New Zealand roar back to avoid shock defeat to Lions and remain unbeaten on South Africa tour

New Zealand fought back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to edge the Lions 41-35 at Ellis Park and keep up their unbeaten run on their tour of South Africa.

The come-from-behind ⁠victory means the All Blacks ​have ⁠beaten all four provincial opponents on their six-week, eight-match ⁠tour as well as upsetting the ​Springboks ⁠33-16 at Ellis ‌Park in the first Test at the weekend.

The tourists outscored the Lions seven tries to five with with Ethan Blackadder, Rieko Ioane and Emoni Narawa scoring two each, with Noah Hotham getting the other.

Richie Mo’unga, on his return to the New Zealand side for the first time since the 2023 World Cup final, put over two conversions and Beauden Barrett one.

The home side’s try ‌scorers were Nico ⁠Steyn, Sibabalwe Mahashe, Kelly Mpeku, ⁠Erich Cronje and captain Francke Horn, with ‌flyhalf ​Chris Smith converting ‌them all.

Reuters