Lions coach Ian McGeechan hailed his "Midweek Massive" after they held off a strong challenge from Auckland to retain their unbeaten record on tour. Although the Test series has been lost, McGeechan's midweek side have kept up a winning momentum with six victories.
"I'm very, very proud of that performance," said McGeechan.
"It was a team full of character and intelligence. They dug in against an Auckland side full of outstanding individual runners."
The Lions were pegged back to 14-13 and had to show resilience in a frantic finish before a late Ronan O'Gara penalty sealed a 17-13 win.
"It was a real team performance - everybody gave everything," said McGeechan.
"It would have been easy to come off tour or think it didn't matter, but that performance shows how much it means to everyone on this tour.
"We were making too many unforced errors, and trying to force it. We needed more composure and head-up rugby.
"The important thing is that we didn't over-commit at the breakdowns and that allowed us to have enough men on their feet either to defend or to take the ball forward."
McGeechan singled out experienced scrum-half Matt Dawson for particular praise. Dawson was making only his second start of the tour, and gave a fine all-round performance to enhance his Test claims.
"It was important to us to have him starting," said McGeechan.
"He's a strong character and he's been good for us. We needed him to be in it with full mind, heart and soul and he certainly was."
Midweek skipper Gordon Bulloch said the win was important for the morale of the tour.
"We're over the moon with the win, and I mean the whole squad not just the 22 guys," said Bulloch.
"A lot of the guys were running on empty and to get a win at Eden Park is a great achievement.
"The players gave everything to the shirt and I was a proud man leading them off at the end. We dug deep and showed character."
Meanwhile, Auckland coach Pat Lam praised his relatively inexperienced side for pushing the Lions so close.
"It was a good game and the atmosphere was unbelievable - it was a real nailbiter and we certainly had a chance to take it," said Lam.
"It was a big experience for my guys to play in that atmosphere. We were slow to get going but we really came back in the second half and took it to them.
"If we'd have had a bit more ball it could have helped."
MMIX
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The players gave everything to the shirt
