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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.
40 mins. PEEEEEEEEP! The ball is spilled forward by Gibson-Park to end a fabulous half.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
23 mins. Freeman pays the price for the repeated offside penalty for the Lions in the 5m zone.
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.
Australia’s James Slipper. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images
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.
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.
Dan Sheehan of the British and Irish Lions scores a try. Photograph: Graham Denholm/Getty Images
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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.
