AU/NZ Invitational XV 0 British and Irish Lions 48
Finally. Six games in. But better late than never. Yes, Hugo Keenan made a delayed debut in the famous red jersey last Saturday week against the Waratahs but that was more in severely weakened body, it transpires, than in spirit. Seven days on, Keenan was back to his sprightly best and buzzing afterwards. His tour is up and running.
Keenan had been ruled out of Leinster’s URC title-winning run-in and the Lions’ opening two games against Argentina and the Force in Perth with a calf injury. Then, no sooner was he fit, than he was laid low by a severe stomach bug, arising from his sick bed to have an off-colour debut against the Waratahs before being called ashore after 50 minutes.
“It wasn’t exactly what you planned on when getting on tour. I was sick for about 12 days. Getting off the jacks [toilet] was an issue,” he revealed, laughing at his attempt to make the revelation as polite as possible. “Yeah, I lost about five or six kilos.”
Keenan contracted the bug during the squad’s first week in Perth, and after being picked to start the Reds game he had to withdraw on the morning of that match.
RM Block
“There was a little bit of a virus going around camp but for whatever reason it hit me on a different level. I was isolating for a good bit and most lads recovered pretty quick from it but I’ve never had something like that,” Keenan revealed in the aftermath of the Lions’ 48-0 win over an AU/NZ Invitational XV in the Adelaide Oval.
“God, it was pretty horrible. Every day you think you’re going to be waking up the next day better. You think it’s going to be a 24-hour/48-hour thing. It was just frustrating the length of time that it kept on going, but we got a few tests done and I only found out what bug I had a day or two ago. It’s been going on that long.
“But that’s hopefully in the past now. Even over the last 48 hours, I’ve made big, big improvements. The tour will hopefully kick on for me here and I can start enjoying it a bit more. It was a great start tonight.”
Keenan looks back on that difficult first fortnight as “part of touring life” and “manning up” as much as he could.
Even then, he admitted: “I felt terrible in that Waratahs game. But sometimes you just have to front up and do what’s needed. It was a challenge but sometimes these things happen and you just have to get on with it.”
Maybe it was the revelation of his acute sickness, but up close Keenan still did seem a little gaunt when speaking to journalists at the Adelaide Oval mixed zone on Saturday evening.
“I’m still a few kilos down, still probably not filling out that jersey like I was, but it’ll be fine, I’ll get there. I’m working with Closey [Graeme Close] our nutritionist here, he’s been unbelievable. Making me ‘high-cal’ shakes and trying to get as much fluids into me and getting the weight back on.”
That he used the word “start” is revealing in itself. One can rarely recall Keenan seeming so happy and relatively animated as he was following the statement win over an admittedly porous and disconnected composite side.
Keenan was as sharp as a tack from the off in the Adelaide Oval, his quick throw to Ben White enabling Huw Jones to set up Duhan van der Merwe for the first of his hat-trick and his zippy right-to-left assist for the latter’s third was a beauty.
A fast start, Keenan stressed, was especially important against a composite selection of such talented players.
“We knew we had that performance in us. I think we’ve shown glimpses of it, but to put a team like that to nil with their quality is a real step forward.”
Starting the first Test next Saturday against the Wallabies would be a just reward for Keenan’s body of work over the last four years.
“It’s always a target you have when you’re named in that squad to be a Test player. It’s the pinnacle of a British and Irish player. We’ll see what happens, fingers crossed, but whoever’s selected to play number 15, we’ll be getting behind him and we’ll see what happens. Four big games to come.”
To further lift Keenan’s spirits, his parents, Avril and Paul, aka ‘PK’, and girlfriend Emma arrived in Adelaide last Friday night and are here for the rest of the tour.
“I met them briefly for 10 minutes earlier today, and my brother [Andrew] is living in Sydney, so I met him for the first time in a year last week. That was really cool.
“I literally hadn’t seen him until the side of the pitch [after the Waratahs game] and I think the cameras caught it at the time, so there’s a little clip on TV of me giving him a hug as well, which was sent around the family WhatsApp groups. I’d be really close to him, so it was pretty special to see that.”
Asked what his brother is doing in Sydney, Keenan smiled and said: “He’s living the life, that’s what he’s doing.”
There seemed almost to be a hint of envy in Keenan’s voice.
“He’s got a great crew of mates and his girlfriend over here and he’s 27, enjoying himself, that sort of Sydney lifestyle of getting up early, enjoying the sun, getting down to the beaches. It’s brilliant to catch up with him and then to have family over as well.
“I think there’s a good few of the Irish over. I think there was 20 of them at a lunch before this game, so the crew’s starting to build and you can even see it in the atmosphere of the stadium, a lot more fans, a lot more people in red and a lot more of a nearly neutral atmosphere.
“The Waratahs game was firmly an away game, so hopefully we’ll start turning that tide red.”
SCORING SEQUENCE – 7 mins: Van der Merwe try, 0-5; 10: White try, F Smith con, 0-12; 21: Van der Merwe try, 0-17; (half-time 0-17); 43: Tuipulotu try, F Smith con, 0-24; 61: Cummings try, M Smith con, 0-31; 64: Van der Merwe try, 0-36; 69: Kelleher try, 0-41; 76 mins Pollock try, M Smith con, 0-48.
AUNZ INVITATIONAL XV: Shaun Stevenson; AJ Lam, Ngani Laumape, David Havili, Marika Koroiete; Tane Edmed, Folau Fakatava; Aidan Ross, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen; Angus Blyth, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto; Shannon Frizell, Pete Samu, Hoskins Sotutu.
Replacements: Kurt Eklund for Paenga-Amosa, Greg Dyer for Toomaga-Allen (both h-t); Jock Campbell for Koroiete (45 mins); Harry McLaughin-Phillips for Lam (47); Josh Fusitu’a for Ross (50); Matt Philip for Blyth, Kalani Thomas for Fakatava (both 56); Joe Brial for Sotutu (62).
Sinbinned: Fusitu’a (80 mins).
BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS: Hugo Keenan (Ireland); Mack Hansen (Ireland), Huw Jones (Scotland), Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), Duhan van Der Merwe (Scotland); Fin Smith (England), Ben White (Scotland); Pierre Schoeman (Scotland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Will Stuart (England); James Ryan (Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Ireland, capt), Henry Pollock (England), Jac Morgan (Wales), Ben Earl (England).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher (Ireland) for Cowan-Dickie (37 mins); Finlay Bealham (Ireland) for Stuart, Marcus Smith (England) for F Smith, Owen Farrell (England) for Jones (all 50); Scott Cummings (Scotland) for Beirne (59); Josh van der Flier (Ireland) for Earl (63); Alex Mitchell (England) for Keenan (75).
Not used: Andrew Porter (Ireland).
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).
