Lions - now show us what you're made of

So it's come to this for the Lions: Wellington on Wednesday will show what stuff the tourists are made of. It's time to grow or wither.

This tour may have other critical moments, but right now the Lions have reached a watershed. They must win at the Cake Tin against flaky Wellington or this tour could suffer an irreparable case of flat tyre-itis.

All the Lions voices on Saturday night at Waikato Stadium dwelt on two things: yes, they'd been well beaten, no complaints there. And they must learn the lessons.

There were plenty, but the Maori won primarily with something you can't teach. Certainly they played with technical proficiency, they defended ferociously and, once they got to the second half, they knew a historic first win over the Lions was within reach.

But spirit, passion and sheer will were the keys. Captain Jono Gibbes led in the best warrior tradition, from the front, and got better as the game wore on. By the end, his battered head, the tears of delight, the grin he couldn't rub off his face, told its own story.

Before the match, he talked of Maori players of the past he admired and aspired to emulate. Now he's in a class of one after his heroic performance against a Lions side who didn't give up but just didn't have the field position or the attacking expertise to take the occasional openings.

The Maori had talked about how Bay of Plenty and Taranaki had produced strong first halves before falling away as the Lions gathered strength in the final quarter.

"The call was to go 80 minutes," retiring coach Matt Te Pou said.

You won't find Saturday night's first half on any highlights reel, or in any coaching manuals.

It was not a half for the backs. It was all about the Maori pack refusing to bend the knee. They looked the Lions forwards in the eye, barrelled into the breakdowns, where Marty Holah was superb, and gave as good as they got in the tough stuff.

At times they just hung on in the scrums, where Julian White and Andrew Sheridan were a handful, and it appeared only a matter of time before the forwards had a decent bust-up.

There was a spoiling, snarling atmosphere in many of those first-half clashes up front, but instead it turned into a series of skirmishes, plenty of scuffling and growling, but those 40 minutes laid the foundation for what happened in the second half. "They were a bit more aggressive than us all over the place," said Irish lock Paul O'Connell.

"It's a huge wakeup call, but the lessons we learned at the breakdown, lineout and scrum will serve us well on the rest of the tour."

Coach Sir Clive Woodward was magnanimous in defeat, doffing his hat to the Maori resilience.

"We lost fair and square. The better team won and if anything the scoreline flattered us," he said.

Three things happened in the second half to decide the match. First, Carlos Spencer came on shortly after the restart and he provided the spark to get the backline capitalising on the increasing possession the forwards were gathering.

Second, the Maori got the vital first try, which got them 10 points clear 18 minutes in. Spencer doubled round and set up fullback Leon MacDonald, who wriggled his way through and round five tackles to plonk the ball down with an outstretched arm.

And finally, after Luke McAlister had kicked a second penalty to have a 13-point cushion, with the Lions pressing, Gibbes won a vital lineout 10 minutes from the end.

Sure, Brian O'Driscoll, who didn't have a night to savour, did get over for a late try with a slashing cut through the defence.

But that lineout win, one of many for the skipper in that second half, delayed the Lions' final charge just long enough to ensure time ran out on them.

Of the Lions, the biggest positive was an excellent defensive operation. Despite being outflanked, outpassioned and denied territory and possession, they conceded only one try and, as O'Driscoll pointed out, lost by just six points.

Halfback Matt Dawson, with a couple of sniping runs and a high workrate, did well, and Tom Shanklin and Shane Williams on the wings had their moments.

But Gordon D'Arcy may have blown his test chances with an average display at second five-eighth, and was lucky to not cop at least a yellow card for a first-half kick on an opponent and an off-the-ball dangerous tackle in the second half.

The Lions pack were second in too many respects to get a pass mark, although White will be there at test time and maybe Sheridan as well. But the night belonged to the Maori, to Gibbes, to Holah, to Te Pou, to Spencer and the rest.

"The guys that have gone before us were in our thoughts," Gibbes said. "It's special for this team, but it means a lot to a lot of other people, which is why it means so much to the players."