Being the hot blooded Australian male that I am, I will spend the next couple of days re-watching Australia’s loss in last night’s Lions tour opener at Suncorp.
I have many qualms with the events that transpired on Saturday night yet in all fairness it was an amazing match.
Amazing to the point that the Wallabies hung on until the last minute, pretty much dictated the pace of the game and controlled all of the Lions’ strengths for the whole 80 minutes.
It’s tough to capitalise on this kind of dominance when all the 50/50 calls from the ref seemed to swing against the Wallabies. That pretty much guaranteed the Lions dominance in possession and territory, as well as the fact the Wallabies missed 24 tackles and had nine handling errors, which is way too much for Test match rugby.
A solid All Blacks side would have had a field day against either team, but this is where we have begun the series and thankfully (hopefully) we can only move forward from here. All in all it was a ripper of a match.
There were a lot of mistakes from the Wallabies but they honestly deserved to win. I think the refs need to become a little more vigilant in some aspects. Considering the new television match official (TMO) rules and some pretty well defined ruck and scrum laws, they should have been a little more consistent with calls.
On top of that, every single Lions lineout saw Tom Youngs and Richard Hibbard moving towards their side and for some reason no one made a call on it. They were clearly avoiding the channel and it’s no wonder they never lost a lineout and there was a complete lack of competition in that area.
On top of that there were some pretty dirty shots from the Lions players – the grabbing of Pat McCabe’s head prior to being injured and the pushing of Israel Folau into Berrick Barnes was questionable but, regardless, it was a dirty move.
That being said, this isn’t soccer, this is Test match footy. There are a lot of mind games and it’s an arm wrestle for physical dominance.
There weren’t too many problems with the Wallabies’ performance, aside from the obvious missed opportunities for points and the clear lack of any fly half and guidance in the backline at all.
The forward pack was close to perfect.
It was the best complete performance from an Australian front row I have seen in years, Ben Alexander and Benn Robinson shut down the Lions front row successfully and weathered a lot of pressure from questionable binds and head grabs from Alex Corbisiero and Dan Cole.
Robinson’s carries were excellent as well, I have never seen a front rower with a better rugby eye. He got more line breaks then James O’Connor.
Stephen Moore was an utter work horse, combining well with Wycliff Palu and Kane Douglas defensively, controlling the hard yards up front. I haven’t seen Palu complete a better 80 minute performance in years and I was against Deans’ choice of 8 but I’m almost happy to be proven wrong.
There is nothing I love more than a good 80 minute grind from the big lads up front.
James Horwill was and always will be the shining light in the side, leading from the front and guiding the team with a very level head.
If I have to criticise something it would be his lack of communication with referee Chris Pollock and it left the Wallabies without a leg to stand on.
Ben Mowen seems to have been overlooked by everyone; his overall performance in the loss is close to Izzy’s debut in the backs.
Regarding the backline, the performance was outstanding in obvious positions and stood out a lot more than the gentlemen up front, but very poor in certain other regards.
To say it again, it was probably the most complete performance form a halfback I have seen in years. Will Genia was absolutely amazing. Gutsy performances from Kurtley Beale, Adam Ashley-Cooper, McCabe, Folau, Berrick Barnes and Digby Ioane nursing that injury.
I would love to give James O’Connor some credit but defensively he was lacking, lazy and slow in resetting the backline. As a fly half he was completely over his head.
The fly half question has been thrown around a lot after the events of Saturday night and a few names and choices have been thought of.
For me it must be Matt Toomua. He is the only natural fly half in Australia who is playing good footy and has a clear head on his shoulders. His defensive performance against the Lions in the Brumbies win was amazing; the fact that Deans has overlooked that is questionable and surely the spotlight would be on him now.
Quade Cooper is just too arrogant to be given the leading roll and his defence, although it has improved in leaps and bounds this season, is just not enough to stand up to the weight of the Lions centres and loose runners.
Kurtley Beale is just too talented out wide to be only distributing up front and I think everyone knows it will be a waste of his talent.
James O’Connor must be moved to inside. The last couple of years he has slotted into that position he has been fantastic and I think the old New Zealand style of play with a first/second five-eighth would suit the Wallabies’ playing style.
Injuries and the fitness of some players for the Melbourne Test will be crucial to the re-forming of this broken backline. If you assume next week there will be no Barnes, Adam Ashley-Cooper, McCabe and Lealiifano, JOC is going to have to move out.
Beale (as I said before) is wasted at 10 and I’m afraid his shift there would yield the same results as JOC.
The backline’s got to be Genia, Toomua, and James O’Connor at 12, possibly Rob Horne at outside and then back three of Folau, KB and Digs.
I’m looking forward to the next couple of Tests. If we can sort out our backline then it’ll be Wallabies 2-1 in the series.
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.
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