Their 30-15 win, scoring three tries, means they are now one win in Wellington on Saturday from winning the series. Wing Rieko Ioane scored two tries to add to the brace he scored for the Blues in their win over the tourists and hooker Codie Taylor grabbed the other.
The Lions almost got the series off to a dramatic start when a break by Jonathan Davies gave Elliot Daly the chance to div e for the corner. It took a wonder tackle from Israel Dagg to stop the England wing and then the home side regained their composure.
A quickly taken penalty ended with Taylor crossing in the corner and a conversion and penalty from Beauden Barrett took the world champions into a 10 point lead. Owen Farrell then swapped penalties with Barrett before Williams sparked a great try.
The Wales full back took the ball from Anthony Watson 10 metres from his own line and went on to beat four All Blacks with a great run that took play up to half way. Daly and Jonathan Davies joined the move and it was Davies who popped the pass for Sean O’Brien to score.
Farrell missed the conversion, but the gap was only five points at the break. The Lions started the second half well, but couldn’t turn their pressure into points.
The All Blacks, however, were ruthless when they were given an opportunity. A brilliant pop pass from the base of a scrum by the New Zealand skipper Kieran Read set up a back line move that earned Ioane a corner try after 55 minutes and Barrett again improved the score.
A third Barrett penalty extended the lead and then Ioane made the most of his luck after Williams dropped a high ball on half-way as he outstripped Daly to score his second try. Barrett took his match tally to 15 points with his sixth success from six kicks at goal and it was game, set and match for the All Blacks.
Unbeaten at Eden Park since France’s 23-20 win on 3 July, 1994, this was their 38th win in a row at the Auckland venue and their 47th in a row at home. The Lions did manage to salvage some pride in the 82nd minute when Wales scrum half Webb dummied his way over for a try from close range that allowed Farrell to fie over a conversion that cut the deficit to 15 points.
It was always going to be an uphill struggle to win the series, but that task has got even harder now with two games left to play.
