HEAD coach Warren Gatland has praised Worcester Warriors centre Ben Te’o after the British and Irish Lions limped to a 13-7 win in their opening match over the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in Whangarei.

The Barbarians led 7-3 at half-time but the Lions scraped home in yesterday's match thanks to a late Anthony Watson score initiated by replacement Owen Farrell.

Te’o became the first current Worcester player to represent the Lions.

The centre joined Warriors from Irish outfit Leinster last summer and has won eight caps for England, scoring two tries.

He had a domestic season disrupted by injury and made just 12 appearances for Worcester, scoring four tries as Warriors finished second-from-bottom in the Aviva Premiership.

The 30-year-old was the strongest carrier in the Lions back line and caught the eye as he made inroads with his direct approach.

The Auckland-born ace made the most metres (87) for the Lions.

Gatland said: “I have said all along we didn’t pick him (Te’o) just to bash up over the gain line.

“Some of his footwork and the subtleties about his game were impressive out there.

“I thought he had a really strong performance in carrying and created a lot of chances for us from him getting in behind.

“It was a good start for him. He was accurate, he carried well and caused them a lot of problems.”

The Lions will now move swiftly from Whangarei to face a stiffer test against Super Rugby outfit the Blues in Auckland on Wednesday night.

Gatland insisted he will stick to his plan of fielding an entirely different starting XV at Eden Park.