It wasn’t the result the Australian TV audience, or the majority of those in attendance at Allianz Stadium were hoping for. But on a day when the memory of young Warringah player Lachlan Ward was appropriately honoured, a life cut tragically short whilst playing the game he loved last weekend, it was perhaps fitting that the spoils went to a side led by one of the Rats’ finest former servants.

Far from perfect but much, much better. That would probably be the report card attributed to last night’s 12-3 victory for the British & Irish Lions over the Crusaders in Christchurch. In a tryless contest, the boot of Owen Farrell was the difference, with the English flyhalf slotting four penalties – actually five, but more of that later – to secure a vital win for the under-fire tourists.