All Blacks overcome Lions 30-15 in Eden Park after Ioane's double in second-half

New Zealand 30-15 British and Irish Lions, Eden Park
Scorecard

Rieko Ioane's double in the second-half helped the All Blacks to overcome the British and Irish Lions challenge at Eden Park to score a 30-15 victory on Saturday.

Auckland got to witness a gripping game of rugby where the Lions looked good in patches especially the back three, but failed to cash on the opportunities presented to them.

The Lions defended heroically in phases but two sharp tries from Ioane ultimately took the home team well clear of Warren Gatland’s side.

Beauden Barrett got the scoreboard rolling on the 14th minute with a penalty after the Lions were pinged for an off side offence with Mako Vunipola being the guilty party.

Codie Taylor scored the opening try of the match on the 18th minute after George Kruis gave away a penalty at the ruck followed by a quick tap from Aaron Smith with the ball worked out to Taylor out on the right wing which gave the All Blacks the first try of the match.

Barrett knocked over a fine conversion from the touchline to add the extras as the hosts took a healthy 10-point lead.

The Lions got their first scoring opportunity on the 31st minute after the All Blacks conceded a penalty at the ruck. Owen Farrell's three-pointer provided the visitors some much needed relief.

However, only three minutes after Farrell's penalty, Barrett restored the 10-point lead for the All Blacks with a three-pointer after Tadhg Furlong was penalized for not rolling away quickly.

A couple of minutes after he restart, the Lions found themselves inside the AB's 22 with a real try scoring opportunity for the first time in the entire first-half. Liam Williams arched his way 40 meters up in the middle before off-loading it to Jonathan Davies who shuffled a pass with Elliot Daly as Sean O'Brien appeared on his inside from no where to cross over for a try.

Farrell's although missed out on the conversion attempt as the Lions trailed by five points entering the half-time break.

On the 43rd minute, the Lions created another try scoring opportunity only for the All Blacks to shut it down just ahead of their try line.

The two sides then brought in various substitutions to help things accelerate but the opportunity only came on the 55th minute for Ioane to score his first try in the left corner after a monstrous All Blacks scrum. The TMO was consulted to check for a knock-on by Kieran Read at the back of the scrum. The try was awarded to the All Blacks and Barrett’s conversion stretched the lead to 12 points.

Johnny Sexton was caught off side on the 61st minute which allowed Barrett to take another shot at the goal. Barrett nailed the three-pointer from right in front of the posts.

Ioane then went on to score his second try of the game on the 70th minute after Liam Williams failed to take the high kick as Ioane picked up the loose ball and scooted past Daly to vindicate his selection over Julian Savea.

Barrett's conversion stretched the lead for the hosts to a massive 22 points with just eight minutes left on the clock.

A penalty on the 80th minute gave the Lions an opportunity to go for a try as they kicked it to the corner. Rhys Webb threw a dummy to score a late consolation try as Farrell added the extras and a little respectability to the Lions' final tally.

Even though the Lions had some magical moments of their own, the All Blacks dominated the gainline and were on top at the scrum.

The loss has now put Gatland and his men in a must win position in the remaining two games to stop the All Blacks from winning the series.