Lock Donncha O’Callaghan missed a chance score a try for the visitors early on, and the hosts pounced with two quick scores.

Stephen Jones kept the Lions in touch with four penalties, but Umaga extended the lead just before the break after Luke McAlister sent him scampering over.

The Lions were battling to stay in touch, but they did not help their cause when prop Julian White was penalised for incorrect binding and number eight Ryan Jones’ needless dissent allowed New Zealand an additional 10 metres of territory.

McAlister made no mistake with the resulting penalty, yet the game’s roller-coaster nature was such that Jones booted a fourth penalty and a raking Peel touch-finder kept the Lions very much in contention.

The first 22 minutes had seen 29 points scored, but the All Blacks looked far more capable of making possession count, and the Lions just had to keep their concentration.

Greenwood though, almost saw a pass intercepted by Umaga as the rain poured down, and while there was no obvious pattern to proceedings, New Zealand looked more dangerous with ball in hand.

But the All Blacks kept conceding penalties, and Jones almost slotted a fifth penalty from five attempts, only to see his 35-metre strike bounce back off the post.

As half-time approached, the Lions found themselves under escalating pressure, and New Zealand inflicted further grief on them when McAlister made a mockery of Jones’ attempted tackle and sent Umaga scampering over.

McAlister, showing no signs of nerves in the biggest game of his career, added the conversion, and the Lions found themselves 24-12 adrift, having conceded three tries at half-time.