the Super Rugby season.
Initially, the Lions proposed a match in the United States against the U.S. national team to open the tour, much like the Barbarians match in Hong Kong in 2013.[3] However, on 6 July 2015, the idea was dropped because of the unavailability of key American players due to club commitments.[4] The opening match of the tour was originally planned to be against a Provincial Union XV, but this was changed to the New Zealand Barbarians in March 2016, following their win over the Māori All Blacks.[5]
Christchurch was initially planned to host a test match but, due to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake which damaged Lancaster Park beyond repair, it was deemed that the remaining stadiums in the South Island were too small to host a test match.[6]
Ben Youngs was initially selected in the squad but withdrew on 6 May for personal reasons.[9]
Billy Vunipola withdrew from the squad on 21 May after suffering a shoulder injury while playing for his club Saracens.[10]
On 17 June, six players – Kristian Dacey, Gareth Davies, Allan Dell, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill and Finn Russell – were added to the squad to provide cover during mid-week games ahead of the test series.[11] Ross Moriarty was ruled out of the tour after an injury sustained against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.[12]
On 29 June, Robbie Henshaw and George North were ruled out of the remaining games after sustaining injuries against the Hurricanes.[13]
Jared Payne was ruled out of the final game due to concussion.[14]
Notes: Ages listed are as of the first tour match on 3 June. Player positions are per the Lions' website.[15]Bold denotes that the player was selected for a previous Lions squad. Italic denotes a player that withdrew from the squad following selection.
On 30 July 2014, former English international player John Spencer was named the Lions' tour manager.[16]
On 7 September 2016, Warren Gatland was confirmed as the Lions' head coach and named his assistants on 7 December 2016 – Steve Borthwick, Andy Farrell and Rob Howley.[17] Howley was on his fifth tour, having previously toured as a player (1997 and 2001) and coach (2009 and 2013). Borthwick was making his first tour as a Lions coach and Farrell was on his second, after being part of the coaching staff in 2013.
As well as the test series, the Lions played tour matches against New Zealand provincial teams. For the first time since the establishment of Super Rugby, this included playing all five of New Zealand's Super Rugby teams. The current form of the Super Rugby teams made this tour arguably one of the toughest undertaken by a British & Irish Lions team.[22]
The Lions arrived in New Zealand just two days before their first match against a Provincial Barbarians team.[23] The Barbarian team was made up of players on the fringe of New Zealand Super Rugby teams,[24] and included Bryn Gatland, son of Lions coach Warren Gatland.[25] The Barbarians led 7–3 at half time, before Anthony Watson scored for the visitors to give them the lead with 30 minutes to go. They held on to open the tour with an unconvincing 13–7 victory.[26]
The next match was four days later against the Blues, an Auckland-based Super Rugby franchise. The Lions led 16–15 with 10 minutes remaining before a Sonny Bill Williams break and offload to Ihaia West led to the match-winning try.[27] A try-less 12–3 victory over the Crusaders in Christchurch followed. This was the first time the Crusaders had lost in 2017.[28] It was another close game against the Highlanders, and Marty Banks from the Otago-based side kicked the winning penalty with six minutes remaining.[29]
The next match was against the Māori All Blacks, a team made up of players with Maori ancestry. A strong squad was named, with nine players with All Black caps selected.[30] The Lions beat the Maori team with ease in what was predicted to be the toughest match before meeting the All Blacks.[31][32] The convincing 32–10 victory[32] was followed up three days later as they put another dominant display against the Chiefs in Hamilton, winning 34–6.[33] The final mid-week game against the Hurricanes was played after the first All Black test match. The Hurricanes came from behind to secure a 31–31 draw in Wellington.[34]
New Zealand were favourites, coming into the first test match having won 46 tests in a row at home and undefeated at Eden Park in 23 years.[35]Peter O'Mahony was named Lions captain by Warren Gatland for the first test. Sam Warburton lost his position to Seán O'Brien, making him the first tour captain not to play in the first test in 87 years.[36] Apart from a new-look back three of Anthony Watson, Liam Williams and Elliot Daly, Gatland picked a predictable squad.[35] So too did All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, his only surprise being the elevation of 20-year-old Rieko Ioane for his first start over the veteran winger Julian Savea.[37]
First test
The first test was a close match during the first half, Codie Taylor's try for the All Blacks being matched by one from the Lions' Seán O'Brien, and the home side led 13–8 at the break; however in the second half Rieko Ioane's two tries took the game away from the Lions, with Rhys Webb's try bringing the score back to 30–15.[38][39]
This was the British & Irish Lions' first win over New Zealand since winning 20–7 during their 1993 tour, and was their first win over New Zealand in the professional era.[47]
The British & Irish Lions ended New Zealand's 47-match home winning streak, the All Blacks' first loss since their 32–29 defeat to South Africa in 2009.[48]
This was the first time that New Zealand failed to score any tries in a game since they drew 12–12 with Australia in 2014, and the first time since beating Australia 12–6 in 2002 that they failed to score any tries in a home game.[citation needed]
Third test
New Zealand led 12–6 at the break, with tries from Laumape and Jordie Barrett, but the Lions fought their way back into the game, and eventually five penalties (four from Owen Farrell and one from Elliot Daly) were enough to draw the game.[49] There was controversy with two minutes left when Ken Owens was initially adjudged to have handled the ball in an offside position after Liam Williams tried to claim a high kick under pressure from Kieran Read; with the scores level, referee Poite initially awarded a penalty in kicking range before overturning it to a scrum after discussion with the video officials.[50][51][52]
This was the first time the Lions and New Zealand had drawn a test match since their 14–14 draw in 1971, and the first time the Lions had drawn any test match since their 13–13 draw with South Africa in 1974.[citation needed]
This was the first British & Irish Lions series drawn with New Zealand, and the first against any side since the 2–2 draw with South Africa in 1955.[citation needed]
This was the first time since New Zealand drew with South Africa 18–18 in 1994 that they have failed to win a game at Eden Park.[citation needed]
Sky Sport was the host broadcaster.[54]Sky Sports televised the tour in the UK and Ireland and S4C showed highlights throughout the UK in the Welsh language.[55] In addition to Sky Sports, Talksport provided exclusive live UK radio commentary.
