A first midweek win for the British and Irish Lions was punctuated by four tries and, at last, glimpses of incisive attacking fluency. The sweeping move for Jack Nowell’s second score needed only two phases to travel some 80 metres.

But there was only one thing captain Rory Best wanted to talk about when he was interviewed by Sky Sports afterwards - a lung-sapping defensive set that ended with a turnover for Dan Cole to extinguish the match.

Granted, it was fresh in Best’s mind because the Lions were making tackles for the majority of a frenetic finale. Still, he insisted that a determined collective effort summed up the spirit of Warren Gatland’s entire squad.

Given Cole was afforded a full 80 minutes, Kyle Sinckler appears to be inked into Saturday’s match-day 23 as bench cover for certain starter Tadhg Furlong. That said, Cole’s graft during the last five minutes epitomised the attitude that the Lions need from those currently outside the Test reckoning.

Indeed, by tracking a few of his contributions we can also appreciate the pillars of Andy Farrell’s defensive system - a framework that has now seen the Lions concede a mere 71 points in six matches.