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Good sweet Mother of all that’s holy, this was an awful, awful game of rugby.
Never mind all the errors…the relentless high-kicking tennis reminded me how horrible 2009 would have been if Irish teams weren’t winning everything.
This of course made the conditions perfect for an Australian “Alone It Stands” occasion, and fair play to the Brumbies, they did it.
And before the province of Ulster starts hurling abuse at me for seemingly laying all the blame at Rory Best’s door with my choice of headline, trust me, I’m not. But on top of his shortcomings throwing the darts, he was the skipper on the day and will know himself full well the responsibility that comes with that.
Look…the final winning margin was just two points and despite all the drive and fight in the Brumbies I couldn’t see them improving on their haul of fourteen, so to find out why the tourists fell short you have to look for the three they needed to keep their unbeaten run going.
And when you work your way into a strong attacking position only to lose possession in a lineout more than once, WAY more than once in fact, it’s hard not to point the finger at that set piece. But to be fair to Rory, there were points to be had elsewhere for the Lions in Canberra.
First and foremost was Stuart Hogg who played his way out of my test 23 reckoning. He had done well so far on this tour but although he was given a tough challenge here given the makeshift 11-15 combination he had to work with, it was a good opportunity to show his out-half abilities at this level and it didn’t happen for him.
The games’ only try came in the fifth minute. Ben Youngs’ box kick needed to find touch but didn’t, and Brumbies full-back Jesse Mogg was quick to use the overlap and fired a long fizzing pass to his inside centre Andrew Smith. In the screengrab you can see the moment Hogg made his poor decision. It was outside the 22 and Wade was always going to get a hold of Smith, yet rather than cover the Brumbie 13, the young Scot chose to get in on the Smith tackle and got done by the offload.
Kurindrani still had work to do and caught a break as Wade and Kearney fell in to one another but the play could have been easily stopped at the 22 with quick thinking. Tack on a restart straight into touch plus a couple of place-kicks that found the woodwork and you have to concede the Glasgow Warrior is better suited in the back three.
Don’t get me wrong…Hogg only turns 21 on Monday and has a super test career ahead of him. Plus there’s a decent amount of blame to be laid at Warren Gatland’s door as well for naming him in the squad as a 10 when neither his club nor his country ever do.
In fact you could expand that selection point beyond the outhalf position. Gats knew it was a gamble not naming more cover in his original squad. Perhaps it was an enforced decision with the tour’s purse strings in mind? We will probably never know. But had he gone for 40+ in his original squad, he’d have a three-quarter line in Canberra who didn’t just meet each other in the car park as the Aussie commentators suggested.
For example, the reason Christian Wade hit the headlines last season as that he was scoring tries for fun at Wasps. But there’s also a reason why the Wasps weren’t hitting the headlines as a club…for all the effort they put in creating space for Wade and Varndell, they were neglecting other areas. When he joins an elite squad like the Lions, strategies won’t revolve around him so not only do the chances come less often, he has to work harder to create his own.
But I suppose we have to ask ourselves…was the goal to win the series or whitewash the tour? In his first interview as captain Sam Warburton suggested it was the latter but I take Gatland to be much more of a realist and when he planned for this match he had to concede that it was one worth losing.
Besides…as Leinster fan I know a thing or two about winning streaks and they are very much over-rated. At Wimbledon, they are a necessity if you are to taste true glory, but in egg-chasing, it’s not so much about how many in a row you win, it’s about winning the ones that matter. And the way the media seizes on stats like unbeaten runs, in some ways it can be a help for these Lions not to have that on them as well as as the test pressure. We won’t know the true merits of Gatland’s gamble until the series is over.
Of course, we must credit the individuals on the home side who helped make this historic result happen…with so much attention on the Lions back row, Brumbies number 8 & skipper Peter Kimlin did an amazing job leading his troops by example, while Jesse Mogg played his terrace cult hero role to perfection, making up for a few errors with some stunning kicks from both hand and tee.
Full kudos, however, must go to Jake White. Seeing his reactions on the sideline you’d wonder if this result meant more to him than the World Cup in 2007! First taking this franchise to the Super Rugby playoffs for the first time since 2004 and now this, he finds himself perfectly poised to succeed Robbie Deans in the Wallaby job.
So…what now for the Lions? Did we learn anything at all from this contest? It really wasn’t easy for the back row to make much of an impact. Each from O’Brien, Tipuric and Faletau had their moments, though only the Leinster man was substituted – that could be read in two different ways but I see it as good as he had just won his side a kickable penalty at a breakdown when the call was made.
Hibbard didn’t do himself any favours here in his cameo…after all the problems with Best’s darts, the Ospreys man fluffed his first one. Then after calling for scrum after scrum himself with the clock running down, he failed to do exactly what his position says on the tin…how the ball sailed through the channel for the Brumbies to recover only he will know. Perhaps he’ll blame Murray but for me it’s his responsibility. I still rate him over both Youngs and Best to start, but I now have concerns where I didn’t before this contest.
Hopefully the reports of North’s ability to start are true…if not our chances of maximising our points haul with “Gatland-ball” deteriorate. Below you see my final 23.
The tour starts for real this Saturday, I can’t wait! I will have my first close look at the Wallaby selection in my preview this Friday. JLP
PS Wondering why I didn’t mention Shane Williams? Truth be told I forgot he was playing until I finished the piece and legend though he may be, his contribution to this match wasn’t worth going back and inserting a paragraph!
Halfpenny, Cuthbert, O’Driscoll, Davies, North, Sexton, Phillips.
Vunipola, Hibbard, Adam Jones, Alun-Wyn Jones, O’Connell, Croft, Warburton-c, Heaslip.
BENCH – T Youngs, Corbisiero, Cole, Parling, O’Brien, B Youngs, Farrell, Zebo.
