O'Driscoll: We deserved to lose
Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll admitted his side had not been “worthy” of beating the New Zealand Maori following a 19-13 defeat in the unofficial fourth Test.
The home side dominated for long stretches and might have enjoyed a more comfortable victory but for some resolute Lions defending with the tourists’ only try coming from O’Driscoll in the closing stages.
The Irishman said: “We’re very disappointed. Sitting in the dressing room and looking back we feel that we weren’t worthy of winning the game.
“They had all the possession and it’s difficult to score from you own half.
He added on Sky Sports: “We didn’t play any of the rugby in their third. The majority of their rugby was played in our half. You can’t play rugby in those areas and expect to win.”
O’Driscoll admitted the result meant Wednesday’s meeting with Wellington will be played under extra pressure but the Leinster man is confident the Lions can turn things around in time for the first Test on June 25.
He said: “We’ve got to stay really tight and there’s going to be all sorts of comments in the press and the Wednesday side have to stand up and show what we’re really worth.
“Two weeks is a long time when you’re on tour and, like I said the Wednesday boys have a challenge to get us back on a roll.
“It’s not the end of the world in that it’s better losing now than in two weeks.”
Fly-half Stephen Jones, sporting stitches in his right cheek, admitted: ``It was a very physical game against a good team tonight so respect to the Maoris. The contact game was ferocious and the better team won on the day.
“We are hugely disappointed at this setback tonight but we must be positive because there’s a lot of rugby left to be played on this tour. We must pick ourselves up.
“We will look at the video, do our analysis and pick up on our weaknesses. We didn’t get through the phases tonight and know we can play better than that. We were particularly disappointed with our ball retention, the contact area was ferocious. Had we got through our phases, we might have created a few more opportunities – but we didn’t.”
He told Sky Sports: “It is important we build and learn from our mistakes. We are confident, it’s still early days in this tour. We played a very strong Maori side tonight so respect to them.”
