British and Irish Lions 2017: Lack of tries not a concern yet as Conor Murray eases fears over finishing issues

Conor Murray has played down the importance of the British and Irish Lions’ profligacy after failing to cross the try line in their 12-3 victory over the Crusaders, and insisted that the fact that they are creating opportunities to score is more reassuring than if they weren’t in positions to score at all.

The Lions put in a much-improved and dogged performance to not only inflict a first defeat of the season on the Crusaders, but also keep the Super Rugby leaders to just a single penalty as they let their defence set the tone for the clash at AMI Stadium.

But while there was relief that the touring party were back to winning ways following last week’s defeat by the Blues, the Lions failed to score a try, relying on four penalties from Owen Farrell for their points, and it means that the squad have scored just two tries in their first three tour matches.

Scrum-half Murray is not panicking just yet though, and he said in the wake of the match in Christchurch that it is reassuring to see the Lions creating chances to score, even if the lack of development in the side so far means they are not finishing them.

“It’s something we’ll look to improve on, but the fact that we are making line-breaks and busting teams and we counter-attacked well off a few kick receives is really pleasing and then it’s probably the easier stuff – easier than making the line-breaks is finishing them off,” Murray said. “If we weren’t making line-breaks, you’d be more worried. But it is something that is progressing.

“The [conditions on the] night, the slippery ball, the slippery surface dictates the way you play a bit. I thought we managed it quite well. Hopefully we’ll start finishing a few.”

Both Anthony Watson and Liam Williams saw chances to score go begging, the former coming on for the injured Stuart Hogg at full-back, with the Scot also guilty of wasting an early chance to score. The Lions nearly went ahead in the first minute, only for Jonathan Davies’ final pass to George North to be intercepted, and Davies was soon forced from the field for a Head Injury Assessment that he would fail.

Head coach Warren Gatland rued the missed opportunities, and admitted after the match that he wanted to see his wide players back themselves to take on the opposition during the tour and deliver some of the X-factor that he has demanded since arriving in New Zealand.

Watson in particular managed to work two good opportunities, but delivered an early pass to Johnny Sexton with the first chance when he had just Israel Dagg to beat, and the Irishman’s subsequent pass to CJ Stander could not be collected cleanly with the try line at the Lions’ mercy, while the second saw a long cross-field pass from Farrell to North popped back inside to Watson, only for the England back to be wrapped up before he could get across the line.

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“I would have liked to have seen Anthony take Israel Dagg on one on one there because we know what footwork and how quick he is, but he’s given the pass to Johnny and then CJ's lost that one,” Gatland noted. “I think there's a pass by Ben that's gone over the top and then the knock-on from Liam where Anthony's potentially created something. And another couple of opportunities, so we're creating them and we need to get better at them.”

Having seen Gatland and his coaching team play down the importance of winning every warm-up match on the tour, Murray admitted after the match that getting the victory under their belts was crucial for the squad and for their development. The team has still only spent two weeks together with every player available, and the Irish scrum-half wants to use this victory as a stepping stone ahead of Tuesday’s encounter with the Highlanders.

“It’s a good night and a good performance and something we can build on,” he added. “Winning was the most important thing. It was a massive challenge because we are relatively new together, we are still trying to gel as a squad and I think we’re doing a good job of it. But they had a number of really good internationals, it was a massive challenge. I think we came through pretty well.”

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There was one negative for Murray to deal with on Saturday night though, and that came in returning to his hotel room where he had to apologise to teammate Stuart Hogg after accidentally elbowing him in the face and knocking him out of the game.

“I’m rooming with him at the moment. I’ll have to make him a few cups of tea,” he joked. “We had a laugh and giggle about it but I definitely owe him one.”