Classic Lions win thriller

The men in pink put in a heroic display to defeat the Kiwis who were looking to make it three titles in a row.

With a strong wind sweeping across the National Stadium the teams’ defences cancelled each other out for most of the first half.

Neither side could get the upper hand during a brutal first 30 minutes.

It was the Lions who broke the deadlock halfway through the second half with an excellently worked try.

Winger Ben Hinshelwood broke down the right leaving two All Black defenders in his wake before flinging the ball inside just seconds before he was tackled into touch.

Andy Craig fly-hacked the ball on and pounced on it as it crossed the line.

Scrum half Andy Gomarsall then slotted a tricky conversion to take the score to 7-0.  

The Lions fought grimly to retain their lead with outstanding tackling performances by Malcolm O’Kelly and Gordon Bulloch.

And they fully deserve their place in Saturday’s final. This could be their year.

In the Plate semi-final the U.S. Eagles saw off the Italians convincingly to secure a 28-10 win.

They will now play the winner of today’s other Plate semi-final, the South Africans or the Aussies.

This afternoon Canada and Argentina will slug it out for the right to face the Classic Lions in the final.