A BLACK NIGHT FOR SORRY LIONS.

Byline: By Simon Roberts South Wales Echo 

The Lions suffered their first series whitewash since 1983 as New Zealand completed a 3-0 triumph by recording a comfortable win at Eden Park.

All Blacks skipper Tana Umaga led the way with two tries, while his midfield partner Conrad Smith, lock Ali Williams and wing Rico Gear also touched down to steer New Zealand home 38-19.

The Lions produced arguably their best performance of the series, but they could only manage a Lewis Moody try and 14 points from fly-half Stephen Jones' boot.

The Lions suffered a late blow as they targeted a consolation prize in the final match of the tour.

Already 2-0 down and the series gone following defeats in Christchurch and Wellington, head coach Sir Clive Woodward saw his selection plans disrupted when hooker Steve Thompson withdrew through illness.

England forward Thompson was suffering from a virus, so Ireland's Shane Byrne - whose lineout throwing proved so wayward during the first Test - deputised.

Injuries forced Woodward's hand behind the scrum, where fly-half Jonny Wilkinson and centre Gavin Henson were both sidelined through neck/shoulder 'stinger' problems, which meant respective starts for Stephen Jones and Will Greenwood.

Woodward dropped wings Jason Robinson and Shane Williams after a 48-18 drubbing in Wellington seven days ago, which meant Lions Test debuts for prolific England try-scorer Mark Cueto and Irish full-back Geordan Murphy, with Josh Lewsey switching to wing duties.

New Zealand though, were also severely affected by fitness setbacks, as fly-half Dan Carter, centre Aaron Mauger and flanker Richie McCaw all withdrew.

It forced All Blacks coach Graham Henry into a considerable reshuffle, with rookie Luke McAlister taking over from Carter, Conrad Smith starting instead of Mauger and Rodney So'oialo featuring at openside flanker as Sione Lauaki wore the number eight jersey.

Smith's midfield appearance meant that All Blacks captain Tana Umaga lined up at inside centre, but despite such upheaval, New Zealand still went into battle as firm favourites to record a 3-0 series triumph.

South African referee Jonathan Kaplan took charge of the action, and the teams were greeted by dry conditions and a pristine playing surface as the final chapter of a hugely disappointing Lions tour prepared to unfold.

Kaplan's first duty though, was to oversee a minute's silence before kick-off in memory of London bombing victims.

All flags around the ground were at half-mast as Jones swung the game into action with a steepling kick-off, but New Zealand gained the first scrum put-in and then comfortably cleared possession to touch.

The Lions responded by launching a ferocious forward drive towards New Zealand's 22, and they were rewarded with a penalty that Jones landed for a 3-0 lead inside three minutes.

His successful strike was accompanied by a downpour, but the Lions continued to monopolise possession, with scrum-half Dwayne Peel proving an early driving force.

And they doubled their lead on eight minutes when Jones kicked his second penalty, although it could have been so much more.

Flanker Lewis Moody had sent wing Lewsey clear in space, and when prop Gethin Jenkins gathered possession a try looked certain, but the All Blacks defence managed to smother his threat.

Lions lock Donncha O'Callaghan then went close, but referee Kaplan ruled he had been stopped illegally and All Blacks skipper Umaga was sent to the sin-bin for deliberately killing possession.

The Lions should have prospered from their temporary one-man advantage, but New Zealand responded in typical fashion when Smith scythed through pathetic defence from Cueto and Murphy to touch down behind the posts.

McAlister converted, and with Umaga still off, there was worse to come for the Lions when Peel failed to deal with a treacherous bouncing ball.

As Peel struggled to regain possession, New Zealand's forwards were up in force and lock Ali Williams reacted quickest, gathering the ball to touch down and deal the Lions another savage setback.

McAlister's conversion made it 14-6, and although Jones quickly completed his penalty hat-trick, there were ominous signs for the Lions as Umaga prepared to return.

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.

The All Blacks made an interval substitution, sending on flanker Marty Holah for Lauaki as So'oialo reverted to his familiar number eight position, and Holah immediately secured lineout possession.

The Lions simply had to score first, but McAlister's tactical kicking continued to test their defensive positioning and wing Sitiveni Sivivatu almost went over before Justin Marshall appeared for his final All Blacks game, taking over from Byron Kelleher, before joining Leeds later this summer.

And Marshall's first contribution was to deliver a scoring pass, with Umaga the grateful recipient, although there were suspicions of a forward pass.

McAlister added the extra points, and New Zealand were past 30 points as the Lions made a double substitution, replacing Peel with Matt Dawson and sending on Graham Rowntree for Jenkins.

Skipper Thomas then departed the action, replaced by Shane Horgan, as the Lions found themselves facing an all-too-familiar damage limitation exercise, having conceded exactly 100 points in the series.

New Zealand thought they had scored again on 54 minutes, courtesy of a superb kick from lock Chris Jack that Sivivatu gathered, but touch judge Stuart Dickinson brought Kaplan's attention to foul play from All Blacks flanker Jerry Collins.

Collins was adjudged to have made a late tackle in the build-up to Sivivatu's 'score', and he received a yellow card, with the try ruled out.

It was a fortunate escape for the Lions, but they continued pressing for a score, gaining a lineout five metres from New Zealand's line and driving on, but a try was not awarded when it appeared that Moody might have touched down under a forward melee.

Moody was not to be denied on the hour-mark though, when a fired-up Lions pack again arrowed towards New Zealand's line, and this time the try was awarded. Jones' conversion made it 31-19, rewarding a solid spell of Lions pressure.

Typically though, the Lions lost concentration from the restart, and Sivivatu gathered possession to threaten another home try.

The game fizzled out but New Zealand were home and dry, their win confirmed when wing Rico Gear collected try number five in injury time and McAlister converted.