Brian O’Driscoll was thrilled with the British & Irish Lions defensive display against Combined New South Wales and Queensland Country XV.
The Lions ran riot in Newcastle with 10 tries as they maintained their 100 per cent record on the 125th anniversary tour with a 64-0 win.
But while the Lions showed their teeth in attack, O’Driscoll reckons the tourists’ defence, which kept the opposition to nil, was even more impressive.
"I guess we didn’t know what to expect from the opposition, but they certainly gave us a full 80 and tested us at times,” said O’Driscoll.
"One of the most pleasing factors is we kept them to zero. We put a lot of emphasis on our defence and we are pleased with that aspect today.
“We scored ten tries which is a good outing against any opposition.
“There is good team spirit there. There are a lot of us who have only been together for two and a half weeks so the more time you spend in each other's pockets then the more you start to know each other's inner secrets. You form a tight bond.”
But O’Driscoll, who raced over the whitewash at Hunter Stadium for his ninth Lions try, insists there is still plenty more to come from Warren Gatland’s men.
The Lions face NSW Waratahs on Saturday and ACT Brumbies on Tuesday, before kicking-off their Test series against the Qantas Wallabies on June 22.
And the legendary centre is confident the Lions will once again reap the rewards of another positive performance and continue to add further strings to their bow.
"The team is going to grow with games and we will be able to try new things to make sure we keep the Wallabies guessing,” said O’Driscoll.
"Hopefully there is a little bit more to come. The more games we play together, the more opportunity we will have to gel and the more we are enjoying each other's company we are able to express that out on the pitch.”
O’Driscoll lined up alongside Jamie Roberts in the centre, the first time they have joined forces since their barnstorming performances in South Africa four years ago.
During that tour the duo combined with devastating effect with Roberts providing the grunt and O’Driscoll the guile before injuries ended their tours following the ‘Battle of Pretoria’.
In the build-up to this morning’s encounter Roberts claimed they could reach even greater heights while Down Under and while O’Driscoll was pleased with the midfield performance he reckons there is still room for improvement.
"It was good to be back with the big fella. We struck up a good relationship and partnership up in 2009 and it was great to pick that up again,” added O’Driscoll.
"He's a pleasure to play off. He's a big ball carrier and was similar to Manu (Tuilagi) last week.
"He's got a nice subtlety to his game. We played reasonably well, but there is always room for improvement.”
