Farrell kicked four penalties to score all of his side’s points in an overall team display which while not perfect, gave cause for confidence with the three-match Test series with New Zealand to come.
On a bitterly cold Christchurch night, Warren Gatland’s forwards stepped up to the mark, with George Kruis running the line-out and Tadgh Furlong dominating at scrum time.
And in Farrell and scrum-half Conor Murray, the Lions had Test match animals in their prime.
There is still room for improvement in attack – at least three try-scoring opportunities were wasted – but this result will give the Lions much-needed momentum as they limited their opposition to just three points through a Richie Mounga penalty.
A cause for concern were first-half injuries to Stuart Hogg and Jonathan Davies but after going down to defeat to Auckland Blues in midweek, the Lions started impressively.
On his first start of the tour, Davies made a clean break inside the opening minute, but couldn’t find his Wales team-mate George North outside him.
Farrell nonetheless gave Gatland’s men a deserved 6-0 lead with two well-struck penalties, the second coming from a scrum penalty earned by tighthead Furlong.
As it had been against the Blues, the tourists’ set-piece was in fine working order and the spine of their team – Furlong, captain Alun Wyn Jones and halfbacks Murray and Farrell were in control.
The only problems for the Lions were injuries.
First, Murray’s accidental elbow on Hogg poleaxed the Scottish full-back and then Davies was forced from the field for a head injury assessment following a heavy tackle.
Anthony Watson moved into the 15 jersey, with Johnny Sexton replacing Davies. The Irishman stepped into fly-half, with Farrell coming in for Davies at outside centre.
In between the two replacements, Mounga had put the Crusaders on the board, but Farrell’s third kick of the day made it 9-3. That was how the first half ended, the Lions holding out under intense home pressure and Mounga surprisingly turning down two simple penalties to go for the corner.
Neither Hogg nor Davies returned for the start of the second half which began with Farrell missing his first kick of the day. The Saracens star believed his shot at goal was good, but the touch judges were of a different view. The final pass in attack was still not sticking for the Lions, but in Farrell they had a steadying, controlling influence under pressure despite him playing out of position.
With the Lions’ set-piece continuing to work well, Crusaders replaced their All Black front row of Joe Moody, Codie Taylor and Owen Franks. The changes coincided with a sensational break from Jack Goodhue, but the centre’s chip through couldn’t be gathered by George Bridge.
It was a rare attack from the Super Rugby leaders, and the Lions continued to go close.
Watson had a try ruled out for a Liam Williams knock on, before the Bath man’s clean break saw replacement CJ Stander knock on Farrell’s pass. It was a case of so close, but yet so far for Gatland’s men in attack and their head coach then sent on Jack McGrath, Maro Itoje, Dan Cole and Ken Owens to reinforce his pack.
The fresh legs worked, the Lions going close once again and after the Crusaders were pinged for offside in front of their own posts, Farrell kicked the simple three points to seal victory as the Lions’ impressive travelling support roared their approval in the final few minutes.
