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This weekend the British and Lions played a near-full strength provincial side and only just had enough gas to take what the Reds threw at them.
This strong test started to show what sort of team the Lions are becoming in order to beat the Wallabies.
Firstly, I’d like to celebrate the performance of the Reds on the weekend. That type of entertainment and guts to have a go in the face of a strong opposition is what tour games are meant to be about.
In 12 years’ time every Reds player involved on the night will rightly be recounting their incredible performance in stories about the time they took it to the Lions. This is exactly what the people supporting the Force wanted from their once-in-a-generation match.
The Reds brought pride to their state and have given a spark to the Lions’ tour. Take a bow.
I don’t, however, want to analyse their performance too much as they aren’t the side building to up to a Test series.
Here are a four lessons learnt about the Lions from their close win over the Reds:
1. Scrummaging should end up being an area of dominance for the Lions
In the entire match against the Reds the scrum was a real weapon for the Lions.
On their own feed the Lions could earn a penalty almost at will against the outgunned Reds pack.
And they were able to effectively end any hope the Reds had of setting up attacking first phase ball but ensuring the number 8 had a torrid time removing the ball from the base of the scrum, let alone the halfback getting clean ball to the fly-half.
While the Reds weren’t able to offer their full first choice pack or front row, only James Slipper was missing from their regular options. It wasn’t like the Reds threw the academy kids out at scrum time.
On top of the dominance shown this weekend, it is worth noting the Lions haven’t been training together for too long yet. They’ll still be organising themselves into a tighter unit, and that counts for the scrum too.
One great thing to take away in that regard was the way the Lions scrum stuck together. Even when sudden forward movements came as the Reds scrum splintered, it was common to see the Lions scrum stick together as an eight-man unit and not get broken up.
That’s a sign to bring a smile to the faces of the home union supporters and coaching staff. Only three games into the tour, one of their anticipated weapons is taking shape as a unit. Look for this to keep improving.
2. Jonny Sexton is the best fly-half if the Lions hope to score points
The Reds struggled to contain the likes of Tommy Bowe (while he was on the field), Alex Cuthbert and especially George North out wide in the times they had the ball. There was space and metres gained almost every opportunity these guys had.
Yet Owen Farrell, from the first receiver position, only made six passes all game. He showed he’s good at kicking goals, but not good at getting the ample talent outside him into the game often enough to break open a lesser side.
Taking nothing away from the Reds, who defended admirably and put their best foot forward in a game they weren’t supposed to win, the Lions should have been able to score more than one try, especially in the second half when the Reds pack tired and they weren’t able to get out of their half.
The amount of damage done by the Lions wide players throughout the match was substantial, but not enough of it was instituted by the creative player in their side. It came more as a result of fortuitous positioning or pouncing on turnovers.
I’d argue Jonny Sexton has a greater ability to feed the hungry, ball-running beasts than Farrell does.
That doesn’t mean the Lions have to play an expansive and attacking game, but there are times to move the ball into the space your pack has created. Against the Reds the Lions were too one dimensional in attack.
In his start against the Force, Sexton made 31 passes from the first receiver position. Evidently he is more adept at grabbing the game and moving the ball to where it should go.
The Lions were playing a much weaker side on that occasion, but the deficit of 28 passing touches by the man in control of the side is not related to the opposition.
3. The Lions have the two best fullbacks in the series
When I was watching the Lions play the Barbarians in Hong Kong I was impressed with Stuart Hogg’s involvement and swift footwork. He’s a very hard man to get a strong hit on and has good ability to find a spot to get involved in attack.
Against the Force Leigh Halfpenny gave us all a reminder that he’s the best fullback in the world, especially when you’re able to add 11 from 11 off the boot to your repertoire. His performances for Wales in recent times have been amazing shows of safe bomb defusing, long punts, great link play and strength in contact.
Against the Reds, Hogg submitted another very, very strong performance. He was beaten just the once by a brilliant run and chip try. In the tackle he was very skilful at turning the ball runner over, causing a number of turnovers. He’s got a long boot too.
It’s safe to say Northern Hemisphere fullbacks are deployed differently to ours, in that we expect a lot of the fly-half playmaking traits to be shared, but in terms of getting the job done at fullback Halfpenny and Hogg are in much better form than anyone who dons the gold jersey with 15 on it.
4. The Lions backrow still needs work
There is something not quite right about the Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton and Toby Faletau loose trio as the Lions backrow.
Looking at the stats you see that all of them got heavily involved in tackles, carries and rucks but watching the game you just didn’t feel like they were heavily impacting the game in any meaningful way.
It all seems like empty calories.
The only important moment was probably Warburton doing very well to support a break and almost score a try. He had to be speedy to get in any sort of position to help out there.
I’d argue Beau Robinson was able to affect the game more by snatching a couple of crucial turnovers at the ruck in his own 22 just as the Lions were building phases.
As soon as Paul O’Connell came on the field he levered himself into a ruck and won a penalty that effectively ended the contest. There wasn’t a sense any of the Welsh backrow could emulate that at any big juncture.
I also think Sean O’Brien is hard done by as he runs the ball, pilfers and holds the opposition up in tackles better than Lydiate.
A Lions coach not so closely affiliated to Wales might be more inclined to see if a combination of Warburton, O’Brien and Faletau/Heaslip would be able to offer dominance in contact and at ruck time.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.