By Bob Howitt

Ian McGeechan, one of rugbyıs genuinely nice guys, deserved all the plaudits that came his way after the British and Irish Lions hauled themselves up from their mauling in Wellington to score a gutsy 17-13 win over Auckland.

Save for some spectacular running by Mark Cueto and cultured tactical kicking by replacement fly-half Ronan OıGara, it wasnıt pretty.

But it was a win, and it preserved the unbeaten record of the midweekers.

Sure, the savaging the Test squad has endured at the hands of the All Blacks will overshadow their achievement, but the midweekers have an important role to play on rugby tours.

And 'Geech', as he is fondly known, and his artful assistant Gareth Jenkins have ensured his midweekers did their bit for the Lions, registering successive victories against Taranaki, Wellington, Southland, Manawatu and now Auckland.

Their desperate, scrambling defence secured the victory at Eden Park ­- where the 1983 and 1993 Lions teams tumbled to defeat ­- as the Aucklanders came at them in waves in the second half.

"I'm very proud of this group of players who decided to stand up and be counted," said McGeechan afterwards. Here here!

It would been easy for the Lions to go doggo after the Test series disintegrated so spectacularly the previous weekend, but Geech's men salvaged more than a little pride at Eden Park, promoting the Test chances of Matt Dawson, Cueto, Martyn Williams and Simon Shaw in the process.

If Sir Clive Woodward's weekend mob carry the same determination into the final Test, all may not be lost.

On something completely different, the successful staging of the Lions tour has significantly boosted New Zealand's chances of hosting the 2011 World Cup.

New Zealand is competing for hosting rights along with Japan and South Africa.

If it comes down to pure financial return, probably Japan would win out, but Japan has no rugby tradition or culture... well, not compared with the other two.

Its national team has to qualify for each World Cup, it is fearsomely expensive to visit there, the language is an obvious barrier, and there is still that embarrassing 145-17 loss to New Zealand in 1995 to live down.

South Africa successfully hosted the 1995 tournament and has excellent stadiums, an ideal climate and certainly rates highly in terms of tradition and culture.

But, politically, rugby in the Republic is passing through a troublesome phase.

All that New Zealand lacks (apart from enough hotel beds in one or two cities) is large stadiums, although if it is allocated the 2011 event Eden Parkıs current 48,000 capacity will be expanded to approximately 65,000.

New Zealand has been very much "on trial" over the past month with some 15,000 to 20,000 Lions supporters invading the country.

If the country had serious shortcomings as a potential host of a World Cup they would have been ruthlessly exposed.

But the tour couldn't have gone better and every Lions fan interviewed says that, apart from their team's performances at Christchurch and Wellington, they've cherished every moment of their time in New Zealand.

There have been heaps of IRB board members in town to hear these praises and absorb the passion and enthusiasm that goes with New Zealand's national game.

New Zealand as a World Cup host may not be the red-hot favourites the All Blacks are, but as a contender they've made a huge advancement in the past month.