Cash says Lions let it slip in 41-35 loss to All Blacks tour

The Lions lost 41-35 to New Zealand after leading 35-17 early in the second half, with coach Cash van Rooyen saying his side allowed the match to escape them late. The All Blacks remained unbeaten on their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour.

Van Rooyen was encouraged by the Lions’ performance for most of the contest, but said the final 12 minutes exposed shortcomings in repeated effort and conditioning. New Zealand capitalised when fatigue set in, finding space more easily as the home side struggled to maintain its defensive intensity.

The Lions coach identified two key turning points: Rieko Ioane’s intercept try and a series of scrum incidents. The Lions had a pushover try in one scrum and were penalised in another, while New Zealand took control of the final two set pieces. Van Rooyen also acknowledged that forward passes and dropped balls had gone in his team’s favour earlier.

The performance came while the Lions were still in pre-season, an issue Van Rooyen had previously linked to their lack of conditioning for repeated collisions and efforts. He said the contest gave them a valuable test of whether they could impose their tempo on the All Blacks, and took pride in the fact that they remained in contention for about 77 minutes.

Flyhalf Chris Smith was praised for his goal-kicking and his control of the team’s play around the field. Van Rooyen said Smith had responded well after an unsatisfactory previous match against Leinster and urged him to continue in the same way.

Captain Francke Horn also scored, matching the achievement of his father, Francois, who crossed for Boland against the All Blacks 30 years ago. Horn said the try was made possible by the front row, while recalling a conversation with Ethan Blackadder, whose father Todd also played for New Zealand.

The Lions are still four or five weeks from the start of their season preparations in full. After time off for recovery, they will have two demanding weeks of training, a warm-up against the Sharks and then a meeting with Leinster.