Report, reaction and analysis
That’s yer lot from me after a great spectacle. Thanks for your company and your emails and meet back here next week for the Sydney denouement.
Alex Thorne-Large emails
“Just wanted to say — that’s the first time in a long while I’ve felt genuinely proud to call myself a Wallabies supporter.
It’s been a low point for Australian rugby union: the closure of the Melbourne Rebels, the axing and later resurrection of the Perth franchise, governance/money issues, and the Israel Folau controversy have all pushed talent, as well as kids, parents and viewers, toward the NRL and AFL.
So that performance was a much-needed lift after what’s felt like a decade of crisis after crisis.
Regarding the high clearout — Australia has taken a very clear and strict stance on head contact. Concussions, head injuries, and CTE are front of mind here, and there’s been a strong campaign for reform. So for many, it would be jarring to see that incident go unpunished.
Anyway, great game. Proud of the green and gold, and really looking forward to Sydney.”
“Watching an outstanding test from here in DC” reports Gareth Jones, “thought the ref had a fine game despite that last decision (for me a penalty). Australia did enough to deserve the win but it’s a powerful, rough Lions team, very well coached, top class half-backs and a superb skipper.”
Here is Rob Kitson’s full match report from Melbourne
The late decision on the Morgan clearout will suck up a lot of oxygen over the coming hours and days, but do your best to look away from that and reflect on what a fantastic game of rugby this was. A top quality test match played in a brilliant stadium featuring multiple great performances and comeback from 18 points down.
Ellis Genge, who upped the whole forwards impact when he came off the bench, is sharing his thoughts.
“We’re a bunch, but we work together well and a shout to everyone who wasn’t involved today, they all helped us prepare. WE’ve built some brilliant bonds, even the boys who were only here for a few days. I can’t speak for anyone else but this has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.
“I can say hand on heart, that for 90-95% of that game I felt we were in the driving seat”
The discourse over the late decision on the Jac Morgan clearout has commenced. David Britton ventures this: “It surely defeats the purpose of getting low over a ball if you’re entitled to hit the guy in the head as long as your arms are wrapped. Classic Northern hemisphere ref.”
It wouldn’t be rugby union if there wasn’t some interpretation controversy, would it?
I think it should be a penalty, in fact I consider all clearouts like that to be a penalty. If you have to go head to head at such pace to clear someone out then it should be seen that the ball is lost and it’s too dangerous to get it back if you have to rattle someone’s noggin.
However, what I think should be a penalty and the reality of what is usually given are very different things. Clearouts of that nature happen all the time and are not given as penalties in the main; so the decision to not award it is broadly consistent with how clearouts are reffed.
Andy Farrell is smiling
“It’s amazing, the occasion and the fans travelling out. They deserve it don’t they? It wasn’t too great in the first half, with penalties and yellow cards but we found a way to get back into the game. We scored each time we got into the 22, and when we were able to build pressure we came away with something. We had solid belief at half time and it was there in the end.
“It’s fairytale stuff for us, it means absolutely everything. These lads have dreamed of this all their lives. Australia said they were going to show up and they certainly did that.
“We want to win every game, but we’ll enjoy tonight and travel to Sydney tomorrow.”
Maro Itoje is reflecting
“It feels a little surreal. The first 20 minutes we weren’t great, we managed to find away, it wasn’t perfect but we got there. Huge credit to the bench, the lads who came on made a massive difference. We started hitting in the second half, our scrum got on top and our decision makers started playing the game. It’s amazing, it’s great, my uncle texted me last week and said ‘this is not the harlem globetrotters, you just need to win’ and that was good advice
“It’s not about me [when asked about his legacy as a Lions winning captain], it’s about those players and the fans who travelled so far”
The scenes among the Lions players are a mix of euphoria and screeching in delight with hugs aplently
It felt like that Lions score was coming from the penalty that was won in 69th minute in the scrum. The Wallabies were outstanding but in the end their quality is probably a little short of their opponents. About three points short.
FULL TIME! Australia 26-29 Lions
WHAT A WAY TO WIN IT BY THE LIONS! They fight back from 23-5 down to win 29-26 thanks to Hugo Keenan’s late try.
Updated
TRY! Australia 26 - 29 Lions (Hugo Keenan)
79.5 mins. HE’S ONLY GIVEN IT!
“Both players arrived at same time, and arms were wrapped, no foul play”
Updated
TMO FOR LIONS TRY!
79 mins. Stuart has a strong carry up to the 22. The drop goal is ignored as they move it to the right via Kinghorn who is dropped by McDermott. The ball is brought back left to Keenan in the 13 channel who scrambles over and looks to have won the whole bloody thing at the death!
BUT WAIT! Harry Wilson asks the ref to have a look at the clearout from Morgan at the previous ruck.
78 mins. Lions are in the Wallaby half and in posession, probing left and then right. Not making great deal of ground so far.
77 mins. It’s a very neat and tidy exit and when the ball comes back from a Keenan kick the Wallabies reset and Gordon, transformed from the first test, puts a brilliant clearing kick to touch.
75 mins. It ends with a free kick to the Lions for early engagement which Gibson-Park taps and runs with. They move up to the 22, but it looks laboured and eventually a knock on means a tricky scrum exit for Australia.
73 mins. The scrum has had a few resets and as time ebbs slowly away, this set piece feels foundational to whatever result we end up with.
71 mins. What a mess from the Australian forwards. They claim the lineout on halfway but then allow the Lions to squirm through the maul to prevent the ball coming out and there will be a red scrum on the gold 10m line.
69 mins. A valuable penalty is won by the Lions pack in the scrum that gives a lineout platform in the opposition half for the visitors. The ball is won and moved quickly to the right where Kinghorn steps a tackle and is this close be being away before Ikitau puts in a brilliant covering tackle. At the next breakdown Australia do job and win a penalty.
66 mins. Australia have some broken play possession from a Russell kick, which Tom Wright carries a long way and throws a dummy that looks to have put him through a gap. He looks up and decides to pass right to Jorgensen who chips it forward to force Gibson-Park to gather it in coffin corner. The Lions do well to group around him and get the ball away.
It really looked like Wright could’ve put his head down there and bolted for the line. It was 4o metres away, but it was definitely a chance.
63 mins. Itoje wins a turnover at the breakdown on halfway and Russell finds a devastating touch for Australia, feet from the tryline.
The usual result here is some points for the Lions via a lineout, but a brilliant steal on the tryline from the Wallabies leads to a penalty being given to the home side by Piardi. This is then immediately ruined by Lynagh missing touch with his penalty punt.
Updated
60 mins. Owen Farrell and Blair Kinghorn have replaced Huw Jones and James Lowe.
TRY! Australia 26 - 24 Lions (Tadhg Beirne)
59 mins. The game has its first taste of Aki on the toe as he moves forward into a gap around halfway before he’s felled by Wright covering. That break was mainly due to the Wallaby defence backing off as they drifted, which is absolutely not the way to go.
Three phases later the ball is moved all the way left to Lowe who pulls in two tacklers and pops the ball to Beirne to go over in the corner.
Russell slots a brilliant conversion from out wide.
56 mins. The Lions bring the bench on.
Porter, Curry and Chessum off for Genge, Morgan and Ryan.
55 mins. Gordon’s kick puts Keenan under pressure and he’s second to it, which allows Gleeson to gallop forward with the ball. He feeds McReight who steps inside to find Sualii. He is prevented from moving the ball on by a crunching tackle from a scrambling Tom Curry that dislodges the ball forward.
A huge intervention from the back rower as one more pass would have been an open field to run into for Australia.
PENALTY! Australia 26 - 17 Lions (Tom Lynagh)
53 mins. Australia are in the the 22 and attacking on an advantage after a muscular, brawling break on the left by McDermott who is deceptively strong for a relatively small man. A few phases later the attack breaks down, but the penalty was still on and so Lynagh calls for the tee and slots it with ease from 25 metres.
50 mins. A Lions scrum on their 10m line is won and fed to Russell who loops around Jones before putting his foot through the ball. He watches as it sails into touch on the full. Very poor kick.
47 mins. Possession is deep in Lions territory still, but the ball is lost over the touchline by a gold hand. Lowe boots the ball clear from the lineout.
Skelton is off, replaced by Jeremy Williams.
45 mins. Lynagh fires what looks to be a 50:22 over the touchline deep in Lions territory, but Keenan does an incredibly job of preventing it by tapping the ball back infield while his feet were off the ground. Fabulous intervention by the fullback.
42 mins. James Lowe mangles a catch of big kick and from the resulting scrim the Wallabies can launch another attack. They move left but on the second breakdown Wilson is penalised for entering the ruck from the side. A daft penalty, wasting a decent position early in the half.
41 mins. Rob Valetini has left the game at half time, replaced by Langi Gleeson. A literal huge loss for the Wallabies.
Second Half!
Tom Lynagh sends the ball the Lions way to restart the match
Well, that half has certainly put some snazz, pizazz and jizz-jazz into this tour has it not?
Australia are a side transformed by a combination of the power from Skelton and Valetini plus a huge dollop of Schmidt style organisation and pattern. They have made territory and scored with ease.
The Lions by contrast have been pushed around a fair bit, but will point out that they have also put themselves over the tryline without having to do a great deal when in the 22.
A fascinating second half beckons given neither side appear able to protect their own line.
Half Time!
40 mins. PEEEEEEEEP! The ball is spilled forward by Gibson-Park to end a fabulous half.
TRY! Australia 23 - 17 Lions (Huw Jones)
38 mins. The lineout is won and fed into midfield where Jones straightens up and carries over the line.
Two points are added by Russell and the game has been transformed in six minutes!
Updated
36 mins. The LIons need their big game players and a couple have come to the fore here. First, Beirne wins a brilliant turnover at the breakdown and then Russell finds a magnificent touch on the Aus 5m line.
TRY! Australia 23 - 10 Lions (Tom Curry)
34 mins. Freeman’s first contribution on his return is a strong carry that puts the Lions on the front foot in the 22. Conan folds around to the right to receive a pass from Gibson-Park who feeds Curry lurking on the wing to step inside and score.
Russell can’t convert it.
Updated
32 mins. The tourists are deep in it now; absolutely shell shocked and second best everywhere. Australia look quicker, tougher, fitter and more organised.
Freeman returns from his sin-bin to even up the player number again.
TRY! Australia 23 - 5 Lions (Tom Wright)
30 mins. Good Lord! The Wallabies confidence is sky high and they translate this into running the restart from their own half, finding Sualii who dances away from his tacklers ,drives forward into the Lions half and feeds Wright who has pelted up in support. The fullback emerges into open pasture to run 35 metres to the line.
Lynagh misses the conversion,
Updated
TRY! Australia 18 - 5 Lions (Jake Gordon)
27 mins. Australia are playing some really interesting patterns as they work through the phases, with Lynagh often drifting behind a forward who looks like they are about to carry before popping it back to the young 10. This allows him to work some more passes against a fixed Lions defence whose attention has been forced elsewhere. The latest example of this puts them back in the 22 and creates a gap for Gordon to waltz through.
Lynagh converts
25 mins. Tom Wright takes deep kick, steps around Lowe, dances further forward and feeds McDermott who carries another 10 metres. The ball is recycled quickly and finds Wright again who creams a 50:22 to give his side a lineout in the Lions half.
Wright then struts back to his fullback position with all the confidence of a man who has just totally bossed the game. As he should.
YELLOW CARD! Tommy Freeman (Lions)
23 mins. Freeman pays the price for the repeated offside penalty for the Lions in the 5m zone.
Updated
TRY! Australia 11 - 5 Lions (James Slipper)
22 mins. Every possession from Australia in the 22 is leading to the Lions going backwards and eventually infringing, as has been the case for the whole tour against all opposition for the tourists. The second of the latest two lineouts due to this is won and the gold forwards hammer at the line repeatedly before Slipper forces his way over from inches out in the left corner.
Lynagh can’t add the two from way out west.
Updated
19 mins. Jorgensen puts in a delightful little chip that bounces just inside the touchline and forces Jones to carry the ball out. A Wallaby lineout on the Lions 22 is incoming.
Harry Potter is injured and is replaced on the wing by Tate McDermott, a scrum-half, as there was no outside back replacement on the 6-2 bench
17 mins. A very “to you, to me” start with both teams making impact when they have possession. This looks set up to be a very good match.
TRY! Australia 6 - 5 Lions (Dan Sheehan)
16 mins. The red forwards pummel the line repeatedly, each being repelled by the australian effort, but the offside penalty inevitably comes once more. Sheehan decides to tap this one and swan dives over a tackle to ground the ball. This draws complaints from Harry Wilson who states you cannot hurdle a tackle but Ref Piardi concludes Sheehan was diving in the act of scoring, which means it’s fine.
Russell pulls the conversion left.
Updated
14 mins. The Lions finally have some ball and territory with Gibson-Park having a dart around the fringes of the scrum. He’s very close to breaking through before he’s dropped and when the ball is recycled it is fumbled by Furlong. But no matter as there was an advantage being played against Australia.
From the lineout Bundee Aki takes massive carry to within inches of the line but Conan fumbles the next possession over the line to deny a try. Australia were offside again and the Lions will be coming hard again soon.
PENALTY! Australia 6 - 0 Lions (Tom Lynagh)
10 mins. Solid possession from the lineout leads to another quality set of phases for the home team. The Lions are pinged at the breakdown and Lynagh takes the opportunity from 30 metres out.
9 mins. More good organisation and options from the home team with Jake Gordon putting a kick up to test Lowe. The winger takes and pops a fancy but pointless offload behind his back to Gibson-Park who is swarmed by gold and bundled into touch.
7 mins. Russell booms a kick long and into touch on the Aus 5m line. But in another demonstration of the improvement from last week, Porecki finds his jumper in the lineout under pressure and the ball is cleared.
Three from three on lineouts so far for the Wallabies, what a turnaround in a week.
PENALTY! Australia 3 - 0 Lions (Tom Lynagh)
4 mins. Australia win another lineout, this time over the top for Valetini to have a rumble. They get the phases moving, with the alignment and timing hugely improved from the first test, and the pace and organisation forces the Lions defence offside.
Lynagh calls for the tee and puts the home side in front.
2 mins. The receiving of the kick 0ff is bit of a mess and results in Lions hand slapping the ball into touch just outside the Aus 22. A clever short lineout has Skelton and Porecki rumbling forward before Gordon boots the ball away. Possession is traded a couple of times before Itoje is penalised for not releasing the tackler.
It’s very early, but this is already a 157% better start than last week for the Wallabies.
Kick Off!
Finn Russell sends the ball high and we’re underway as the rain starts to fall once more
The teams are in the tunnel, Maro Itoje taking the hand of a young mascot lad who has one of the best mullets in christendom, an absolute stunner. They fan out onto the field before regrouping for the pre-match formalities and anthem.
It’s wet underfoot after some heavy showers and we can’t rule out more rain as the match progresses. Andy Farrell had a right mardy on after the Waratahs game due to the pitch being moist; the Lions fans will hope he’s figured out how to get a team from northern Europe to play in the rain.
Updated
The MCG is plunged into darkness as we await the lights and fire show that will welcome the teams. Not long now…
The officials for this match:
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) & Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Television Match Official (TMO): Eric Gauzins (France
“Going with you and radio coverage today.” says Gerry Keavney. “An Aus win is needed to keep general public interest for the week ahead. Rugby as a whole needs Australia to be strong again. On the other side the Lions could be heavily criticised for not winning the series given how poor the Wallabies are. An all star side shouldn’t really be beating a test team easily. Let’s see how today goes.”
I had a feeling that Paul Smith’s email earlier may generate some responses, and here is one from Simon McMahon.
“Morning Lee. I can assure Paul Smith that the British and Irish Lions was definitely not one of the reasons that Scotland voted no to independence in 2014. Try the full weight of the British establishment and media actively campaigning against it, spreading fear and misinformation once they realised that it was a live possibility, and you’re getting closer to the mark. But that’s an argument for another time. Come on the Lions.”
I have to day, I did not think when I logged on earlier that the pre-match chat would end up on Scottish independence. Kick off is twenty minutes away.
Maro Itoje is clear there remains a difficult task ahead.
Paul Smith weighs in on the Lions romance argument via email
“One benefit of the Lions I’ve never heard mentioned is their effect in keeping the Six Nations civilised. The fact that Fin Russell in a Scotland jersey is an irritating little man is tempered by the fact that when he is in a Lion’s jersey he becomes our confident, reassuring genius. The fact that today’s team is Ireland heavy is irrelevant to this Englishman. And that won’t be forgotten come February. Probably one of the reasons Scotland voted ‘No’ in their referendum.”
Garry Ringrose withdrew himself from selection for this match after feeling some continued effects of his concussion after training on Thursday.
Pre-match reading
There’s much to ponder and reflect on as we head towards kick-off at the MCG so why not let me know what’s on your mind on the email?
Teams
Joe Schmidt has reinforced the Wallabies pack with the return of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, plus David Porecki starting at hooker. The backline is unchanged from last week, which is a little surprising given how absolutely terrible Jake Gordon was at scrum-half.
For the British & Irish Lions, Andy Farrell makes three changes with Bundee Aki, Ollie Chessum, and Andrew Porter brought into the starting XV, replacing Sione Tuipulotu (injured), Joe McCarthy (injured), and Ellis Genge (benched). Owen Farrell is a test Lions once more, albeit on the bench, where he is joined by other changes: Jac Morgan, Blair Kinghorn, and James Ryan.
Australia
Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Joseph Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter, Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Will Skelton, Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (c)
Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson
British & Irish Lions
Hugo Keenan, Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje (c), Ollie Chessum, Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jack Conan
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, James Ryan, Jac Morgan, Alex Mitchell, Owen Farrell, Blair Kinghorn
Preamble
The notion of something being romantic can get a lot of stick these days. This is likely due to the over saturation of romcoms, the tendency towards mawkish nostalgia on local Facebook groups, or publishing private personal events on social media for the purposes of engagement - “can you believe he proposed to me in the Aldi where we met? #lucky #romance #leggingsonoffer”.
The British & Irish Lions is, or should be, an unabashedly romantic endeavour. The coming together of nations in this way shouldn't have survived the advent of professionalism in 1995-6; yet it did via the weight of history, the sentiment of fans home and abroad, and the real feeling of the special place it holds for players. A lot of romance.
Historically this was bolstered by the difficult task presented to touring Lions, who had to travel across the world with a scratch team in order to try and beat usually the best outfit in the world. After all, you might as well focus on the romance when you are highly likely to lose – which they did, often.
Heading into the second test of this tour in a couple of hours, there is a yearning for some romance. Can Australia in this second act create some tension to head into week three? For an hour of the first test, this appeared unlikely, as the plot of a competent but uninspiring hammering looked easy to extrapolate to the final act of three-nil win for the visitors. But, in the closing scenes the Wallabies mustered something – however small - to flicker the emotions.
Is this something that can be fanned into a performance to level the series and have us all hanging on the third test? We’ll know in a few hours.
