ACT Brumbies 24 British and Irish Lions 36
The shadow Lions Test side duly maintained their winning sequence on Australian soil and the majority probably cemented their places for the series opener in Brisbane in 10 days’ time. But although there was some good aspects to this patchy performance, the Lions did not achieve the kind of emphatic statement win they would have wanted.
Although there were empty pitchside seats at the Gio Stadium, the 23,116 turnout was still the biggest in Canberra for a rugby union game in 17 years, if somewhat short of the 80,000-capacity crowd in Sydney for the State of Origin decider.
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The forthcoming series will be different gravy to this phoney war. Whether it too goes to a decider at the same Accor Stadium in Sydney in front of an 80,000 sell-out remains to be seen, but this mixed bag did not offer a compelling case that the Lions can secure the series before then.
The Lions’ set-pieces were strong, the presence of Ollie Chessum and accuracy of Dan Sheehan’s darts ensured a 100 per cent return. Maro Itoje and Joe McCarthy again looked like a Test series partnership in waiting, the carrying of Jack Conan was a regular reference point, but Tom Curry typified the Lions’ inconsistency, notably with two loose passes, and Josh van der Flier’s lines of running and quality on the ball make him a likelier bet at 7 against the Wallabies.
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The Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell halfback combination looked very slick, the former maintaining a quick tempo with an inventive outing and Russell made the attack hum at times, while his only miss off the tee was from the touchline against an upright. And as Andy Farrell suggested afterwards, the pairing should only benefit from just a second outing together.
Bundee Aki looked very sharp and Garry Ringrose signed off a good showing with a third try in three games, while also typifying the collective. James Lowe had both his good and loose moments.
His left boot remains a key weapon and the Lions competed well in the air, especially off Gibson-Park’s towering box kicks. But the Brumbies were the latest Australian side to go after the Lions at the breakdown and cause them issues there.
The Lions were also a bit loose in possession when forcing passes and although a little more direct in this game, there was still a feeling that less could be more in attack. Three times they were held up over the line and they really should have won by more given their dominance of possession and territory, while they also invited the Brumbies back into the game with some avoidable penalties, with Ellis Genge being a culprit.
The tourists sang their lusty version of Rockin’ All Over The World, when serenading ‘Captain Maro’, in the away dressingroom, but the night was also not without its latest Lions casualty however. Blair Kinghorn took to the field with his right knee strapped and was soon banging the turf in frustration after an apparent injury to his left knee which left him limping and also required strapping before he departed after 25 minutes to be replaced by Marcus Smith.
Walking down the tunnel, Kinghorn cut a forlorn figure as he threw his head to the skies.
Ultimately the Lions didn’t pull clear in the second period as was again expected after bossing possession and territory in the first half. The Lions had 60 per cent of the former and 69 per cent of the latter, and although a 19-12 lead was in some ways scant reward it still laid the foundations.
This was after a poor start too, Sheehan being penalised in the opening exchange for crossing and after Kinghorn and McCarthy were both deemed offside, a second lineout drive eventually led to number eight Tuaina Taii Tualima blasting through Chessum’s tackled to score.
The Lions responded strongly and drew level when Gibson-Park floated a long pass for Russell to draw two defenders and put Chessum over. Sheehan made one eye-catching break up the touchline when fending Andy Muirhead after Russell and Kinghorn had passed long inside their own 22, but Muirhead soon held up Lowe over the line when a try should have been completed and, arguably, had been.
In any event, McCarthy pulled the ball out the back for Russell to hit Aki and Ringrose, Sheehan – this time running hard and straight like a centre – and Conan combined to give Lowe an indisputable finish to a well-executed try.
Russell’s kicking from hand briefly went awry to afford the Brumbies the field position from which former Connacht player Ben O’Donnell floated a long pass for the fleet-footed Corey Toole to score his 12th try in 17 games this season.
Still, the Lions had the final say of the half, Russell calling the shots when McCarthy again pulled the ball back for him to hit Ringrose. From the recycle the Scottish playmaker feinted a pass out the back before finding Curry with a short, soft pass and the flanker’s footwork and offload was finished by Smith.
In truth, the Lions looked well set to pull clear more emphatically when Curry fed Gibson-Park off a lineout and Russell hit Ringrose with a lovely flat pass. He dummied and stepped inside his opposite number Ollie Sapsford before transferring to Smith who grubbered deftly for Ringrose to finish.
Toole followed up his own kick to tackle Tommy Freeman inside the end-goal area, and from the ensuing scrum the Lions’ defence was short numbered on the blindside when Hudson Creighton took a hard out-in line to score untouched.
After the newly introduced Van der Flier was adjudged not to have grounded the ball off a catch-and-drive the Lions curiously opted to extend a nine-point lead with a Russell penalty (their first shot at goal in four outings on Aussie soil) before their lineout maul powered over for the Irish flanker to be awarded the try.
Even so, the Brumbies had the final sat when Liam Bowron scored from close range after a sequence of penalties against the Lions. And to complete a slightly frustrating second-half, Chessum became the third Lions player to be held up over the line in the game’s final play.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 4 mins: Tualima try, 5-0; 15: Chessum try, 5-5; 29: Lowe try, Russell con, 5-12; 37: Toole try, 10-12; 40+1: Smith try, Russell con, 10-19; (half-time 10-19); 47: Ringrose try, Russell con, 10-26; 51: Creighton try, R Lonergan con, 17-26; 61: Russell pen, 17-29; 67: Van der Flier try, Russell con, 17-36; 74: Bowron try, Debreczeni con, 24-36.
ACT BRUMBIES: Andy Muirhead; Ben O’Donnell, Ollie Sapsford, David Feliuai, Corey Toole; Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan (capt); Lington Ieli, Lachlan Lonergan, Rhys van Nek; Lachie Shaw, Cadeyrn Neville; Tom Hooper, Rory Scott, Tuaina Taii Tualima.
Replacements: Hudson Creighton for Feliuai (31 mins); Liam Bowron for L Lonergan, Luke Reimer for Scott (both 51); Cameron Orr for Ieli (52); Feao Fotuaika for Van Nek (56); Jack Debreczeni for Meredith (64); Lachie Hooper for Tualima (69); Harrison Goddard for R Lonergan (70).
Sinbinned: Hooper (81 mins).
BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS: Blair Kinghorn (Scotland); Tommy Freeman (England), Garry Ringrose (Ireland), Bundee Aki (Ireland), James Lowe (Ireland); Finn Russell (Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland); Ellis Genge (England), Dan Sheehan (Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Maro Itoje (England, capt), Joe McCarthy (Ireland); Ollie Chessum (England), Tom Curry (England), Jack Conan (Ireland).
Replacements: Marcus Smith (England) for Kinghorn (25 mins); Andrew Porter (Ireland) for Genge, Will Stuart (England) for Furlong, Josh van der Flier (Ireland) for Curry (all 51); Henry Pollock (England) for McCarthy (58); Rónan Kelleher (Ireland) for Sheehan (61); Mack Hansen (Ireland) for Lowe (63); Alex Mitchell (England) for Gibson-Park (71).
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR).
