Eden Park was the scene for the third and final Test between the All Blacks and the Lions. Kieran Read, who marked his hundredth Test cap on the day, led the hosts out in front of a vociferous Eden Park faithful. The hosts made their intentions clear from the outset performing one of the most intimidating Hakas the rugby world has ever seen.
The All Blacks had the chance to draw first blood but Beauden Barrett missed a kick from eight metres inside the opposition half. The All Blacks missed another opportunity to open the scoring with the recalled Julian Savea putting down a pass with the try line at his mercy. The hosts continued to dominate the territory stakes in the opening ten minutes with the visitors unable to clear their lines.
The Lions then had a chance to go over themselves but a brilliant intercept by Beuden Barrett saw the All Blacks move back into the Lions 22. The Lions managed to turn the ball over but the All Blacks counter-rucked and won it back. The ball went through a few phases and with advantage being played, Beauden Barrett put in a speculative cross kick to his brother Jordie. The young gun somehow managed to knock the ball down to the on running Ngani Laumape who went over for a five-pointer. Beauden Barrett stepped up and knocked the conversion over to hand the hosts a 7-0 lead with just over a quarter of the game gone.
The Lions would hit back minutes later, however, with Owen Farrell knocking over a penalty after the Lions enjoyed a sustained period of possession in the opposition 22. The game went into a bit of a lull between the 20th and 30th minutes with the All Blacks knocking on a lot of ball in solid attacking positions.
The Lions managed to close the gap to one point on the 30-minute mark with Owen Farrell kicking his second penalty of the night. The All Blacks would hit back before the half-time break, however, with Jordie Barrett dotting down for a five-pointer after a brilliant midfield bust by Ngani Laumape put Anton Linhart Brown in space. The elder Barrett was unable to add the extras, pulling his kick wide.
The teams went into the half-time break with the scoreline at 12-6. The visitors got the second-half off to the best possible start with Elliot Daly knocking over a penalty from five metres inside his own half. Much like the first half, there was a lull during the second stanza with both sides guilty of coughing up ball.
The Lions would level the score on the hour mark with Owen Farrell kicking his third penalty of the game. The All Blacks reclaimed the lead with just 15-minutes left with a solid scrum seeing them earn a penalty in front of the posts. There was to be late drama as Owen Farrell knocked over a penalty from 45 metres out to draw the scores level. From the ensuing restart, the Lions were pinging for offsides after they failed to secure the kickoff. The ref originally deemed it a full arm but then change it to an accidental offsides ruling. It was another really odd decision from Romain Poite who really should not be officiating a game of this magnitude. The All Blacks had a chance to seal it at the death but were dragged into touch. The game ended 15-15.
Points Scoring
Ngani Laumape Try (15th Minute)
Beauden Barrett Conversion (16th Minute)
Owen Farrell Penalty (20th Minute)
Owen Farell Penalty (30th Minute)
Jordie Barrett Try (34th Minute)
Elliot Daly Penalty (41st Minute)
Beauden Barrett Penalty (65th Minute)
Owen Farell Penalty (77th Minute)
