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Woeful woeful Wallabies, lion-hearted Lions

6th July, 2013
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Kurtley Beale of the Wallabies goes to ground. (Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)
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6th July, 2013
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From the moment Will Genia knocked on from the kick-off at ANZ Stadium last night, the Wallabies didn’t turn up to play in the series-decider against the Lions and were hammered 41-16.

That knock-on let the Lions in after two minutes for the first of the their four tries.

After 25 minutes the men in red were in command at 19-3.

The only bright spark from the Wallabies came in a five-minute burst on either side of the break for 13 precious points and a 19-16 scoreline with 35 minutes to play.

But that flicker of hope was soon snuffed out as the Lions piled on 22 more unanswered points in the final 28.

Humiliating, embarrassing, pathetic, inept, and an inexcusable performance by the Wallabies, robbing the 83,706 present at ANZ Stadium who had paid top dollar for their tickets to see an epic, but saw just a whimper from the home side instead.

Right across the park the Lions toyed with the Wallabies, who made them look better than they were – the scrums were one-way traffic, the thought process as well.

There will be loud calls for Wallabies coach Robbie Deans’ head again.

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But Deans didn’t collapse scrums, drop ball, missed supports, missed tackles or kick mindlessly.

Nor was he guilty of having so little rugby nous between the ears of those representing Australia on the big stage.

Quite obviously too big a stage for most of them.

If Deans is guilty of anything, it was his unbendable belief in James O’Connor as a 10.

Apart from the odd moments in three Tests, O’Connor never repaid that faith.

Ignoring Quade Cooper three times over the months, for whatever reason, came back to haunt Deans last night – big time.

The fact Wallaby forwards Stephen Moore, Ben Mowen, and Wycliff Palu ran the ball more times than any of the much-vaunted back-line, highlighted by O’Connor’s pear-shaped performance at 10.

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On rugby’s brighter side last night, Lions and Welsh full-back Leigh Halfpenny is right off the top shelf.

It’s a privilege to watch him play, and he was the stand-out as the man-of-the-series award for his general play, and superb goal-kicking. The award, on top of being named the Six-Nations player-of-the-series, stamps him as the best rugby footballer in the world.

No-one will argue that point.

Last night the Lions did international rugby a huge favour saving the coveted brand from possible extinction by winning their first series in 16 years.

For Lions coach Warren Gatland, his faith in 10 Welshman dominating the starting line-up paid off handsomely.

Winners are grinners, and losers can make their own arrangements.

And those arrangements will be a week of heavy discussions deep in the ARU’s St Leonards bunker.

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Expect fireworks.

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