Jack McGrath stays positive as Crusaders clash looms

Jack McGrath will not be a happy loser but if the means justify the ends and the Lions win their Test series against New Zealand, then he will happily take defeats to Super Rugby teams.

The Ireland loosehead prop made his Lions debut at Eden Park yesterday but it was a losing one as the Blues edged home 22-16 in an Auckland thriller.

After a disappointing opening win over the Provincial Barbarians, this reversal to the lowest-ranked of New Zealand’s five Super Rugby franchises the tourists will face in the next five weeks, does not bode well and merely underlines just how difficult it will be if the 2017 squad is to emulate their 1971 predecessors with a series victory over the All Blacks.