Your Player Ratings As The Lions Purr Past The Provincial Barbarians

Welcome to New Zealand…

The Lions narrowly edged past a fearless Provincial Barbarians team this morning thanks to an Anthony Watson try. It was the New Zealand side however that grabbed the first try of the game, with the Lions starting really slowly.

Gatland’s men will take their 13-7 win, but will have a lot of work to do before they take on the Blues on Wednesday. The opening game is out of the way, time to build on this and improve.

Lions Player Ratings

1. Joe Marler (49′)
6- Decent shift from the Harlequins man.

2. Rory Best (49′)
6- Couple of mistakes in the lineout but solid around the park.

3. Kyle Sinckler (49′)
7- Still a bit green but looked lively throughout.

4. Alun Wyn Jones
6- Made some big carries. Very good second-half.

5. Iain Henderson (49′)
6- Solid shift from the Ulsterman

6. Ross Moriarty
7.5- Some good carries and an impressive debut overall

7. Sam Warburton (66′)
7- Good performance from the captain. Still working his way back to fitness.

8. Toby Faletau
8- Made some excellent carries and saved a certain try in the first-half.

9. Greig Laidlaw (58′)
7- Solid from the Scotsman but flat at times.

10. Johnny Sexton (48′)
6- Started really well but faded as the game went on. Made some schoolboy errors before being subbed after picking up a knock

11. Tommy Seymour
6.5- Good game from the Scot but very little ball to work with.

12. Ben Te’o
8- Always looked dangerous, running some brilliant lines. Could be one of the surprises of the tour.

13. Jonathan Joseph
6- Couple of good runs but fairly ominous.

14. Anthony Watson
7- Dangerous when he got the ball but didn’t see much of it. Could have had two tries had Hogg’s pass been better.

15. Stuart Hogg
6- Showed glimpses in attack and made some good cover tackles. Not his usual brilliant self however.

Replacements

16. Jamie George (49′)
6-  Didn’t have the impact that we were expecting.

17. Mako Vunipola (49′)
6- Made a huge steal in the final moments that was crucial

18. Tadhg Furlong (49′)
6- Solid shift from the Leinster prop

19. George Kruis (49′)
6- Made an impact

20. Justin Tipuric (66′)
6- Didn’t see much of the Ospreys man when he came on.

21. Rhys Webb (58′)
7- Looked lively and put in some good kicks. Brought some pace into the game.

22. Owen Farrell (48′)
8- Missed a simple penalty in the 65th minute but made an instant impact when he came on, setting up Watson’s try. Leads the way at the moment to start at ten against the All Blacks.

23. Elliot Daly
N/A