Seeds of defeat sown on home soil

THE Lions tour ground to its inevitable conclusion in Auckland on Saturday. Ever since the opening test two weeks ago, it was impossible to visualise anything but a 3-0 series victory to the All Blacks.

The gulf in class between the two sides is exemplified by the fact that New Zealand scored 12 tries to the Lions' three over the series.

At least on Saturday the Lions made a game of it. Their forward unit did extremely well and dominated possession for long phases.