Leaving Invercargill with a win was the only thing that mattered to Lions coach Gareth Jenkins after watching his side grind out a 26-16 victory over Southland.

After a tough few days in which the players have had to deal with the news they were not wanted for the first Test against the All Blacks, Jenkins was loathed to criticise the team's patchy effort against one of New Zealand's weaker provincial teams.

After a blistering start thanks to Test reject Gavin Henson's first try, the Lions lost their cohesion and at times the rugby produced was more akin to sevens than the 15-man game.

However, Jenkins stressed: "The most important thing as far as we were concerned was to actually win and we did that.

"We started particularly well, maybe too well. We became too individual far too early in the game and to be fair to Southland they recognised that and what they did was front particularly well.

"They got into us and in among us, and they have taken advantage of maybe a lack of cohesion in our performance and we've ended up having a particularly difficult game and we've made pretty hard work of it.

"But as far as we're concerned we'll take the win. It has been a demanding four or five days on this particular group of players and I think we've done particularly well.

"We won't be disappointed with them. In fact we've applauded them in the way they have actually fronted up.

Skipper Michael Owen also praised the character of his team but conceded that at times they may have tried too hard to force the game, making errors which allowed Southland to stay in the hunt right until the end.

"It was tough for the boys," he said. "We started really well in that first 10 minutes; it was just unfortunate that we couldn't keep it going because we played some really good stuff there.

"But we got a bit sloppy and were maybe trying too hard and we lost our way a little bit.

"I think it shows the character of this squad to grind out a win like that after a tough few days."

Owen, however, said the size of the squad and all the problems related to ensuring players got game time had not been the cause of their performance and over-eagerness.

"To be honest I don't know how you could have managed with fewer players. It's been done the best way it could have been done," he said.

"It is difficult when you don't have a game for a while but you've just got to take your chance when you get it. Everyone is aware of that.

"Everyone was desperate to play well tonight. The focus all week has been trying to put pressure on the boys who have been picked for the Test match and force our claims to be ahead of those picked or give the selectors something to think about.

"We just really wanted to play well and maybe we got a bit carried away after having a good start."

Southland captain Clarke Dermody admitted he felt a shock victory had just slipped from his team's grasp as they continued to apply the pressure after Hale T-Pole's try just after half-time drew them level at 10-10.

In the end it took another try from Henson and the boot of Ronan O'Gara to secure the win for the Lions.

"It was close, a committed effort by the boys," Dermody said.

"Just the odd dropped ball at crucial times, a couple of lineout turnovers on attack, it could have gone the other way very easily.

"Composure at the right times when they were attacking [was probably the difference]. They looked after the ball a wee bit better. May be their lineout functioned a bit better. They just created enough pressure to get their tries."

Southland co-coach Simon Culhane felt the error-strewn nature of the Lions performance would give the coaches some concerns.

"Maybe they weren't concentrating. I'm certain they will be concerned about the mistakes they are making without too much pressure being put on them. But having said that we did the same thing with little mistakes costing both sides.

"They didn't lose the game at the end of the day and they kept the momentum going so that was probably the most important thing for them."