With less than a week to go until the Lions' first Test against the All Blacks, coach Warren Gatland is sweating on the fitness of Owen Farrell and Leigh Halfpenny.
FORMER Gloucester captain Greig Laidlaw has defended Warren Gatland's decision to draft in six new players to the British and Irish Lions squad.
The trusty Halfpenny nailed all seven kicks to stay flawless with the boot on tour, scoring 22 points on the night, and Gatland will be looking for more of the same from the Lions when they face Chiefs on Tuesday.
New Zealand-born Gatland tried to deflect attention from his selections by suggesting All Blacks coach Steve Hansen might be anxious at the Lions' recent form.
The performance and the win over the Maori was not, said Gatland, about sending a message to the All Blacks in the wake of their scintillating 78-0 win over Samoa.
"We managed the game well and squeezed the life out of them", Gatland told reporters in Rotorua.
Warburton continues to chase full match sharpness, and could well take a seat on the bench for Saturday's first All Blacks Test in Auckland.
Hansen's All Blacks had shown their class on Friday by scoring 12 tries in a 78-0 win over Samoa on Monday, when they underlined that the Lions simply can not turn over possession cheaply or stutter in their kick chase.
"I think we built on the Crusaders performance tonight in terms of the scrummaging was very solid".
Several NATO soldiers killed by an Afghan soldier in Balkh province
The so-called green-on-blue attacks have been a recurring problem for the American training mission in the country. Since 2001, more than 2,000 American troops have been killed in combat and noncombat roles in the country.
Halfpenny's wondrous display of kicking amassed 21 points while a second-half Maro Itoje try and a penalty try awarded by referee Jaco Peyper supplemented the Toulon star's impressive points haul.
Chiefs legend Stephen Donald will skipper an understrength matchday squad in their clash with the British and Irish Lions in Hamilton. "There's still an opportunity there for me hopefully down the line, but playing a game four days out from a Test it's unlikely that I'll be in the starting 15".
With Owen Farrell an injury doubt for the first Test, England centre Ben Te'o produced the ideal audition to nail down the number 12 jersey.
Flanker Lachlan Boshier, replacement prop Aidan Ross and replacement back Luteru Laulala have already played against the Lions.
"The Beaver, yeah, I was lucky enough to coach Steve for a few years", Gatland said.
Victory by then had been secured, but Halfpenny made sure with yet another kick at goal just minutes after Gatland had withdrawn Murray and Sexton from the fray with the first Test in mind.
"Normally he's pretty calm but he has been doing a lot of press conferences and I can only take that as a sign of respect", Gatland said.
Back the defenders up by one or two metres and suddenly the opposition offence has that extra split second of time and bit of space that they need to run their midfield play or give the ball width.
"We know what the plan for this tour is, to come out here and challenge the All Blacks and win the Test series".
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