Aisle be Back: Lions on tour in Wellington

Above: The British and Irish Lions training at Jerry Collins Stadium earlier this week. Photo by Dave Lintott Photography 

What a fantastic game on Tuesday night - but what else would you expect in the home of the best Super rugby team on the planet.

The match itself has rather been overshadowed by the controversial bits - BOD 2017, and the Geography Six.

So let's just dial out some of the noise, and make a few points:

- That somewhat disrespected Hurricanes pack more than stood up - and at times was edging the Lions pack. If you feel the Lions forwards were second-string, just remember these are all frontline international players.

- Where has this pack been this year in the key Super games? Well, let's see if they're about to kick on. It's very heartening to see Sam Louisi starting to be more prominent. He may just be a keeper.

- How good is Ngani Laumpape? How good is he going to be ? His try early in the second half, and the flying tackle by Dan Biggar was like a couple of cartoon characters. Laumpape's swerve into the tackle was like watching some force-field in action - and poor brave Dan just bounced right off.

- Yes the Lions were tiring in the last 20, yes it is jawdropping why Gatland refused to use his bench. But if you're a Hurricanes fan, you'll know this team just feeds off momentum - and I'm not sure the Geography Six would have made any difference. We were 31-17 down when I turned to the guy next to me, and muttered we're still in this. Yes we were.

- You do know that in the alternative universe, we actually won this game by three points. Those were the three points we twice refused to kick before halftime in favour of two failed lineout raids. But wait, there's more. Jordie then early in the second half went for a 50m kick that didn't miss by much. Yep, there's no rhyme nor reason to some of the decisions being made. That's the Canes!

- The yellow card from the tip tackle was decisive as a game changer. Accepted. But no more so than the yellow card the Canes had to carry earlier. We just didn't leak as many points in that time. Still on the nautical theme, was the playing of Sailing Away really necessary? I thought torture was illegal.

- The Lions are very good at feeding off mistakes. But they are not so good at making opportunities, especially off their set-piece. Unless they change that, it's going to be 2-nil this weekend.

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The Herald was a disgrace with its clown caricature of Warren Gatland.

The guy is quite entitled to raise issues as coach; whether he's right or wrong, he shouldn't be ridiculed for doing so.

The best description of the tired old clown cartoon was that it was like the guy whose joke wasn't funny first time round, insisting on telling it again. And it doesn't get any funnier.

The genesis of the cartoon was a reporter's pretty robust criticism of Gatland. Robust but not disrespectful. It used the coach's comments to suggest that foul play was the deadly sin you could not accuse the All Blacks of. At which point, I'm wondering which All Blacks he was referring to. Down the years, there have been plenty of dark deeds from some of our players.

Anyway, hypocrisy aside, I'm embarrassed as a New Zealander to see such a personal, anonymous attack.

If the New Zealand Herald drops the reference to being a New Zealand paper, that would be fine by me. I don't want to be guilty by association.

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Eden Park was also humming on Saturday night, There's no beating the Lions fans for inventive costumes. I particularly liked the four lads in kilts and wearing Boer War helmets. I asked them what their helmets were.

Pith helmets, said their leader.

Ah I said back, but actually they're also called Wolseley helmets (after a British general).

Oh dear lads, we're getting a history lesson, he responded.

Yes I was taking the Pith.

Then after the Lions scored that fabulous 90-metre breakout try, I turned behind me to see how a Scots Lions supporter behind us was reacting.

He wasn't there.

Turns out, he was taking a Pith.

Lifelong All Blacks supporter Kev has followed the Hurricanes since they began. Last year his faith in them was rewarded when they won the title – can they do it again?