Sharks 3 Lions 39

The score line is probably slightly flattering, but another win for the Lions, against what was probably the strongest opposition to date. A few problems at the breakdown and the scrums were all over the shop, but they stuck to the task at hand and towards the end started to throw the ball around and play a little rugby.

Most of the Leinster guys put in great performance and should be challenging for test places. O’Driscoll with a few great breaks. He also set up a well worked try for Fitzgerald, who was also on song, breaking the line a few times. Heaslip was immense and must be a shoe-in for the test place, and to cap it off he sneaked a cheeky try in injury time. Not sure the Munster players are fully on form since the Heineken Cup semi- some great plays from Wallace – as usual you don’t see half of the great work he does on the ground. O’Connell was solid, but we haven’t seen him totally shine on tour. O’Gara’s kicking was solid, but he probably did a little too much with the boot.

On test selection, Jones or Hook could challenge O’Gara. I was impressed with Alwyn Jones who must be the favourite to partner O’Connell. Lee Byrne continues to impress at full back, scoring another great try and Kearney will have his work cut out to start on the test team.

Still a bit of work to do before the tests, but there does seem to be a bit of momentum.