British & Irish Lions Blow Half-Time Lead to Draw 31-31 with Hurricanes

The British & Irish Lions let slip a 23-7 half-time lead over the Hurricanes at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, on Tuesday to be held to a 31-31 draw. 

Tommy Seymour and George North went over either side of a Callum Gibbins try in the first half. Seymour scored again after the break, but Ngani Laumape, Wes Goosen and Vaea Fifita all crashed home tries to drag the relentless hosts back level.

The Lions have two matches remaining in New Zealand, both against the All Blacks, and they'll need to win both having lost the opening Test match against them at Eden Park at the weekend.

An ill-disciplined start from the Hurricanes saw them repeatedly give away penalties in the early exchanges, and Dan Biggar gave the Lions a 3-0 lead after 11 minutes when their opponents were penalised for offside in front of the posts.

The Lions struggled to break through the hosts' aggressive defensive line, but a rapid counter-attack allowed them to score the first try of the match.

Greig Laidlaw made a superb interception in his own 22, and he offloaded well to Seymour after being reeled in by Vince Aso, per Sky Sports Rugby:

Biggar consolidated their lead soon after with another excellent penalty from just inside the Hurricanes' half.

Gibbins muscled his way over from close range after the Hurricanes worked their way through the phases well, but Ben May carelessly held Laidlaw off the ball to gift the Lions another penalty, which Biggar dispatched easily. 

A strong finish to the half for the Lions saw them add a second try when Leigh Halfpenny chased down an excellent kick from Biggar. Iain Henderson reacted quickest to offload to North, who broke through to touch down under the posts:

Rugby journalists Simon Thomas and Alex Spink both singled out Henderson and Courtney Lawes at half-time:

The Hurricanes flew out of the traps in the second half, though, and they scored a try within a minute when Laumape went over in the corner following good work from Aso and Julian Savea.

A Jordie Barrett penalty saw them eat into the visitors' lead further, but the Lions looked to have sewn up the win when they hit back with a kick of their own before capitalising on a man advantage from 
Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi's yellow card for Seymour to score his second try:

The Lions had two crucial decisions go against them either side, though, as Henderson and North both went over. The former was held up by Barrett and failed to ground the ball, while the latter stepped into touch while carrying Jonathan Joseph's excellent grubber.

The Hurricanes responded with two tries in three minutes to stun the visitors after Henderson was forced off the field with a yellow card.

Goosen did well to cut in from the right to hand Barrett a straightforward conversion, and the full-back had an even easier kick after Fifita wriggled through under the posts to draw level with 10 minutes remaining.

With the momentum fully behind the hosts, it was all the Lions could do to keep out the Hurricanes as the clock wore down with some desperate defending.

It was they who had the final chance when they found themselves in possession with 83 minutes gone, but Biggar's attempt at a drop-goal fell just short.

While the team is likely to be largely changed when the Lions take on New Zealand on Saturday, to throw away such a lead is far from ideal for Warren Gatland's men, who will need to play out of their skins if they're to beat the All Blacks in their final two Tests.