Hey Cobbers and welcome to the Billy’s versus the Donkeys as part of the 2025 BIL Tour Downunder series. This will be done in my usual idiosyncratic manner of a pre-game component published early, with the comments left open during the match and then the post-game added after the event.
The Particulars:
Date: Wednesday, July 9 2025
Venue: GIO Stadium Stadium, Canberra
Kick-off: 20:00 local (11:00 BST, 10:00 GMT)
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand), Nika Amashukeli (Georgiad)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (France)
A bit of Lions vs ACT History:
This will be the 4th time a Lions team has locked horns with lads from the ACT. The first such game was the mid-week ‘dirt-tracker’ fixture between the 1st and 2nd tests of 1989. The lions had lost the 1st test 30-12 and came down to Canberra determined to get their tour back on track with what was presumed to be little more than a solid opposed training run.
However that first tête-à-tête with the ‘Griffins’, as the ACT were known, saw local notaries such as Geoff Didier, Leigh Donnellan, Phillip Doyle and Matthew Pini not just provide sterner than expected opposition, but indeed push out to an early lead. They manufactured conniptions amongst the visitors and created multiple opportunities to stretch away. However, the fairy tale it may have been was not to be as the tourists rallied and the locals ultimately went down by 41-25 after what Michael Foster of the Canberra Times termed as “a series of stupid errors that cost ACT a prized scalp”.
With fence-sitting commentary like that, Mick may well have earned a jersey on these pages.
The 2001 liaison saw the Lions come down again to meet the fledgling 6yr old ‘Brumbies’ franchise. But far from babes in the woods and the unknowns of last time, these Donkeys were noteworthy as the newly crowned Super Rugby Champions.
However, with the fixture again falling between the 1st and 2nd tests, only 5 of the starting 15 that had clinched the Super Final were made available to coach Eddie Jones to take the field. Thus, after blasting past lackluster Queensland sides (2 of them), West Australia and NSW Country outfits in the provincial games to that point, the general consensus was that the Lions would likely make minced meat of the knackered Ponies.
That said, all was not rosy in the Lions camp, with the otherwise level-headed and quiet-spoken pairing of Austin Healey and Matt Dawson both being on-record as highly critical of tour-mates and coaching staff alike. Thus perhaps it was of no surprise that the Lions failed to roar and the match again turned into a rugged and at-times nasty scrap with the locals putting their more-fancied opponents to task and being up by 19-3 after some 20min of play. However again the ACT lads let history slip through their fingers as the yellow cards flew and the Lions did eventually stir and fought back to 30-28 win due to a last gasp Healy try to draw level and a heartbreaking Dawson conversion pinching the win.
But the statement that the ACT was made of sterner stuff than the other Aussie provinces was made.
Then cometh 2013 wherein the Lions arrived in the nations capital with an impressive 5 from 5 scorecard and were looking to rectify their historical hiccups against the no-names from dunno-where with an impressive sweeping of the stables. And given the Jake White coached Brumbies were again back to the top of the Super Rugby standings, the Lions were handed their usual further advantage of seeing the Wallabies largely stripped out of the ACT squad. As such, minus names such as Ben Alexander, Ben Mowen, Stephen Moore, Pat McCabe, Christian Lealiifano, Joe Tomane, Nic White and some unknown kid called David Pocock, the locals were upbeat but somewhat anxious about what the Tuesday night fixture would bring as their paltry sum total of 28 test caps took on the visitors with their truck load of 580 test caps.
However, led by an almighty front-row performance by Scott Sio, Siliva Siliva and Ruan Smith and rounded out by a grand 1st half try from Tevita Kuridrani alongside three penalties to Jesse Mogg, that night we saw the Brumbies beat the Lions by 14-12, and in doing so finally deliver on what they had promised by becoming the first Aussie provincial outfit to beat a touring Lions pride since Queensland’s epic 15-11 win in 1971.
The Present:
And so to tonight, again the Brumbies find themselves in familiar territory. With the Tourists cutting a veritable swathe of destruction through the Aussie provinces to-date with the Western Force, Queensland Reds and NSW Waratahs all falling by the wayside, the Lions have named a formidable, perchance test-level side for the clash:
Ellis Genge, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Joe McCarthy, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Jack Conan, Jamison Gibson Park, Finn Russell, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose, Tommy Freeman, Blair Kinghorn
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Josh van der Flier, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith, Mack Hansen
Against that, the Brumbies have named a reasonably strong mob of thoroughbreds, minus 8 regulars to camp Wallaby, but still capable of pulling the upset even if having nowt but pennies to the pounds of the test-caps among their much more fancied and liveried opponents:
Lington Ieli, Lachlan Lonergan, Rhys van Nek, Lachie Shaw, Cadeyrn Neville, Tom Hooper, Rory Scott, Tuaina Taii Tualima, Ryan Lonergan (c), Declan Meredith, Corey Toole, David Feliuai, Ollie Sapsford, Ben O’Donnell, Andy Muirhead
Replacements: Liam Bowron, Cameron Orr, Feao Fotuaika, Lachie Hooper, Luke Reimer, Harrison Goddard, Jack Debreczeni, Hudson Creighton
Of note in this Brumbies side, we see two sets of brothers in the shape of the Lonergan’s (Nos and Ryan) and the Hoopers (Tom and Lachie). And we also see Cadeyrn Neville facing the Lions for a second time with his previous outing being for the now-defunct Rebels in 2013. Speaking of the Rebels, we also see ex-Scum tighthead Cameron Orr back from the US adding some starch to the Brumby bench. And of course, we also see ex-Brumby (21 appearances) Mack Hansen turn out for the Lions.
That will do for now Cobbers. I hope you all have your popcorn and your favourite blanky ready to go, for it will be hovering around the 0* Celsius mark in the nations capital by the time the combatants take the field. But until then, Go Donkeys!
The Match:
Well it was a surprisingly balmy and salubrious 7*C in Canberra as Wee Finn Russell kicked off for the Billys in front of a crowd of about 24,000 seemingly made up of about 50/50 Tourists to locals. The opening exchanges were predictably physical as the Ponies won an early penalty from a highball obstruction, opting for a touchfinder and drawing a lineout 10metres off the BILs line. A steady drive and some pod work drew the cliched offside penalty from the BIL leading to another lineout hard on the BIL 5m line. A cheeky blind-side drive and persistent pick & drive created the opening pie at 3:50 to Pony no8 Tuaina Taii Tualima. But the sauce squirt from Lonergan went wide and it was 5-0 to the Ponies at 4min.
That physicality set the early tone with plenty of bash and barge testing the shoulders both ways until the first scrum was called with a BIL feed at 7min just outside the Pony quarter. But a Pony early shove and resulting short arm to the BIL meant we had to wait to see who would establish scrum dominance.
Play see-sawed with plenty of highballs and hard tackling both ways until some scrappy ball resulted in a Pony scrum around the Pony quarter at 13min. A much cleaner scrum set saw neither side establish dominance, but the Ponies Backs wasted the front-foot pill and gave up a scrum feed to the BIL in centre field. A powerful BIL scrum drew advantage and direct, hard running set up a seemingly inevitable try to Chessum out wide at approx 15min. The sauce squirt was again unsuccessful and it was 5-5 at 16min.
The BIL execution and power running was shaping as menacing through the middle stages of the half and kept play overwhelmingly camped in the Brumbies half, but poor BIL discipline and options continually relieved pressure for the Ponies, including a Andy Muirhead held-up try at 22 minutes on what should have been a simple James Lowe put down. But eventually, despite some heroic defence from Sapsford, Nos Lonergan et al, the glut of BIL possession and territory told as James Lowe dotted down, properly this time, out wide at about 28min. The sauce from Russell flew true and it was 12-5 to the BIL at 30min.
35min saw the Brumbys move deep into the BIL quarter and earn another 5metre lineout. A clean Brumby win by Shaw set a drive which forced an advantage to be called to blue and thus the ball swung wide to The Toole on the far touchline, who burnt his way to the BIL tryline for a pie at 36min. Captain Lonergan sauce squirt went wide again and so the score sat as 12-10 to the BIL at 37min.
A poor restart exit by the Ponies led to and fro kicks and a goal line dropout as halftime drew near. A questionable call by Meredith to kick short only invited disaster and such certainly struck as the BIL secured the pill only 10 metres off the Pony line, moved the pill briskly back towards midfield and a smart short ball offload from Tom Curry sent Marcus Smith over for a pie as 40min chimed on the clock. The pie was duly sauced and the half was called on a sour note.
Oranges: 19-10 to the Billys and the match was very much in the balance. Nos Lonergan, Andy Muirhead and Tom Hooper had massive first halves for the Donkeys while Itoje, Gibson Park and Wee Finn Russell led the way for the BIL. The BIL class especially at 9 & 10 was showing the longer the first period went whereas the Ponies needed to value their possession more and tidy up their restart receptions to resist the BIL class we all expected to come with their replacements.
2nd Spell:
A clean BIL kick-off reception and smart midfield kicking moved the BIL into Pony territory alarmingly quickly. But a timely grab by Ben O’Donnell and a blistering sideline break by Tool moved play back to the BIL quarter just as quickly. A subsequent wayward BIL cleanout on Ryan Lonergan at the ruck drew a penalty and opened the door to a lineout hard on the BIL 5m line. But poor Pony execution on two successive lineouts wasted the chance. Mid field bombing and scrummage ensued, with the BIL scrum starting to establish dominance especially on young Ieli’s side. Just such a scrum penalty led to a lineout and midfield break for the BIL with a smart Marcus Smith grubber gifting Ringrose a try adjacent the sticks at 46min. A simple sauce squirt for Russell saw the score 26-10 to the BIL at 48min.
Poor restart skills by Itoje this time gifted the Ponies another raiding opportunity on the BIL quarter, with Tool sneaking a chip kick through and line pressure forcing a rare 5 metre scrum-feed to the Ponies. The replacements started rolling as the packs shaped up. A quick Pony scrum feed and a smart move to the left then saw Hudson Creighton blitz through on a lovely tight short ball to grab a Pony pie, duly sauced by Lonergan, and suddenly it was 26-17 at 52 minutes.
Poor restart skills again haunted the Ponies as Chessum charged down a clearing kick and the resulting to and fro gave the Lions more time and possession in the Pony red zone. And while brave defence held the BIL for a period, eventually the succession of BIL lineouts and mauls bagged what seemed a pie for all money to Josh van der Flier at 57min, but remarkable work by Luke Reimer saw it ruled held up.
However the stats were starting to tell and the Ponies were simply unable to get out of their quarter. And with fatigue added to the glut of possession and territory, another BIL score seemed inevitable. Yet when the golden penalty eventually came to the BIL, directly in-front of the sticks, Itoje surprisingly pointed goalwards and Wee Finn Russell correspondingly split the posts to send the scoreboard to 29-17 BIL at 61min and it felt as though the game was slipping away from the Donkeys.
For the record, Mack Hansen entered the fray at 63min.
The Ponies brave defence continued to create some opportunities through the middle of the half, but poor handling and strange options wasted those rare gems and simply allowed the Lions to continue to control the tempo, field position and build pressure. From just such a knock on and scrum at 65min, the Lions rolled and bashed downfield, aided by 2 offside advantages until a third infringement led to a warning and a 5 metre Lions lineout, resulting in a drive and try to Josh van der Flier at 68min. The sauce from Russell was tasty and true, making it 36-17 to the BIL at 69min.
With the last of the replacements running out and both handling and fine motor execution skills beginning to leave the stadium for warmer options, a smashing Tom Hooper tackle and resulting BIL cleanout penalty created a late game lineout attack for the Ponies on the BIL quarter line. More penalties, a warning to the BIL and a pair of midfield taps led to typical Pony pick and drives under the posts which eventually saw Liam Bowron grab a pie after patient build up work. The pie was sauced and the score was 36-24 at 75min.
Poor Pony exit work once again allowed the BIL to set up camp deep in Pony territory across the closing minutes. And yet, despite the overwhelming territory and possession, brave maul and scrum defence saw the Donkeys hold the Billys out, even despite a cheese to Tom Hooper. As such it seemed fitting that the final play of the game belonged to Andy Muirhead who somehow got under a rampaging Ollie Chessum to hold him up from scoring and so saving his second try of the evening.
Full Time Score: 36-24 to the Lions.
Best for the Lions were Gibson Park, Itoje and Tom Curry. But for me, MOTM went to Wee Finn Russell who was composed, accurate and unflappable all day.
Best for the Brumbies was Ryan Lonergan I thought, but Muirhead and Tom Hooper were noteworthy as well. Lington Ieli deserves a mention for a brave effort upfront, Reimer was his usual late-game menace and it was great to see Cadeyrn Neville play such a smart ‘old man’ Locks game with crucial interventions at needed moments.
What did the Wobblies learn?
With Blair Kinghorn coming off hurt in the first half and Marcus Smith still failing to be a reassuring backfield presence, No15 is proving a quandary for the BIL. And given that midfield highball play forms such a critical element of northern rugby, this would be a concern for Dad Farrell. Against that, the BIL 9 and 10 combination of Gibson Park and Wee Finn Russell are functioning like a well-oiled machine and would be causing St Joe sleepless nights no doubt. But all that said, the BIL did look decidedly beatable if your ruck can hold up to the counter-ruck and sideways entries, and your attack can get around the BILs tight midfield blitz defence.
For the Wobbs, Ryan Lonergan stamped himself as the form no9 in the country while Tom Hooper stood tall without the likes of Bobby V alongside him. Luke Reimer reminded all of what a class player he is, especially late in the game. And it must be noted that Andy Muirhead proved himself no slouch both in skills and smarts wearing the 15 jersey.
Well that’s that for tonight folks. Well done to the BIL on a good win. Comment away below to your hearts content and I hope you enjoyed the evening.
