British and Irish Lions vs Hurricanes: Tommy Seymour double not enough as Lions draw final mid-week match

Hurricanes 31 British and Irish Lions 31: The Lions will head into Saturday's second Test against the All Blacks without momentum after failing to win in Wellington

The British and Irish Lions will head into the second Test against New Zealand this Saturday after failing to win their last two matches, with the mid-week side unable to beat the reigning Super Rugby champions the Hurricanes after a 31-31 draw at Westpac Stadium.

The Lions dazzled at times with the ball in hand, scoring three tries through George North and a Tommy Seymour double, but poor defence and ill-discipline allowed the Hurricanes to fight back and, crucially, score two tries while Iain Henderson was in the sin-bin.

Both teams would see late chances to snatch the game go begging, with Dan Biggar’s final drop-goal effort snatched wide, but this was always about who would put their hand up for the second Test this Saturday and Courtney Lawes looks to be that man, with the lock the only Lion to be replaced during the match.

The Lions are making something of a reputation for scoring length of the field tries on this tour with their second in the space of three days. This time it came from a well-timed interception from Greig Laidlaw, metres out from his own line, as Ngani Laumape tried to find the free Vince Aso outside him. The Scottish scrum-half broke free, though Aso was in quick pursuit to catch him on the Canes’ 10 metre line, yet Laidlaw smartly popped the ball up off the deck to Seymour to go finish the score.

With Biggar adding the conversion to his early penalty, the Lions had a handy 10-point lead that was stretched further to 13 when scrum-half Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi tackled Jonathan Joseph in the air.

The Hurricanes started the match well below their best, but they sprung into life in the 25th minute to return fire. It was not through the running rugby that they are renowned for, but through a series of pick and go drives in Lions territory that allowed flanker Callum Gibbins power over to score.

North put his best performance of the tour so far in Wellington (Getty)

One problem for the Canes though was that their discipline was costing them, and when loosehead prop Ben May was penalised for a third time, Biggar took the easy three points. Things would get even better for the Lions two minutes before half-time when Biggar put up a high kick that neither Leigh Halfpenny, on for the injured Robbie Henshaw, or Julian Savea could take. Henderson reacted quickest, collecting the ball and drawing in Barrett, before offloading to North to go over unopposed between the posts.

With a comfortable 23-7 lead at the break, Gatland will have been impressed with his mid-week’s side strong showing in attack. But again, their defence would cost them as the Hurricanes responded a minute after the restart. A powerful burst from Aso freed up space for Savea to sweep into on the right, and he offloaded to Laumape on the right touchline to take aim at the corner. Only Biggar was in his way, and the bulking All Black went straight through the fly-half to score, with Barrett’s excellent conversion cutting the lead to nine.

Henderson boosted his Test chances with a fine performance but his late yellow card cost the Lions the win (Getty)

The penalties were beginning to creep back into the Lions game, and two minutes after missing a long-range effort at goal, Barrett made no mistake when North was caught offside and suddenly, for all the Lions’ dominance, the gap was just six points.

But the Lions would roar back, and a succession of three penalty infringements in their own 22 saw the Hurricanes punished by referee Romain Poite, who sent Tahuriorangi to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Jack Nowell. Biggar took the three points, but the pressure was beginning to tell.

Henderson was making a good impression on the game, and a break through the line put the Hurricanes onto the back foot and in reverse. With space out wide, the Lions whipped the ball out left and a good pass from Lawes found Halfpenny in space, with the full-back giving the ball to Seymour to go over in the corner for his second.

Seymour touched down twice and to become the top scorer on the Lions tour (Getty)

Henderson would go from hero to villain though, with the Irishman sin-binned for a dangerous clear-out on Barrett, and the resulting penalty would see the Hurricanes pressure the Lions line with another series of drives around the posts, sucking in the defence, before the ball was whipped out wide to replacement Wes Goosen to go over unopposed. The Lions were beginning to crack with the numbers against them, and the Hurricanes were growing into the game by the minute, with the stadium erupting when Vaea Fefita crashed over next to the posts, Barrett’s conversion levelling the scores.

Somehow, the Lions held out until Henderson returned, with the Canes knocking the ball on when in touching distance of the Lions’ try line, and when Biggar missed a last-ditch drop-goal attempt, the Lions’ hopes of bouncing back after Test defeat went up in flames.

Teams:

Hurricanes: Jordie Barrett; Nehe Milner-Skudder, Vince Aso, Ngani Laumape, Julian Savea (Cory Jane, 69); Otere Black (Wes Goosen, 62), Te Toirora-Tahuriorangi (Kemara Hauiti-Parapara, 62); Ben May (Chris Eves, 57), Ricky Riccitelli (Leni Apisai, 62), Jeffery Toomaga-Allen; Mark Abbott, Sam Lousi; Vaea Fifita, Callum Gibbins, Brad Shields (Reed Prinsep, 57).

Replacements: Mike Kainga.

British and Irish Lions: Jack Nowell; Tommy Seymour, Jonathan Joseph, Robbie Henshaw (Leigh Halfpenny, 19), George North; Dan Biggar, Greig Laidlaw; Joe Marler, Rory Best, Dan Cole; Iain Henderson, Courtney Lawes (George Kruis, 54), James Haskell, Justin Tipuric, CJ Stander.

Replacements not used: Kristian Dacey, Allan Dell, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill, Gareth Davies, Finn Russell.