UK media: 'Be afraid Lions, be very afraid'

All Blacks 2nd-five Sonny Bill Williams looks to off-load, during The Pasifika Challenge Test match between the All Blacks and Manu Samoa. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

The All Blacks' mesmerising 12-try win over Samoa last night at Eden Park didn't go unnoticed by the British media. Here is the best of their reaction:

By Mick Cleary of the UK Telegraph:

If this is the All Blacks rusty, then what will they be like when they are a well-oiled machine?

Warren Gatland was due to attend in person but took in this 12-try spectacular from the Lions' base a few hours' drive away in Rotorua.

There was no evidence that Gatland was peeping out from behind his hands by the end of this exhilarating exhibition. He would have been entitled to as there were no chinks to be seen, no lack of cohesion, no sense of easing into the international season, only evidence that the All Blacks are picking up from where they left off seven months ago, slick, assured, audacious and irresistible.

Writing for the Telegraph, Charlie Morgan said the blowout win was a "stark message" for Lions coach Warren Gatland.

Morgan called the All Blacks' attack, which scored eight tries in the second half, "imperious".

The Press Association headline read "chilling message" for Lions when describing the All Blacks' victory over Samoa.

Chris Foy wrote for the Daily Mail: "Ominous, truly ominous. If this is what the All Blacks are like when they are rusty, heaven knows what awaits the Lions in eight days' time.

And here's what Jim Kayes, writing for the Guardian, had to say:

Little, if anything, will have surprised the Lions coach, Warren Gatland. He will have seen again that it is not only Williams who is outstanding at offloading in the tackle - most of the forwards are too, with Retallick showing some wonderful skills under pressure.

Gatland will also have been reminded that, if Beauden Barrett and Ben Smith are given even a sliver of time and space, they will tear opponents to bits. And it will have reinforced his belief that New Zealand's strength in depth is something to salivate over as Savea calmly and skilfully slipped into Kieran Read's No8 jersey, scoring two tries in a highly impressive performance.

No other team links so seamlessly between backs and forwards, so much so there is often little to distinguish between Savea's play and that of his brother, the wing Julian.

Perhaps more than anything else, Gatland will have learned the secret to beating New Zealand is not much of a secret. The Lions will have to keep it tight, make it an arm wrestle, be disciplined, kick carefully and make their tackles.

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