What a night for the Lions, beating the All Blacks their first defeat at home in eight years and unbeaten in Wellington since 2003. A remarkable firecracker of a match, full of thrills and spills, a test match for the purists amongst us.
SBW red was the first time in 50 years that a New Zealand player (Colin Meads) had been sent off.
The All Blacks prepare for all possibilities but a red card is the most difficult to confront in a game and was a monumental task for 55 minutes. They looked out on their feet with 10 minutes to go, totally the opposite to what we normally see for the black wave.
The Lions front-on tackling was tremendous, and they took their chances on attack, outscoring the All Blacks two tries to none from 2 real attacks, they gave up 13 penalties to the All Blacks’ 8 and with Barrett missing 3 from 10 penalties, the All Blacks simply couldn’t find an extra gear when they needed.
So it is off to Auckland for the decider in a series that continues to fascinate in every way, It’s brilliant for rugby, but the Lions have to do something no other team has done since 1994 – beat the All Blacks at Eden Park – to claim the series.
I wouldn’t change the starting 15 but would include Henderson in the replacements.