By Neal Collins

On a filthy night in Wellington we were hoping to see exactly what it said on the can at the stadium known locally as the Cake Tin.

We wanted real Lions. Roaring, prowling, hungry, the pride of our four nations, the side which had, during the week, come to blows during training, so great is their passion for this All Black challenge.

In the small and imperfectly formed New Zealand capital, which is officially wetter and windier than Edinburgh in case you're thinking of emigrating to Wellington, the Lions did manage to regroup after Saturday's defeat against the mighty Maori.

But it was far from lionisation.

This was a throwback to the days when the British used their huge forwards to dominate the fleet-footed colonials.

And if Sir Clive Woodward is honest about it perhaps it's the kind of style which might provide his best hope of victory in the Tests, especially if it rains, which it generally does down there at this time of year.

Some players made huge strides.

Welsh prop Gethin Jenkins literally took huge strides when he scored the first try, and his all-round game was damned near perfect.

Shane Byrne is emerging as the best hooker while replacement No2 Gordon Bulloch sat on the bench sporting stitches in a head wound after an incident with Irish prop John Hayes.

Jonny Wilkinson looked OK but may even play at centre and on a night of general Welsh joy, Gareth Thomas finished things with a try on his first tour appearance and Dwayne Peel had another solid game at scrum-half.

Man of the Match? Jenkins I guess, though Neil Back did his Test chances no harm.

But roaring, powerful Lions?

Not quite, certainly not for much of the first half.

In the end it was the big, lumbering Jenkins who provided the bite.

The backs might be sleek and lithe, but props can be beautiful too!

Peel dummied and peeled away from the line-out, England captain Martin Corry stretched the defence and there was the lumbering, comfortable figure of Welsh prop Gethin Jenkins chuntering to the line.

We waited 36 minutes for that first try, duly converted by Wilkinson who had already landed two penalties.

Half-time came with the Lions 13-6 up.

Impressive in the forwards but curiously unimpressive up front despite the Test strength personnel: Josh Lewsey, Jason Robinson, Brian O'Driscoll, Gavin Henson, Thomas, Wilko and Peel.

Tighter in the loose and at the breakdown with Back returning after suspension, they had the opportunities but lacked the precision.

When Jenkins galumphed his way to the line, you found yourself thinking how can the little round bloke find a path through these fired-up Kiwis when the quicksilver backs can't?

That front row of Jenkins, White and Byrne were magnificent.

Byrne, the Irish No2, also seemed to sort the line-out problems out, with Back playing a major role in clearing up.

Some ha described Jenkins as the player of the tour so far. Interesting call. He's probably right.

And there was the Celtic Warriors loosehead again, early in the second half, burrowing away with all his 6ft 1in, 18st 10lb frame to set Wilko up for a third penalty early in the second half after a nice little break from Robinson.

Wilko, who landed his first penalty of the tour after eight minutes but missed his first in the 16th, quietly went about his business but you have to wonder if Charlie Hodgson is the unluckiest fly-half in the world having Wilko's hype to deal with.

Hodgson looks the best all-round No 10 but merits hardly a mention as a Test contender.

Then, in the 62nd minute, on comes Welsh fly-half Stephen Jones and Wilko is moved to centre.

There has been talk of this for some time - the Welsh Grand Slam-winning half-back combination of Peel and Jones with big tackling, big kicking Wilkinson inside them.

Hmmm. Interesting. Wonder what All Black coach Graham Henry made of that little switch?

Meanwhile, there's Jenkins again, dummying like a back this time to set up a break.

Still, not juch to write home about until late arrival Gareth Thomas retrieved his own kick to put the Lions out of sight three minutes from time.

The Wellington fans will have wandered off in the rain wondering if this is really the best Britain and Ireland have to offer against their sleek All Blacks, Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko etc.

But as Jenkins proved, those big lumbering forwards could be the key, especially in conditions like this.

As long as the big blockheads don't tear themselves apart in training before June 25!