Matt Dawson: An emotional week and we're ready to get home

The third and final test was the best chance the boys had to take home a win. To win any test match here would have been something to take home.

We'll probably look back with some regret that we blew a try and gave a soft try to Ali Williams. We gave the All Blacks a lead and were always chasing.

There've been some players that have really stepped up - Dwayne Peel, Paul O'Connell, Chris Cusiter, Geordan Murphy - and Gethin Jenkins has never played as well as he has on this trip.

For the All Blacks, Tana Umaga, Jerry Collins and Daniel Carter have been superb and make them a very hard team to beat. And Justin Marshall's a great player - New Zealand's loss is Leeds' gain.

These are the sorts of times when you find the peaks and troughs of your career.

Losing at the highest level is never easy to take. But I am an optimist, I do look for the positives, and it was a fantastic set of players that I've really enjoyed meeting and playing with.

Some might have found it strange that we were embracing at the end but it has been a really tough tour. There's been lots of emotion and we're now looking forward to going home and seeing our friends and family and getting on with our lives.

The London terror attacks put everything in perspective. All of the boys have been thinking about everyone back home. Chances are some of us will know someone who's been involved.

No matter how passionate people are about it, rugby is not a game of life and death. It means a lot to all of us, and the Lions mean an immense amount to me, but it doesn't mean as much to me as what's going on back home.

But it has been a brilliant, well-organised tour, even if we may not have expressed ourselves as much as we'd like.

We talk about the history and tradition of the shirt but there's no form to fall back on for the Lions because all the tours are four years apart.

Hindsight is easy. The first test was crucial and we have to acknowledge we got a lot wrong. We put ourselves out of the equation really with that defeat. The scrums and lineouts were poor but I think we proved in later games that our set-pieces were first class. It's a case of 'if only', I guess.

It could be that if the test players had been given more time on the field the result might have been different, we might have developed better combinations. But trying to fit everybody in would have been very hard.

You can't say that too many players were selected. It's one of those things where if it came off, it would have been a fantastic idea. There's always going to be criticism about selection and coaching but you can't please everyone.

Let's just put our hands up and say we were beaten by a better side who were at the top of their game.

By the next Lions tour I'll be 36, so this will be my last. I don't have any regrets. I've been very fortunate to have played in three tours and I've given my all.

I'll watch the next tour with a beer in my hand and think I was so fortunate to have been a part of it.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY