And so once again it came to pass that Australia’s Premier state was called upon to defend national pride to halt the red rugby juggernaut and stand tall in the face of the FUKIRS invasion, and while history will record a win to the visitors they certainly didn’t have it their own way.
In front of a record rugby union crowd at Allianz Stadium, the Waratahs simply had nothing to lose and for 82 minutes they threw themselves at anything in a red jersey that moved leaving the Lions clearly rattled.
The Lions had made 14 changes to the side that romped home against Queensland earlier in the week. While the Tahs had some players back from Wallaby camp in Tupou and Kellaway to help bolster their chances, they were also farewelling a few players including tonight’s captain and loyal Waratah, Hugh Sinclair.
First Half Summary.
The attitude from the Tahs was evident in the defence from the get-go. Time and time again repelling Lions attacks with consistent and composed line speed translating to pressure and forcing the Lions into multiple errors. That would be the tale of the tape for the full match. Tired, spent and with noting else to give, the blue wall held firm and ultimately recorded the best result by an Aussie side on this tour.
In what became the main theme through the match, there were some strange, pedantic, unnecessary and bewildering calls from match officials who seemed intent on looking for reasons to interject where none existed. When a game of rugby did break out this happened:
- 13th minute: the Lions open the scoring via Huw Jones. Fin Smith converts for a 7-0 lead.
- 31st minute Charlie Gamble claws one back, or does he? After a try in the corner from a maul the TMO interjects and rubs out the try for obstruction by Lee-Warner at the preceding lineout.
- 34th minute. The ‘no try’ ruling proves costly, as Huw Jones scores again and Smith converts. From a possible 7-5 score, the Tahs are instead down 14-0
- 36th minute. Tupou makes a blind side dart that sees Darby ‘Bomber’ Lancaster score a terrific try in the corner. Or does he? Once again the TMO interjects with ‘possible foul play’. Paul Williams tells him to sod off, try stands, the conversion misses and they head to the sheds 14-5 down and very much game on. The closeness of the scoreboard well and truly borne out by the closeness in the stats.
First Half Stats:
- Possession: 46% T – 54% L
- Carries: 55 T – 57 L
- Carry Metres: 153 T – 145 L
- Post Contact Metres: 36 T – 51 L
- Gainline Success: 44% T – 49% L
- Tackle Completion: 78% T – 84% L
- Line Breaks: 3-3
- Offloads: 3 T 4 L
- Defenders Beaten: 9 T – 10 L
- Turnovers Conceded: 4 T – 7 L
- Penalties Conceded: 8 T – 5 L
- Kicks in play: 12 T – 11 L
- Kick Metres: 325 T – 359 L
Second Half Summary.
So far on tour the Lions had not conceded a second half point on their way to half century scores of their own. The big question that hung over the crowd was just how would the Tahs cope when the Lions unleashed over 360 test caps of experience from the pine. And would the Lions continue on their 50 points plus second half massacres?
- 44th minute. Hooker Ethan Dobbins becomes the first Australian to score a second half point when he dots done from a well constructed Waratah rolling maul. The TMO must’ve gone to the toilet when this was scored and didn’t intervene (for a change). Bowen misses an easy-ish conversion and it’s 14-10 Lions.
- 48th Minute. Tahs dodge a bullet. Tom Lambert, having a wow of a game in all facets, makes a last ditch covering tackle on Josh van der Flier, forcing a knock-on in goal and line drop out. Some effort from the starting loosehead, who came from distance and at pace to deny the Oirihman.
- 55th minute. Coach killer. Having won a relieving short arm penalty from a scrum, Tahs flyhalf Bowen has a brain fade and neither runs, nor kicks, instead shovelling the ball to Tupou who hits a right footer like I hit a one iron. Ref rules incorrect play and we end up back on the same spot, this time with Lions feed to the scrum. A penalty against the Tahs scrum, a line out and a maul later, care to guess what happened? Flyhalf Mitchell scores after a lovely snipe, show and go combo. Smith converts and Lions up 21-10. Just a reminder: the try had its origins it a basic mistake from a Tahs half. A recurring theme on the night.
- 56th minute. Tupou replaced after an honest shift. Nothing about his performance tonight demands, nor warrants, a spot in gold. He did his job, made his tackles and was, in my opinion, a bit stiff at scrum time with Williams awarding three penalties against him. Even when South African Scotsman Schuman was clearly ‘popped’ out of the scrum by Tupou. Possibly the big man’s last game in blue and maybe gold for that matter. No matter what the rugby future holds, I hope he can find peace and happiness in himself and all else, anything after that is a bonus.
- 59th minute. Another try – no try. Ellis Genge looks to have scored, but slow-mo shows he knocks on in an attempt to place the ball down. Lions second half point scoring avalanche still on hold.
- 76th minute. Another try – no try. Lions score, although nobody can see the grounding, when actually grounded. Ref Williams says he can see it clearly on the ground when everybody stands up (WTF?). TMO is by this stage suffering relevance deprivation syndrome and calls another lineout obstruction, this time by Earl, try disallowed. Is it just me or should all rolling mauls just be banned anyway?
- 77th – 82nd minute. The Lions push for one final try, but as they have done all night the Tahs harass and harangue the Lions and it finishes in the 82nd minute with another dockside brawl at a ruck, ball bounces into touch and it’s goodnight nurse.
Conclusion:
It was a brave and wholehearted effort from the Tahs. If you’d offered me a 21-10 loss last night, I would’ve bitten your hand off to take it. The Tahs were able to disrupt the Lions attack and pressure them into some uncharacteristic mistakes, sure some of these were unforced, equally more were ‘forced’ by the tenacious Tahs D.
The attack from both sides was stilted. Sione Tuipolotu was outstanding. His combination with Huw Jones looked dangerous every time he touched the ball, but strangely in the second half, they didn’t go to the Scotstralian as much. The Tahs by contrast were poor in attack, as expected with a very green 9-10 combo. The passing was horrible, the kicking diabolical and the general lack of game management was obvious. It only made their defence even more heroic.
(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Man of the match: While Mitchell for the Lions had a good 15-20 minutes in the second half, Charlie Gamble had an outstanding 82 minutes. His final stats of 12 tackles, 92% completion rate and 4 steals do not do him justice. He was a threat and a menace all night and the Lions got the yips whenever he was near the ball. Plus he could’ve had a try to his name as well. Technically it was the right call by the TMO, but if that’s the standard, then every rolling maul needs to be officiated the same, not just when tries are scored.
Gripe: With the biggest ever rugby union crowd of 40,568 in attendance (5th largest sporting crowd overall at the renewed Allianz Stadium), tourists from the UK and beyond, a TV audience of plenty and the pinnacle tour to our country, the officiating wasn’t anywhere near the level required. We got served up a dish of dog excrement when we ordered caviar. Paul Williams was at times incomprehensible in how he arrived at his decisions. The TMO was actively looking to deny tries for the most marginal of reasons (for both sides). There was forensic diagnosis of the most mundane actions, which both slowed the game and buggered it as a spectacle. Blatant missed knock-ons, players in touch, baffling scrum penalties to name a few. The game deserved better than that delivered by the match officials. I have no gripe with the Lions winning, they deserved to. But even as a spectacle the MOs did their best to stop any rugby union from being played. The delays were too long. The TMO interventions too many and the quality of the officiating in general was below the level required to provide a spectacle that matched the potential.
Summary: That all said, tonight should be a celebration of the Tahs resolve and fighting spirit. It wasn’t a pretty game by any means, but it was great to see some steel in the sky blue jersey again. As to who will be the happier coach? My guess is not the gent in the red corner.
These Lions are beatable folks. It will take some effort, mixed with resolve and a healthy sprinkling of good luck along the way. Perhaps that’s the real ‘win’ from the Tahs tonight, the shot in the arm for Wallaby players, coaches and fans alike, that this series is still very much up for grabs.
Well done Tahs. If there’s such a thing as pride from a gutsy loss, that was it. And you delivered in spades.
Hoss – out.
