Lions edge win but picture for Test is blurred

The final midweek game of this Lions tour was always destined to be something of a mixed bag.

- Robert Kitson

Towards the end there were a clutch of unlikely red-shirted players out on the field and the outcome was still in doubt up until the closing moments. Two tries for Jamie Osborne eventually squeezed his side home but very little about the evening turned out to be comfortable.

In terms of pointers towards second-Test selection the picture was also fairly blurred. Blair Kinghorn, back from a strained knee, showed some excellent touches but also had a couple of passes intercepted. Jamie George's lineout throwing was consistently good while Owen Farrell's no-nonsense instructions to his team were audible from the stands 50 metres away.

Ben White also showed up well at scrum-half but the back row collectively endured a tough night and the Lions, once again, purred only in fits and starts. Not that this year's most unlikely Lions Gregor Brown, Ewan Ashman and Tom Clarkson will particularly care, having all made it off the bench and on to the field in the second half. Whatever else happens in their careers no one can ever take that honour away from them.