All Blacks 38 Lions 19

so after over a month, the Lions tour has ended, with the motherland walking back with their tails between their legs, while the ex-colonists can toast a fine performance by their own men.. and laugh at all talk that the Lions could win this 3-0..

well the truth was they were nowhere near as good as the All Blacks collectively and were as interesting to watch as the Zimbabwe cricket team.. they tried, but really the team that was on top deserved to be there..

shame this game was ruined by a weak performance from Jonathan Kaplan.. i've never liked this guy ever since 2000 when he allowed 7 minutes of added time in which the lanky John Eales kicked that penalty to win the Aussies the game at Westpac Stadium.. thankfully it was a dead rubber, otherwise the hate messages may have been huge if the All Blacks had lost to some of his dreadful calls..

as it was it was a dead rubber, but still a p good game with some excellent tries.. McAlister had a fine game in his debut for the All Blacks, showing signs of a Andrew Johns with his "last-phase" banana kicks.. the others were as good as usual and losing McCaw against a loose trio that doesn't quite pride itself on pace at breakdown wasn't too big a loss, esp when Holah came on in the 2nd half..

the yellow cards? in retrospect they were p good calls, unpopular as they may be.. while the Lions have been criticised for ball killing, Umaga made no attempt to free the ball and that's clearly a professional foul, and that shoulder charge from Collins on Stephen Jones looked bad even if it was accidental..

the Lions will go home to much criticism albeit slightly overshadowed - thankfully to the coaches and players perhaps - by the events of last Thursday.. there will be many explanations that's for sure, from selections, squad size, All Blacks just too good, etc..

it's hard to criticise a tour that really only happens every 12 years.. it was certainly a v good success off the field with the fans absolutely fantastic.. i've really enjoyed them.. but on the field, i have to say the Lions have been a big disappointment, and for real competition i'm looking forward to the Tri Nations and when the Home Nations compete individually.. they've just had no cohesion, no pattern and no teamwork watsoever.. apart from Ryan Jones, all of them look v lacklustre..

well i've spent 17 days on the road and uni starts tomorrow.. it's a new semester though so should be alright.. and with the Tri-Nations kicking off on July 31st, a good break from rugby i'm sure..