BLOOD FLOWED... NOT CHAMPAGNE

Lions Verdict

- ANDY DUNN

AT one point in a brutal contest, there was a lot of claret to go with the rain, quite a bit of it coming from the mouth of the British & Irish Lions skipper Maro Itoje.

Legend goes that when Martin Johnson sustained a nasty cut while captaining the Lions in South Africa, he asked for it to be stitched without anaesthetic because he wanted to get back on to the pitch as soon as possible. Good tale. But, thankfully, there is a little bit more medical propriety in current rugby times and after a Head Injury Assessment (HIA), Itoje did not return to the saturated action.