It was by no means a full strength Chiefs side but the Lions will nevertheless be delighted to have shown more fluency in attack than they have all tour.
Nowell scored once in each half while the Lions pack claimed a line-out penalty try and Jared Payne benefitted from a brilliant Liam Williams break to get on the scoresheet in his once-time home town.
Warren Gatland had promised before the match that any outstanding performers could even find themselves in the starting XV in Auckland and it appeared to galvanise the “midweek” team, yet to win a game on tour.
They made a strong start with the ball in hand, going through 20 phases in the Chiefs 22 before drawing a penalty which Dan Biggar slotted to give the Lions the lead.
However, the tourists found themselves down to 14 men when Joe Marler unleashed a shuddering, no-arms tackle on Nepo Laulala and was rightly sin-binned for the misdemeanour.
But the Chiefs were unable to take advantage and Allan Dell, who replaced James Haskell while Marler was off, made an instant impact by winning a penalty at his very first scrum.
When Haskell returned at 6-3 to the Lions, he was reunited with Stander and Justin Tipuric, all three of whom put in a stand-out shift with Test places in the back row reportedly up for grabs.
The teams traded penalties but it was the Lions who drew the first real blood, again going through the phases before Nowell, razor-sharp around the breakdown, spotted a gap and jump over the ruck to score from a metre.
The lead was cut to seven points by a second Chiefs penalty just before the break but Gatland will still have been pleased with the work of his second XV.
The 10 minutes after the restart were peppered with penalties as both sides showed some indiscipline.
But despite Rory Best struggling with his throwing, the Lions line-out began to function brilliantly and it soon bore fruit.
With Alun Wyn Jones replacing Courtney Lawes, victim of yet another head injury, the experienced Welshman called the ball to the front of a five-metre line-out and when the Chiefs pulled it down, the referee had no hesitation in running under the posts to award a penalty try.
With Mitchell Brown sin-binned to add insult to injury, the Chiefs found themselves on the ropes.
The Lions pack had been dominant but it was the backs’ turn to shine this time, Daly breaking down the right and getting a fine off-load away.
Robbie Henshaw was tackled but Haskell cleared out superbly, allowing the Lions quick ball and Nowell produced an excellent finish from 25 meters to get his second try of the match.
And they did it again minutes later, Liam Williams shimmying through the broken field before finding Payne on his shoulder, sending the former local schoolboy over for his first try of the tour.
The game broke up in the closing stages as the Lions’ replacements came on, and it was Scotland winger Tommy Seymour who should have put Payne in the corner but produced a poor pass to spurn the last try-scoring opportunity of the game.
