Warren Gatland returned home to Waikato today, and drew considerable comfort. The Lions won a midweek game for the first time on the tour, swatting away a weakened Chiefs side 34-6 in a performance that finally saw flashes of running rugby, with two fine second-half moves finished by Jack Nowell and Jared Payne.
It was an impressive performance by those involved with the Lions, within the context of their disappointment: selection today means they are pretty much certain not to be involved in the first Test. It being a three-Test series, however, means that plenty of players can still force their way into playing an important role, given the inevitability of injuries amid the All Black furnace on Saturday.
Based on this morning's performance against the Chiefs, here are some of the winners and losers regarding Test selection, both on Saturday and beyond.
Winners
Alun-Wyn Jones
Wyn-Jones played a grand total of six minutes, plugging a gap while Courtney Lawes was off the field for a HIA. In that time, however, he showed the leadership that may earn him a starting position on Saturday, ahead of the irrepressible Maro Itoje.
He got involved in a bit of scrap, and then tweaked the line-out strategy, instructing Rory Best to throw to Justin Tipuric, instead of to him or Iain Henderson. The resulting shove, with two second-rows rooted to the ground, ended with Henderson crashing over. As a trio of Chiefs defenders desperately clung on, Henderson was compensated with a penalty try.
For all of Itoje's qualities, Wyn-Jones' experience and leadership, which he offered a glimpse of today, may seal a starting position.
Elliot Daly
While the bulk of Daly's minutes have come in midweek, he has been floating around the fringes of the Test squad, and today's performance heightens the likelihood that he will snaffle the number 23 jersey. The range he adds from the kicking tee is valued highly by Gatland, while his wing play this morning was good: occasionally straying in-field to offer Dan Biggar a threat off his left shoulder. His break and pass lubricated a flowing move that ended with Jack Nowell's second try, and his being immediately substituted for Tommy Seymour suggests he will make the bench on Saturday.
Courtney Lawes
The Lions have remarkable depth at second-row: George Kruis will be partnered by either Wyn-Jones or Itoje on Saturday, with the other likely making the bench. That means that Lawes and Iain Henderson will probably miss out on selection on Saturday, despite the fact that both are in ferocious form.
Lawes was the outstanding player for the Lions today - and would likely have been a week ago against the Highlanders, but for a wretched head collision with Naholo that ended with a groggy walk to the bench - and here he reminded Gatland that he should have no qualms about including him in one of the Tests, should injuries open the door.
Impeccable in the line-out; irrepressible around the field: Lawes could yet be loosed on the All Blacks.
Losers
Robbie Henshaw
Henshaw was tipped to be the Lions starter at inside-centre before the tour. He has the general qualities of being capable of being Warrenball's Bosher-in-Chief, along with the more precise case of being to the fore in diminishing the All Black lustre in Chicago.
But it hasn't happened on this tour for Henshaw, unfortunately. Ben Te'o has been favoured by Gatland, and his performances have justified such faith.
Henshaw, meanwhile, has simply not got going. He has yet to play at the weekend, and today he had the unenviable task of trying to find space in an absurdly claustrophobic midfield, before the game opened up when the Chiefs' resistance was broken by the penalty try.
Even then, Henshaw failed to offer an attacking spark. While he was defensively fine, this tour is increasingly tinged with a feeling that Henshaw just hasn't got the opportunity to show what he can offer.
Anthony Watson
To date, Watson seems to have prised open a Test spot for himself less through his own scintillating performances than the limitations of others. Before today, the Lions' back three has offered virtually nothing in attack, but today's trio will offer Watson some food for thought. Jack Nowell shook off the horrors of his tour thus far with a fine performance, in which he became the Lions' top try-scorer on the tour (tied, as it happens, with a Mr. Try, Penalty).
Liam Williams, meanwhile, excelled also, albeit at full-back. The Welsh winger has not made the impact we anticipated thus far, however, but he certainly did so today: scorching across 100 metres worth of gained earth. (The next closest was Nowell, on 53 metres).
Gatland will not demur from picking Halfpenny at full-back, but if Watson does not impress in the first Test if selected, he will be under serious pressure from Warren's Welsh boys to retain that slot.
