Sloppy Lions fail Test auditions after struggling past Waratahs

Times

3 hours ago

It is easy to say that this was the tough game that the British & Irish Lions really needed, but by no means was it encouraging for the future of tour and, frankly, as the game wore on the identity of the likely Test team became sharper in focus, but mostly by default.
The Waratahs were missing their stars, who will be engaged against Fiji up in Newcastle overnight, but the rump of their squad competed superbly. Charlie Gamble on the flank may have more than a passing reference to a 1970s disco star but he played magnificently on the flank to help deny the Lions any momentum and behind the scrum, Joey Walton and company cut the Lions down almost every time that they looked dangerous.
Up in the coaches' box, Andy Farrell looked increasingly gloomy as his men lost their superb scoring touch by simple errors — by dropping the ball and by a certain lack of shape as they ran through their moves. Apart from Huw Jones in the midfield and Ben Earl in the back row, there was a lack of star quality just when we might have expected the Lions to become stellar.
Behind the scrum, things became loose. Fin Smith could not sort the attack with his normal facility. And when he was replaced by Marcus Smith, the Harlequins fly half kept on firing long cut-out passes over the heads of his own players. It looked spectacular but what it means is that all the uncommitted defenders simply go out wide and descend on the ball-catcher in numbers.
As an occasion it was a step up, the crowd was almost at capacity in the brand new stadium, and the Waratahs did themselves proud. But it was a real disappointment to Lions fans — of which there were many — that the rush of scoring we expected as the Waratahs tired, never eventuated.
It was also one of those tiresome games when the officiating tends to get on your nerves, and there was an avalanche of penalties in the scrum, too much hanging about while the TMO twiddled his knobs. The Lions must kick on in a big way in midweek in Canberra to restore momentum.
There were two categories of participants in the evening which I often feel we could do without. First, there was the ritual ranter bawling thunderously over the public address system with orders to 'make some noise' as if the crowd had never thought of supporting their team and in the end, it is just a deafening load of tripe.
And then the second category was the television match official. Granted, the eye in the sky can spot nasty foul play and rule on touchdowns but frankly, once he starts combing every incident for a real or invented offence, he overstays his welcome and does nothing for the game.
Indeed, the officiating was so heavily in the Lions' favour in the first half that it brought back memories of the old days when the touring team chose referees for the Test matches so it meant that they got away with murder whenever a contender was in charge.
Paul Williams, the referee, took such exception to the scrummaging of the massive Tupou that he awarded four penalties against the Waratahs in the first half alone and it seemed that at least two should have been awarded against Pierre Schoeman instead of against the massive Tupou. He is the prodigal prop, weighing in at 24st and could be the answer to the perennial Wallabies scrummaging problems — if only he lost just a little weight and if referees stopped blaming him for everything.
There was certainly encouragement for the Lions — especially in the shape of Jones, the elegant centre who scored twice in the first half, although other Lions were not so successful. Hugo Keenan marked his first appearance on tour with some shaky play, and although Sione Tuipulotu cleverly put Jones over for a try, and although the centre scored again near half-time, some of the wit and accuracy of the Lions on this tour was missing. The half backs were not slick or brisk enough, and it took hard work from Tadhg Beirne, who started at 6 after Henry Pollock had withdrawn from the team with a tight calf, to keep his team going.
And after the Waratahs had put in easily the best series of defensive plays that the Lions have encountered on this tour, they lifted their heads and began to strike themselves. They drove over from a lineout for what seemed a perfectly good try, but the TMO was in the referee's ear as we waited for the conversion and the officials ruled that a supporting player in the lineout had obstructed in front of the jumper. In other words, he does what every pack does in every lineout in every season.
Soon after that, after another mistake by Keenan, the Waratahs scored down the left wing through Darby Lancaster and a half-time score of 14-5 was by no means representative of the Waratahs' efforts in the game to that point.
When Ethan Dobbins scored under bodies at the start of the second half, we had what looked suspiciously like a contest on our hands. If only the Waratahs had been able to kick their conversions, they could easily have been ahead. In a sense, it was the sort of contest that the Lions desperately needed.
Territorially, it was all dressed in red in the second half. Alex Mitchell scored a try by veering left then right and speeding over; but that was that, because the Lions had a forward-driving try ruled out, and the rest of their moves fell foul of Gamble and his mates.
The replacements bench could not really help as they normally would, and perhaps the only consolation is that Lions has one of these — a performance which bears little relation to the grand tradition.