The Lions were beaten by their first Super Rugby opponents on Wednesday when the Blues triumphed 22-16 but were vastly improved against the Crusaders.
Penalties from Owen Farrell were created by a fine performance from the Lions back row while his relationship with Conor Murray was a joy to behold on the night.
However, there were injury worries for Warren Gatland as both Stuart Hogg and Jonathan Davies came off before half-time after blows to the head.
The Lions had rung the changes from their loss to the Blues in which stand-in captain Ken Owens admitted they had been their own worst enemy.
There was a third captain in three games too as Owens was benched in favour of England’s Jamie George and the armband was passed to Alun Wyn Jones, whose leadership skills also saw him assume the role for the Third Test in Australia four years ago.
Then as now, he had been asked to skipper the side as a replacement for an injured Sam Warburton – the flanker had been a doubt for the New Zealand trip altogether and now finds himself struggling with an ankle problem.
In his place, Warren Gatland named two Irish flankers – Sean O’Brien and Peter O’Mahony – with Taulupe Faletau at No8.
The three of them were an important part of the Lions’ start to the game which was much brighter than their previous two matches.
The half-back combination of Murray and Owen Farrell already looked to be functioning smoothly and their exit strategy in particular was far superior.
They were rewarded when Farrell knocked over two penalties within four minutes to give the Lions a 6-0 lead after 17 minutes.
The lead remained at that level at the break as the two sides traded penalties but the attritional nature of the contest and high level of physicality started to take its toll.
Full-back Hogg lasted just 20 minutes before an accidental clash between his head and Murray’s elbow forced him off to be replaced by Anthony Watson.
Jonathan Davies followed him down the tunnel nine minutes later with Johnny Sexton coming on as the doom-mongers’ predictions about the brutal nature of the fixture list started to bear out.
The game remained tight and at times even nervous, with both sides aware of just how dangerous their opponents could be on the counter-attack.
A fine line-break by Jack Goodhue exposed a rare defensive lapse just after the break but George Bridge failed to gather the grubber kick with the try-line beckoning.
The Lions thought they had scored the first try of the game just before the hour mark when the impressive Watson capitalised on Liam Williams’ break and chip – but the TMO ruled Williams had knocked it on.
The tourists continued to battle, even as the Crusaders cavalry of replacements led by 58-cap All Black Wyatt Crockett came on, and Gatland’s men repeatedly found ways of shutting down Super Rugby’s most potent attack – they have scored nearly 500 points in 13 matches.
In the last 10 minutes the Lions showed their professionalism and squeezed the game to its close, ensuring Gatland could celebrate a hugely important victory.
