Lawrence Dallaglio suffered Lions heartbreak for the second time after his tour was ended on Saturday by a fractured right ankle.

The former England captain was stretchered from the field in the first half of the Lions' hard-fought victory over Bay of Plenty after being caught awkwardly under a pile of bodies.

Dallaglio was taken to a Rotorua hospital with his leg in a splint and his hopes of wearing a Lions Test jersey in New Zealand dashed. Ireland's Simon Easterby will fly out as his replacement.

"He has broken or dislocated his ankle," said head coach Sir Clive Woodward.

"I am shattered for him. We have been talking about this Lions tour for a year now and he was in fantastic shape. It is a huge blow for us.

"He is clearly out of the trip and it takes the shine off what was a great game for both sides."

Four years ago the Lions took Dallaglio to Australia despite harbouring grave doubts over his fitness and the gamble did not pay off as he was forced home for a knee reconstruction.

When he left the field on Saturday, the Lions were heavily on top having made an explosive start, proving too quick and physical for the Bay of Plenty.

Inside 15 minutes the Lions led 17-0 as Josh Lewsey dived over twice in the far corner and Mark Cueto touched down after Ronan O'Gara had picked him out with a well-weighted cross-kick.

But the hosts began to find their feet just before Dallaglio departed the scene and went on to run in 17 unanswered points and draw level by the interval.

Scrum-half Kevin Senio fended off O'Gara and then squeezed between Dallaglio and Cueto to slip the ball out to impressive teenage number eight Colin Bourke.

The Bay of Plenty began to play quick-phase rugby, keeping the ball tight to hammer away at the Lions until Anthony Tahuna's carving run opened the chance for fly-half Murray Williams to jink over and level the scores with his conversion.

The Lions knew this game would be no pushover, no repeat of their comfortable 116-10 victory over Western Australia and they struggled to shake off a committed and determined Bay of Plenty side.

But second-half tries from Tom Shanklin, Dwayne Peel and Gordon D'Arcy finally secured the Lions an opening tour victory.

Bay of Plenty relieved Auckland of the Ranfurly Shield last year, finished third in New Zealand's National Provincial Competition and were tonight supplemented by 10 players with Super 12 experience.

The Lions, meanwhile, were seeking to lay down a marker for the remainder of their tour in New Zealand after a disappointing 25-25 draw with Argentina and named a strong side with a number of key partnerships.

Brian O'Driscoll captained the Lions for the first time and was partnered in the centres by Welshman Gavin Henson, who had returned from a groin injury to make his Lions debut.

Dallaglio linked up with Martyn Williams and Richard Hill in an experienced back row and Paul O'Connell performed confidently in the lineout along with Ben Kay.

O'Gara was given his chance at fly-half in Jonny Wilkinson's absence and began showing great invention, firing miss-passes along the line and exploiting a Bay of Plenty side that could not handle the Lions' multi-phase rugby.

The Lions had barely been out of the Bay's half when Lewsey dived over for the first try after only two minutes and the England star returned to the same corner four minutes later.

Peel was sniping around the fringes, Shanklin was involved twice and O'Gara was stretching the Bay of Plenty defence and Lewsey dived low in the corner for a score confirmed by the television official.

The Lions at this point were completely dominant. O'Connell stole two quick lineouts and then Peel and Williams charged forward before Shanklin bulldozed towards the line.

The Welshman was halted just short, but Cueto had long been calling for the cross-kick and O'Gara calmly found him for the third score.

The Lions then seemed to take their foot off the pedal. They missed too many tackles and let the Bay of Plenty, spurred on by Bourke, to earn momentum at the breakdown.

Tahuna put a neat chip over the top, Cueto was penalised for not releasing the ball, Bay of Plenty won the lineout and Senio slipped Bourke in for the try.

Dallaglio then departed the scene on a medi-van, the Lions slipped into their shell and Bay of Plenty completed a run of 17 unanswered points when Williams jinked inside for the try.

From marching confidently to victory, the Lions had been given just the wake-up call they expected and, in truth, probably hoped for.

They are after tough challenges in the early stages of this tour to help build a side that will challenge the All Blacks in the first Test later this month.

O'Gara directed play magnificently in the second half with a wonderful display of tactical kicking.

Shanklin burst onto O'Gara's pass to mark his Lions debut with a try and although Bay of Plenty narrowed the deficit with a penalty to 22-20, they soon began to tire.

Peel scampered over and then Lewsey's blistering run set up D'Arcy for the score that wrapped up the win.