LIONS ROAR, THEN WHIMPER, THEN MAKE A SORT OF GROWLING NOISE....

Phew. That was a bit close.

These first few games are just openers. The players are still getting to know each other and they will still be a bit jet-lagged, so no need to set too much store by the scores, but based on what I watched...

O'Driscoll and Henson look handy as a centre partnership, but Darcy and Greenwood are both good players with proven track records. Picking who will accompany O'Driscoll is going to be a nightmare.

Josh Lewsey is looking like a world-class full back and is surely top of the list for that spot come the tests.

Ronan O'Gara is now behind my mother in the pecking order for the Test fly-half berth. He missed several tackles (two of which led to tries for Bay of Plenty), and missed even more kicks at goal. Doubt he'll be getting his boots muddy again for a while.

Martin Corry will be the Lions no.8 after the loss of Dallaglio.