All Blacks rugby prop Carl Hayman refused to concede Andy Sheridan got the better of him on Saturday, but he couldn't help but be impressed.
Hayman and Sheridan clunked heads for the first time in Hamilton in the battle of the strongmen which is likely to be repeated in thethree-test series.
Sheridan could claim to have at least matched the cornerstone of the All Blacks scrum in New Zealand Maoris' 19-13 win over the Lions, not bad for a converted lock who has just one test for England off the bench.
"He's a pretty strong fella," Hayman said.
"He's pretty useful, I thought it went pretty well.
"It would have been interesting if he stayed on a bit longer. He's pretty new in the position but I think he's handling himself pretty well."
Lions coach Clive Woodward raised the ire of British journalists who criticised him for substituting Sheridan for Gethin Jenkins early in the second half, after Sheridan was sinbinned for throwing a punch at Luke McAlister.
The Lions scrum wasn't quite the same force without the 1.96m, 119kg Sale Sharks prop, who belies his stature by being one of the softest spoken in the tour squad.
An equally understated Hayman said the bruising encounter, punctuated by clashes between the front rows at early scrums, was of test match intensity.
"Both teams were pretty keen to get stuck in. There were a few scuffles and what have you early on, no one was really going to back down. Neither team really wanted to give an inch.
"For a lot of the guys out there, it will be the biggest game of their lives and probably for the rest of their careers."
Hayman said he had some things to work on, notably his tackling after missing one or two attempts on Saturday.
He expected a big improvement from the Lions in the tests.
"Although we may have caught the Lions on the hop (on Saturday), I'm sure it won't happen again."
