Lions hold off First Nations and Pasifika XV in rugged match
The Lions can now focus on trying to clinch the three-Test series against the Wallabies on Saturday in Melbourne after winning the first match 27-19 last weekend in Brisbane.
'We've given ourselves a bit of a fright," Lions head coach Andy Farrell said. 'Congratulations to the First Nations and Pasifika team, [they] made it a hard-fought contest that's for sure.'
The Lions are now 7-0 in Australia, including the Test match, victories over Super Rugby franchises Western Force, Queensland Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies and two invitational teams.
Jamie Osborne scored the opening tries of each half at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium and the Lions twice had big leads before being pinned back by the First Nations and Pasifika team, which was drawn from players with Indigenous Australia and Pacific Islands heritage.
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Making the most of a penalty advantage, the Lions took a 24-14 lead with 15 minutes to play when Owen Farrell dummied a pass to unsettle the defence and sent an unmarked Duhan van der Merwe over in the left corner.
But the invitational team rallied again, cutting the lead to five points in the 71st when Rob Leota scored a try from close range and finishing the match hard on attack just as they did in the first half.
Lions player Fin Smith is tackled in Melbourne. (Source: Photosport)
Backrower Charlie Gamble was awarded player of the match despite being on the losing side, helping combat the Lions' superior field position and possession with his relentless work at the breakdown.
'It's pretty tough when you see [critics saying] we're going to get smashed by 50,' Gamble said of the lopsided expectations ahead of the game. 'But you know, we showed that we deserved to be out there, and we played very hard for each other.'
Tough first half
It had been 14-14 at halftime after each team scored two converted tries and spent 10 minutes giving up a numerical advantage because of yellow cards.
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The Lions raced to 14-0 after centre Osborne chased through Fin Smith's chip kick and touched down, while winger Darcy Graham crossed out wide.
From a lineout win by Henry Pollock, the Lions created an overlap with players looping in midfield and sent a long, floating pass to the unmarked Scottish winger. But Graham had to leave the field soon after with an injury.
The last hour was much more of a grinding contest, with the First Nations and Pasifika team at times outmuscling the Lions, forcing mistakes.
Triston Reilly, who was yellow-carded early, returned to score the First Nations and Pasifika's opening try after an intercept.
Blindside flanker Seru Uru picked up and reached over amid three tacklers in the 23rd minute and Kurtley Beale converted to level the score, ensuring the touring Lions knew they were in a contest.
As tempers flared, Pollock and Uru were warned by the referee for a pushing and shoving episode that the young Lions No. 8 would certainly have learned from. The match remained intensely physical but didn't get out of hand.
'If you look at the game, how we started, we started on fire ... but they [First Nations and Pasifika] tightened back up and took the most of their opportunities,' Andy Farrell said. 'It shows how much it means to them.'
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NZ Herald
4 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Gisborne kayaking, surf lifesaving great Liz Thompson stepping back
'We had an adults' group under way. We lost some of the equipment they were using in Cyclone Gabrielle but they are growing again ... I'll enjoy paddling with them.' Thompson is president of Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club – the first woman to hold that position – and is the first and so far only woman to be made a life member of the club. In his book, A Shade of Blue – A Touch of Gold, on the history of Waikanae SLSC from 1950 to 2000, Dick Glover reflected on candidates for the unofficial title of Waikanae 'Lifesaver of the Century'. In his opinion, five members stood out. 'There is really only one candidate for the women's title and that must be Liz Thompson, nee Blencowe,' Glover wrote. 'Liz's phenomenal record was that, since the inception of women's ski racing at national level, she was placed either first or second in a ski event in every one of the 15 seasons between 1983 and 1998. 'When her results in surf swims and leading role in R & R [rescue and resuscitation] are taken into consideration, she won 14 New Zealand titles and was placed second or third in 24 other events. 'Add to that her encouragement and coaching of young women competitors on top of personal training, a career as a policewoman promoted to sergeant and the onset of motherhood in the mid-90s. The mind boggles at how Liz could juggle so many facets in her life and remain a top competitor.' The other four in Glover's shortlist were Bruce Adams, Grant Bramwell, Alan Thompson and Barry McLean, with McLean getting the author's nod as Waikanae 'Lifeguard of the Century'. Liz Blencowe married Alan Thompson in 1991. Outspoken and driven, Olympic double gold-medallist Thompson could be a handful for officialdom, but Blencowe was a world-class athlete in her own right and they met on equal terms. 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'I came to Gisborne at the end of '82. I had got to know Alan and the rest of the group. Not a lot was happening in the way of squad for me to train with in Melbourne [her base at the time]. I wanted a fresh outlook. I could have gone to Hungary, but I didn't speak the language, and getting into Hungary was a bit iffy at the time.' It came down to Canada or New Zealand, and Alan was a 'big factor' in her choice to come to Gisborne. Liz Thompson has her game face on, racing for Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club in a surf ski event during her competitive heyday. She returned to Australia for the selection trials for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was the only woman picked to paddle for Australia at the Games. Women competing in individual events then had only a 500m race in Olympic kayak sprint racing and Liz finished eighth in the final. Back in Gisborne, Alan was keen to have Liz as part of a women's programme. 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From featuring in the lifesaving medal tallies primarily as an individual competitor, Liz Thompson partnered up-and-coming athletes in the double ski, winning nationals gold with Jackie Callahan twice and Leigh Webster three times, and silver with Kristen Glover twice. The first double ski win with Webster, in 1995, came early in Thompson's pregnancy with daughter Kim, and the third, in 1998, came when son Quaid was 5 weeks old. At the latter carnival, Thompson was also a member of silver-medal-winning teams in the women's taplin relay and women's six-place. She gained particular satisfaction from coaching Rachel Beale in the lead-up to her victory in the women's under-19 surf ski in the national champs at Ōakura in 2000, and being handler for Webster when she won the women's ironperson race in the nationals at Gisborne's Midway Beach in 2001. And apart from a few years off when her children were small, she's done her bit on beach patrols. Thompson was born in Mackay, North Queensland, on January 10, 1961. The family lived further south, in a town called Sarina, which didn't have a hospital. A brother, David, is three years older. Their father Lou worked for Kraft Foods and was in Queensland 'for something to do with Vegemite'. Mother Pat was a swimming coach and physical education teacher. When Thompson was 2, the family headed back to Melbourne, her parents' hometown. Pat Blencowe used fun and familiarity in her swimming lessons. She let children get familiar with the water by playing in it and when she introduced them to swimming, it was breaststroke first. In her own swim coaching for Waikanae SLSC, Thompson adopted her mother's approach and didn't teach freestyle until her charges had mastered the 'lifesaving breaststroke'. When Quaid was 7, and about to compete in a breaststroke race, Thompson explained the stroke in terms she had used teaching it to him: 'Open-the-curtains arms and squash-mosquito legs'. 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Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
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Otago Daily Times
19 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Canterbury stint helped shape Lions star
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