Tuesday 6 June 2017 06:26, UK
Stuart Barnes checks in from New Zealand as he reflects on the Lions' opening game, takes in Blues training and reveals his cure for jetlag...
1. It felt a long, long way from home when I awoke Sunday morning after the game to the dreadful news from London.
Talking and writing about rugby seems all pretty meaningless when the country suffers another atrocity but the great strength of a democracy is the ability to bounce back, to say to the terrorists, 'you don't scare us'.
The Lions, let us be honest, were not very good in their opening game but it pales into insignificance next to suffering and the inspiring actions of so many innocent and heroic citizens.
Rugby is only a game, albeit one in which huge tanks of emotional reservoirs are emptied by players and fans.
2. My favourite moment of the tour so far was to find myself in the centre of Whangarei, five hours before kick-off on Saturday night.
Scottish pipers, Maori dancers and country singers shared the main stage as numerous fancy dress disguises befuddled the senses. There were way too many people of stilts for my liking... I was more comfortable with the moon-faced nuns and Mexicans in bins.
What either has to do with this part of the North Island, who knows, who cares....it was a carnival atmosphere in small town New Zealand.
Kids smiling, parents laughing. This was the essence of the Lions for me. Beautiful - or as the locals say, 'sweet as, bro'.
3. Sam Warburton says jetlag is an overplayed issue before the match, Warren Gatland says it was a factor post-match. What is a poor broadcaster supposed to report?
In the end, I take the captain at his word and as such, have few positives to take out of the game. Sam finds plenty of positives and talks about the quality of the Lions 'D'. The rest of the 'efence' will be more seriously tested against the Blues on Wednesday.
4. The Blues train with almost an air of abandon on Monday morning. The serious stuff in these parts is Super Rugby. The Lions are a diversion, a free hit, if you like.
Sonny Bill Williams looks like he is going to make it to the kick-off. He is an infectious character on the training field. Impressive too but I cannot explain why because the session is behind closed doors.
Miles and I are granted permission to watch it from the distance of the Alexandra Park stands. The training ground is in the middle of a trotting track. It tests the eyes all right. Oh for my horse racing bins!
5. I am genuinely excited about the forthcoming week. If the Lions win both games against the Blues and Crusaders we can forget about the nervous opening show.
If they lose the pair we have a tour close to crisis after a week and a half. If the spoils are split, it is advantage New Zealand but far from game, set and match.
6. I watched the Crusaders' incredible win against the Highlanders in a bar (pre-game, no alcohol). It is 14 wins out of 14 for the Crusaders but the lazy looping passing game will be picked off by the Lions should they repeat their second-half performance.
Even though the Crusaders show splendid spirit and nerve at the death, I leave the bar more optimistic about the chances in Christchurch, until I call the opening game... oh hell, let's get a quick panic out of the way and get back on the road.
7. It is not a good night for the Lions but it is a terrible one for Johnny Sexton. In poor form the last time we saw him in Dublin, he fails to catch fire again.
The passing is inaccurate, the tactical kicking nothing like it can be. He cuts a frustrated figure until Owen Farrell replaces him and orchestrates what will be the decisive score.
Sexton will have watched the last quarter of the game with mixed feelings. He is a real competitor and it is not going his way right now.
8. Stuart Hogg had a wobbly old start to the tour as well. Eyes off the ball and an awful pass to Anthony Watson with a try begging opens the door to Leigh Halfpenny.
The Scotsman needs to up his game from recent standards but he has proved he has the capacity to do just that before with the Lions.
9. How do you fight the jetlag which Sam says isn't a problem and Warren says is; my approach was to phone a friend and meet at a bar/restaurant called The Depot, on Federal Street, only a few hundred metres from our apartments as it transpires.
Great food, great fun, the best house red you'll taste and Bob Dylan blaring in the background. I make it past 8... 9...10...11...wake up feeling lousy but no sign of jetlag!
10. Nostalgia....it is 24 years since I had the huge privilege to lead the Lions out for the first match of the 1993 tour against Northland at Whangarei.
The stands are new and the pitch is almost perfect despite a 24-hour plus tropical downpour. It would have been a quagmire back in the day.
All changed but for the enormous grass bank. I loved it then and now. People picnicking, a party atmosphere inside as well as out. A rugby stadium looks so different from the pitch compared to the commentary booth.
There's nothing quite like playing but this isn't a bad second best. It is a great privilege to call a sixth Lions tour for Sky.
We'll do all we can to entertain you but in the end it comes down to the team. Even Scott and the Fan Van (my name for it is Fan Morrison....driving through NZ with Astral Weeks blaring full blast) cannot eclipse the fact that it is all up to the stars, the players - with some help from an extensive back-up staff.
Here's to all the players, the fans both at home and in New Zealand. I hope it proves an unforgettable experience wherever you are, whoever you are.
