Rugby: Owens: We have to be better

The Blues embrace to celebrate their win over the Lions. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The Lions realise they have their work cut out if they are to turn around last night's disappointing loss to the Blues when they take on the rampant Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.

Captain Ken Owens admitted as much, moments after his side went down 22-16 to the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland last night.

This result followed a hugely underwhelming performance against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in Whangarei last Saturday.

Owens described the loss to the Blues as "hugely disappointing".

James Parsons. Photo / File

"We came here [to Eden Park] to build on our Saturday performance but all credit must go to the Blues," Owens said.

There were a few areas where the Lions needed to tidy up their performance, especially regarding their distribution, he admitted.

"We need to be more clinical and concentrate on ball-retention," Owens said.

"There are some positives, however. The set-piece went well, we have got to build on that."

Blues captain James Parsons was clearly a happy man after the win was sealed in the last 10 minutes of the match.

"The win was special," Parsons said.

"It was a big occasion for us, we owe our fans something.

"We haven't exactly performed so well this year," he said about the Blues already being out of contention for the playoffs of this season's Super Rugby.