Richard Loe: Mako Vunipola deserved to see red

British and Irish Lions' Mako Vunipola receives a yellow card from match referee Jerome Garces. Photo / Getty

The Lions deserve congratulations for levelling the series against the All Blacks and, as countless northern hemisphere chums quickly pointed out to me by text, "you need to score tries to win test matches".

My Aussie mates are gloating too, so I'm a touch grumpy.

There's no question Sonny Bill Williams' red card had a huge impact. Any team would struggle to play almost 60 minutes with 14 players and win when the sides are so close.

He put unnecessary pressure on his teammates, but the one who'd be dirtiest would be Jerome Kaino, given he was dragged off in place of Ngani Laumape on debut so they could match them for numbers in the backline.

Williams' reaction might have been instinctive, based on the time he's spent playing that other code. Regardless, it was poor on his part.

I would like to have seen Plunket's reaction...

In hindsight, I thought it was interesting the refereeing trio were also involved in Tuesday's match when Iain Henderson tipped Jordie Barrett past the horizontal and only got a yellow card.

Then we saw what Mako Vunipola did with his shoulder to the head of Beauden Barrett in the second half. That should have been a red, too. I think it's fair to demand consistency.

But back to the Lions' success.

Their whole pack played with more intent, aggression and accuracy this week. They pushed the law to the limit at the collision and reaped the benefits.

In essence they improved a notch or two. The All Blacks weren't any worse than last week but the bounce of the ball wasn't as favourable. It's hard to gauge, but Sam Warburton's return as captain probably helped rather than hindered.

Barrett missing those shots at goal to seize on the Lions' ill-discipline was another significant factor, but the result shouldn't have been left up to him.

It's difficult to point the finger, because he's kicked so well recently. I know in my day I could hardly tap Foxy on the shoulder and say "I'll do it instead". He'd have been better than me blindfolded.

In the wash-up, one fact remains: we're in for a hell of a game next week.