British and Irish Lions vs. Wallabies: Winners and Losers

Following the British and Irish Lions’ 27-19 victory over the Wallabies on Saturday, here is our take on the key winners and losers from Brisbane.

Winners

Andy Farrell

As the Lions head coach probably expected, some of his selections caused a certain amount of controversy. He had a difficult choice in the back-row particularly, with Josh van der Flier and Jac Morgan overlooked for Tom Curry – the worst performing openside on the tour – but the England flanker justified his inclusion.

Farrell therefore has to take immense credit for sticking to his guns and understanding that, as a Test match animal, Curry was always going to stand up when it mattered. His extra physicality also fitted the Lions’ game plan and enabled the tourists to dominate the match at close quarters, especially in the first half.

Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne

We have already touched on him, but it is worth repeating as Curry and Beirne were the Lions’ best performers on Saturday as they helped them get on the front foot in three key facets. Thanks to the efforts of the flankers, the visitors managed to control the gain line and breakdown, while Beirne was a pest at the lineout.

Farrell opted for a hybrid blindside, instead of going with dual opensides, and it proved to be the right decision as the Irishman consistently disrupted Australia’s ball. It led to panic in the Wallabies’ ranks and arguably led to the third try, which came when Curry – rather aptly – benefited from a poorly executed lineout to start a counter-attack and led to Dan Sheehan going over.

Lions half-backs

After the back-row, this was the combination which looked the most in sync as Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell combined superbly in the first half. Gibson-Park’s delivery from the base and his decision-making was simply elite, but he was also helped by the classy Russell, whose ability to spot space and opportunities gave his scrum-half partner some easy options.

There was some trademark genius from the Scottish fly-half, but it is the control and composure he has had on the game which has been a hallmark of his performances on this tour. Meanwhile, that is something his Irish playmaking partner always exudes and he produced some much-needed clearances with the boot when they came under a bit of pressure in the second period.

Wallabies back-row

There were few things for Australia to be positive about but, as ever, Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson displayed their credentials at the highest level by producing fine performances in a losing cause. They were joined by Nick Champion de Crespigny, who on debut showed up well for the Australians.

He may well be replaced should Rob Valetini recover fully from injury, but it was a trio that competed well for the most part. With the Lions loose forwards also excelling, it proved to be a fun battle, but the hosts’ back-row was certainly not disgraced.

Wallabies bench

Given the depth of the Lions squad, most expected them to have the edge in the second half, but in fact it was Australia who, rather surprisingly, got the upper hand. They didn’t have Will Skelton available to them but Angus Bell provided real punch in the carry and the set-piece, while Tom Hooper and Carlo Tizzano put themselves about.

Behind the scrum, Tate McDermott and Ben Donaldson were far better than the starters and it would be no surprise if they start next weekend. Joe Schmidt likes the control Jake Gordon brings, allowing the livewire McDermott to challenge the fringes when players are tired, but quite frankly the Reds star has a better all-round game.

British and Irish Lions player ratings: Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne ‘vindicate’ Andy Farrell’s selections but ‘wasteful’ wingers disappoint

Wallabies player ratings: Son of Australia legend has a ‘mare’ and Joseph Suaalii ‘silenced’ as Joe Schmidt’s bench gives the scoreboard respectability

Losers

Lions injury concerns

The physical dominance of the visitors was a real feature of the first half, but it was perhaps not a coincidence that the Wallabies got a foothold when Joe McCarthy and Curry went off. McCarthy did not look in too much discomfort but, according to Farrell, he was suffering with a slight foot niggle, which makes him a doubt for the second Test.

Curry, meanwhile, appeared to be getting his wrist seen to after he was replaced just before the hour mark. The openside flanker, who had an operation for a career-threatening hip injury following the Rugby World Cup, has struggled with that wrist for quite some time and it could bring Morgan or Van der Flier into contention.

Lions bench impact

It looked a strong bench on paper but it just did not have the desired impact. It could simply be that, as a team, the intensity reduced after they opened up a comfortable buffer but, purely on the evidence of the game in Brisbane, changes may be needed for the Melbourne Test.

There were some decent moments in the loose from Will Stuart and Bundee Aki, while Marcus Smith did a few nice things with ball in hand, but Andrew Porter and Ronan Kelleher had a negative impact on the set-piece and that allowed the Wallabies to build pressure.

Tom Lynagh

Handed the reins after Noah Lolesio’s injury and it was a match to forget for the fly-half, who was inaccurate and looked rushed most of the time. Again, you can’t fully blame the youngster, with the Lions dominating physically in the first half and defensively shutting down his options, but that changed when Donaldson came on.

It was always going to be tough for the inexperienced playmaker to run the game, but Schmidt may look to take him out of the firing line next weekend. James O’Connor, called in after Lolesio went down, could therefore get a shot against the Lions in Melbourne, 12 years after he played in all three Tests in 2013.

Joseph Suaalii

Much was expected of the former rugby league superstar, but he was very quiet. Given his remarkable aerial prowess, it was predicted that Suaalii would wreak havoc chasing kicks, particularly at the restart, but it was never really a factor.

The 21-year-old is powerful and athletic, but the Wallabies failed to find a way of getting him into the game in Test one. Hopefully, bringing back the likes of Valetini and Skelton will enable Australia to get more front-foot ball and provide Suaalii with opportunities in attack.

Lions back three

Few disagreed with the selection of James Lowe, Tommy Freeman and Hugo Keenan, but they failed to really impact the game. In fairness, Keenan can be excused as, in general, he was good under the high ball, despite losing out for Max Jorgensen’s try, and covered the backfield well, but the others made far too many errors.

Lowe had one excellent run, which almost resulted in a try for Huw Jones, while Freeman started strongly, but both were poor with the boot. The Ireland star in particular was surprisingly off-form with his kicking from hand and Farrell will hope it is much better next weekend.

James Slipper and Matt Faessler

The prop scrummaged reasonably well but, now 36, he simply doesn’t offer enough in the loose and was exposed defensively on occasions. It therefore makes Schmidt’s decision difficult for next weekend, with Bell clearly the premier loosehead in the country.

As for Faessler, the lineout was quite simply a shambles when he was on the field and it proved costly as Beirne continuously disrupted the Australian ball. It is another position where the head coach will consider making a change.

According to the source: Planet Rugby.