Lions

The visitors delivered an unconvincing win against the semi-professional Provincial Barbarians in their opening game and on Wednesday lost to the Blues, New Zealand's worst-performing Super Rugby side this season.

The Crusaders always loomed as the toughest opponents of the opening 10 days and Gatland has decided to field what appears to be the strongest Lions side yet in a bid avoid what would be a dispiriting second defeat so early on the tour.

It's the Lions first loss in the 10-match series after just scraping past the Provincial Barbarians in Whangarei just four days ago.

The Lions controlled territory and possession in the first few minutes of the game in front of a 40,639-strong crowd, but the Blues were first to score off the back of some patient attack that started in their own half.

The visitors tried to put the Blues under pressure early, coming off their defensive line with a great deal of urgency but the Blues quickly found an overlap 20m out that resulted in five points to winger Reiko Ioane.

Lions coach Warren Gatland has named a strong team for the tour opener in Whangarei, which includes Sam Warburton, Rory Best, Alun Wyn Jones and Johnny Sexton.

It will be an opportunity to get over the long flight down under for the players and get match sharp for what lies ahead.

But it's also a chance for the Lions to show that they mean business throughout their six weeks in New Zealand.

"With this squad, we believe we've got a good team that's capable of winning over here, whether it's the warm up games or the series we believe that," Faletau said.

The Lions were 12-3 up when hooker Robbie Coetzee was sent off in the 31st minute for kneeing an opponent in the head at a ruck. They scored six more tries while down to 14 men in a scintillating performance to keep the pressure on the unbeaten Crusaders who sit on 59 points. The Lions, who have also played 13 games but have suffered one loss, rest on 56 points.

 Flanker Kwagga Smith collected two tries and the Lions ultimately overran the Kings by eight tries to one for a bonus-point win.