BRISBANE — The British and Irish Lions survived a determined onslaught by the Queensland Reds to grind out a 22-12 victory and maintain the unbeaten start to their tour Saturday. The Reds out-scored the visitors two tries to one but the Lions weathered the storm helped by the boot of flyhalf Owen Farrell, whose perfect six attempts maintained his team's 100 percent kicking record since landing in Australia. The Lions, coming off emphatic wins in Hong Kong and Perth against the Barbarians and a second-string Western Force, also narrowly missed three tries in the first half. “They came at us at 100 miles an hour in that first 20 minutes and the boys soaked up the pressure,” Lions coach Warren Gatland said. “From that point of view it was exactly what we wanted, realization for the players about what it means to Australian players. The Reds fielded nine Wallabies in their starting line up and they threw everything at the Lions, particularly in a thrilling first half, but the visitors were able to absorb the early pressure then slowly take control. However, the win came at a cost when Irish winger Tommy Bowe went off with a suspected broken hand and was ruled out for the rest of the tour, joining props Gethin Jenkins (calf) and Cian Healy (ankle) as the third casualty in two days. The Reds had plenty to prove to onlooking Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, and especially flyhalf Cooper, who was controversially omitted from Australia's initial squad for the three-Test Lions series. But a typically mercurial Cooper, whose evening was tarnished when he almost gifted the Lions a first-half try and missed an easy penalty, was unable to spark an upset victory in front of a 50,136 crowd at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. Instead it was winger Luke Morahan who impressed most with two try-saving tackles and a brilliant five-pointer of his own. New Zealand beats France Scrumhalf Aaron Smith scored one try and provided the last pass in another as New Zealand struggled to a 23-13 win over France Saturday in the first rugby match of a three-test series in Auckland. The Smith coalition in the New Zealand backline combined to produce both of the home team's tries: winger Ben Smith made the break that led to Aaron Smith's try in the 33rd minute, and Aaron Smith handled after a break by center Ma'a Nonu to create a try for flanker Sam Cane in the 38th. Those tries, in the dying minutes of the first half, secured the match for the All Blacks after France had started strongly and shocked New Zealand with a try to Wesley Fofana in the 15th minute. — Agencies
