The Lions' hopes of a Test series victory in New Zealand suffered a devastating blow on Saturday when inspirational number eight Lawrence Dallaglio was ruled out of the tour with a fractured ankle.

The former England captain was stretchered from the field in the first half of the Lions' 34-20 victory over Bay of Plenty after he had been caught awkwardly under a pile of bodies.

Dallaglio, who will be replaced in the squad by Irish loose-forward Simon Easterby, spent the night in a Rotorua hospital nursing not only a badly injured ankle but the heartbreak of having his second successive Lions tour wrecked by injury.

"He is out for the trip and I am gutted for Lawrence," said Lions head coach Sir Clive Woodward.

"Since we both stepped down from the England team all we have been talking about is the Lions. I have never seen him in better shape physically or mentally. I am very sad for him."

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

But this time round must be harder to bear. Dallaglio was in peak form and primed to be the driving force of the Lions bid for Test glory in New Zealand.

"He is a world class player and clearly we are going to miss him," said Woodward.

"He is one of our key players. All the players have enjoyed his company, they have enjoyed being with him.

"I have been talking to Lawrence about the Lions for the last 12 months, planning the whole thing. I am gutted. But we have to move on and not let it affect us.

"You can't dwell on it. The Taranaki game is underway now in our preparation."

The influence Dallaglio has on the side could be measured by the manner in which they slipped off the pace immediately after he left the field.

The Lions had taken a 17-0 lead in just 14 minutes of dominant, attacking rugby. Bay of Plenty could not live with their multi-phase attacks and conceded twice in six minutes to Josh Lewsey and again to Mark Cueto.

Bay of Plenty finally began to find their feet just before Dallaglio was injured and worked an excellent try for teenage number eight Colin Bourke.

They then pushed on to tie the scores by half-time with fly-half Murray Williams claiming their second try.

The Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll recalled: "It all happened very quickly. I remember being in a tackle or a ruck. Someone like Lawrence, when you hear him complaining of a knock you know it's serious. It was a huge loss to us then and it will be a huge loss to us on the tour."

Woodward added: "Lawrence was vice-captain and pack leader and we lost a bit of composure. We slipped off one or two tackles and if you do that in New Zealand, with the quality of players you have here, you are going to leak tries."

The Lions came out in the second half and controlled the game far better. O'Gara impressed all the coaches with his tactical kicking display, though his missed penalties and conversions allowed Bay of Plenty to remain within touching distance.

Tom Shanklin powered over for the Lions' fourth try but it only earned them a two-point advantage, with Williams landing a penalty for the Bay.

Woodward, on the advice of Eddie O'Sullivan, then replaced the impressive Gavin Henson with Gordon D'Arcy and shifted captain Brian O'Driscoll to inside centre.

After Dwayne Peel had darted over, Lewsey made a searing break and could have helped himself to a hat-trick but slipped the ball out for D'Arcy to wrap up the win.

"I thought in the second half O'Gara was the outstanding player. He really stepped up and controlled the game. He got us good territory and he had a lot of composure about him. I thought he played really well and had a great game," said Woodward.

"Henson did really well and the only reason I made the change was because there were only two points in it at the time. I thought I'd be a bit conservative and have the three Irish guys on together who are used to each other. It was a good call by Eddie."

Despite showing elements of weakness, the Lions produced a far more cohesive display than they put together against Argentina in Cardiff and Woodward was delighted his side had kick-started their tour in victorious fashion.

"I think it was a tremendous game of rugby. There were some fantastic tries and well done to Bay of Plenty. I thought it was a great occasion," he said.

"To go 17-0 up and then lose it a bit for 20 minutes is disappointing but there is a huge amount to build on.

"It is a huge step up from the Argentina performance. The guys who are playing Taranaki on Wednesday are buzzing, they can't wait to play now.

"We have got some momentum going now and the plusses far outweighed the one or two minuses.

"Lions tours are about getting momentum going. I am just glad to win. As long as you win you can build and that is what we intend to do."