Blackwash beckons for beleaguered tourists

New Zealand 48 Lions 18

Unfortunately, hope is all these British and Irish tourists have left after being subjected to a scintillating display of 15-man rugby from the All Blacks for the second week in a row.

That the Lions offered so much more in Saturday’s second Test defeat on a dry track in Wellington than they had when meekly surrendering in the rain-soaked opener at Jade Stadium, Christchurch, will only compound their misery. For this was the best our islands could muster and it was still woefully short of measuring up to Graham Henry’s mighty side.