Lions Tour, first Test: Lions 27 Wallabies 19
The Lions roared all right, and there were times in the first 50 or so minutes of this statement win that their lofty ambitions of a 3-0 Series whitewash looked close to probable. That could still come to pass, but there was enough in the Wallabies’ last half-hour rally to ensure they will still believe they can turn this around in Melbourne next week, as they did in the Second Test in both 2001 and 2013.
There had been a wonderful sense of occasion all along the bars of the famed Caxton Street and outside this magnificent Suncorp Stadium which lasted until close to kick-off. But, sadly, thereafter it never quite lived up to its billing.
For most of the night, everything about this game panned out as the Lions and their fans would have hoped and expected, and as the Wallabies and their supporters feared.
Most obviously, the Wallabies’ deficit in power caused by the loss of Rob Valetini, Will Skelton and Langi Gleeson was compounded by the bruising Lions pack which Andy Farrell had put together as, yet again, all his marginal selection calls were utterly vindicated.
RM Block
This included both Ellis Genge and Tadhg Furlong, rolling back the years to something resembling his world-class best with his amalgam of passing skills and power, either side of the all-action Dan Sheehan. Despite the Lions conceding their first scrum penalty of the tour, around the pitch they thoroughly eclipsed their frontrow opponents.
So too did Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry, the former winning two turnovers on the ground and one in the lineout to set the tone from the off. But then there was no surprise in this, for Beirne is nothing if not a big occasion player. It’s in his DNA. In tandem with Jack Conan, Curry typified how the Lions imposed themselves on the Wallabies with his heavy-duty tackling and carrying.
So regularly did the Lions win the collisions that they were able to bring a sharper line speed to the contest to pile pressure on the full Test debutant Tom Lynagh, and for all the Wallabies intricate shapes and deft tip-on passes, their attack was regularly engulfed. It said much about the first period that the Wallabies sole try from their only attack of note came through the air.
With the Lions also winning the collision when in possession, Jamison Gibson-Park mixed his superb box kicking – which always ensured a real 50-50 contest in the air – with the typically sharp, skilful, high-tempo work to provide the heartbeat of the team.
And outside him, Finn Russell gave a master call in orchestrating the Lions’ game, as the 10-12-13 Scottish axis worked a charm, while Hugo Keenan was at his sharp and composed best.
So dominant were they, and so deafened were the crowd by the prematch din that culminated in AC/DC’s Hells Bells right up to kick-off, that the home supporters especially were quietened virtually from the kick-off.
In truth, the most disappointing aspect of the Lions’ performance was their finishing and their 10-5 lead over half an hour into the game was bordering on an injustice, whereas their 24-5 lead soon after the interval told an altogether truer tale.
Yet, bearing all that in mind, there was enough impact off the bench and in the Wallabies’ strong response thereafter to give the hosts real belief. With the cavalry to return next week and some adjustments in the balance between starters and finishers, Joe Schmidt’s side can give the second Test a real do-or-die effort.
Russell was afforded a routine three-pointer by Beirne’s strength over the ball after Furlong tackled Joseph Suaalii. Soon after the outhalf was taking Furlong’s pullback one-handed before offloading to Sheehan, and then used house money with a triple skip pass to find the space for the Australian-born Tuipulotu to score untouched.
It looked as if their lead had been extended to 17-0 when Gibson-Park, Tuipulotu and Keenan combined for James Lowe to fend off Max Jorgensen and find Huw Jones on his inside, but the Australian winger recovered to make the tackle and Jones’s finish was ruled out for not releasing the ball before touching down.
Instead, the Wallabies were given a lifeline when Jorgensen chased Jake Gordon’s boxkick and rose high to wrestle the ball from Keenan’s grasp before going on to score.
It was a try out of nothing, but this served only to poke the Lions, who rolled up their sleeves, smashed into the Wallabies with their carries and produced their most dominant spell of the match. Repeatedly turning down three pointers in going for the corner or taking a tap penalty, following Sheehan’s tap and charge, Genge carried hard and Curry plunged over for a good finish.
That 17-5 lead was extended on the resumption when Curry did brilliantly to pick off an Australian overthrow one-handed and Russell transferred to Jones for him to make one of his big, signature carries. A couple of recycles later, Gibson-Park, Jones and Curry combined slickly for Sheehan to finish well in the corner. Russell’s touchline conversion couldn’t have been struck better.
Joe McCarthy immediately went off to have treatment and while the Lions lost some of their cohesion Schmidt turned to his bench. Angus Bell and Billy Pollard added some oomph, as did Carlo Tizzano when he came on, while Tate McDermott exploited tiring legs in the last quarter.
Harry Wilson and Suaalii also grew into the game and, suddenly, the Wallabies were winning collisions and setting up camp in the opposition 22 as the Lions were being penalised regularly. Suaalii was a little unlucky to have a close-range try ruled out on review for not releasing when it seemed as if he’d been stopped initially by Ben Earl’s no-arm tackle in one of those interminable reviews that will have been grist to the mill of this code’s sceptics in Australia.
When they went to the corner Pollard hit Wilson at the front and eight pick-and-jams later Tissano was helped over from close-range by Tom Hooper and another replacement, Ben Donaldson, converted.
But in attempting a launch play from a scrum inside their own 22, a stretching Andrew Kellaway dropped Suaalii’s no-look pass and when Fraser McReight went off his feet in despairingly looking for one turnover too many, Marcus Smith’s close-range penalty sealed the deal.
Even so, the Wallabies’ pounded the Lions again for McDermott to hop and twist through a few tackles for a well-taken try. Although their backs had been pretty well shackled, that demonstration of character will give them something to build on next week.
Cue the 100,000 or so crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next Saturday. This is far from done.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 2 mins: Russell pen 0-3; 9: Tupulotu try, Russell con 0-10; 28: Jorgensen try 5-10; 36: Curry try, Russell con 5-17; Half-time 5-17; 42: Sheehan try, Russell con 5-24; 68: Tizzano try, Donaldson con 12-24; 74: Smith pen 12-27; 79: McDermott try, Donaldson con 19-27.
AUSTRALIA: T Wright; M Jorgensen, J Suaalii, L Ikitau, H Potter; T Lynagh, J Gordon; J Slipper, M Faessler, A Alaalatoa; N Frost, J Williams; N Champion de Crespigny, F McReight, H Wilson (capt).
Replacements: B Pollard for Faessler, A Bell for Slipper (both 50 mins), T Robertson for Ala’alatoa (58), T Hooper for Williams, T McDermott for Gordon (both 59), B Donaldson for Lynagh (61), C Tizzano for Champion de Crespigny (66), A Kellaway for Ikitau (69).
LIONS: H Keenan (Leinster/Ireland); T Freeman (Northampton Saints/England); H Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), S Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), J Lowe (Leinster/Ireland); F Russell (Bath/Scotland), J Gibson-Park (Leinster/Ireland); E Genge (Bristol Bears/England), D Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland), T Furlong (Leinster/Ireland), M Itoje (Saracens/England, capt), J McCarthy (Leinster/Ireland), T Beirne (Munster/Ireland), T Curry (Sale Sharks/England), J Conan (Leinster/Ireland).
Replacements: O Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England) for McCarthy (43 mins), A Porter (Leinster/Ireland) for Genge (49), W Stuart (Bath Rugby/England) for Furlong, B Earl (Saracens/England) for Curry, B Aki (Connacht/Ireland) for Tuipulotu (all 58); R Kelleher (Leinster/Ireland) for Sheehan (60), M Smith (Harlequins/ England) for (74), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England) for Gibson-Park (74).
Referee: B O’Keeffe (NZR).
