From NICK CAIN at Eden Park, Auckland
THE gap between New Zealand and the Lions was never of Grand Canyon proportions in this series opener.
Yet, in crucial areas in a compelling duel it was wide enough to tell us that Warren Gatland’s side have a forbidding gradient to climb to stay alive by winning in Wellington on Saturday.
The Lions may be the best team that New Zealand have faced in a long time, and they had the double world champions rattled on occasions here, but ultimately they failed to adhere to the cardinal law that against New Zealand you have to take your chances.
That is...