'It shits me': Nick Farr-Jones' nagging Lions regret
"Yeah, it shits me," Farr-Jones told AAP. "When the Lions come down, only once every 12 years, you get one roll of the dice. And if I've got any damn regrets about the game looking back, it's that we didn't beat the bastards."
After crushing the tourists 30-12 in the 1989 first Test, the Wallabies lost the infamous "Battle of Ballymore" 19-12 as the Lions mauled them in Brisbane to level the series.
Despite only suffering a seven-point loss, it was the manner in which the Wallabies succumbed in the brutal second Test that gives Farr-Jones nightmares.
The Lions hatched a plan to monster Australia's halfback and captain into submission.
"And it worked a treat," he admitted.
Farr-Jones said cheekily winking and blowing a kiss at Lions hooker Brian Moore early on in the game was a big mistake.
"He proceeded to rip me apart after that and all the other forwards ripped into me," he said.
"They had a pack which included three policemen, three bobbies - (Wade) Dooley, (Paul) Ackford, (Dean) Richards - as well as Finlay Calder, 'Mad Dog' Moore.
"I think the only probably non-fighter in that pack was David Sole, the Scottish prop.
"You had Mickey Skinner. It was a tough, hard pack and they would have sat around two weeks before the first and the second Test, and they would have said, 'What are we going to do?'
"Let's beat the crap out of them, and how about we start with the captain.
"He's a little guy. We can beat the crap out of him. His game will implode, the team will unravel around him and in a way it sort of happened.
"So I commend them for the tactics."
Farr-Jones pointed out that the likes of two-time World Cup-winning Wallabies legends Tim Horan and Phil Kearns never got a crack at the Lions and hopes Joe Schmidt's class of 2025 realise the opportunity in front of them.
Because he still regrets his 1989 side not taking their chance in a 2-1 series-deciding third-Test loss in Sydney, when the defining moment of the 19-18 near-miss remains David Campese's wild pass to Greg Martin in the Australian in-goal area that led to the Lions' winning try.
"So, looking back, the cracks in the ceiling would get wider at three in the morning because we should have won that series. There's no doubt about that, and we butchered it," Farr-Jones recalls.
"And I'm not talking about Campo's incident or what have you. We had 79 other minutes in which to win that game.
"We should never have lost it. You wake up and you really regret it because, as came to pass in World Cups, we got a second roll of the dice."
Farr-Jones AM achieved just about every major honour in rugby.He helped the Wallabies complete the fabled grand slam tour in 1984with victories over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, alsofeatured in triumphant Bledisloe Cup series against New Zealand andcrowned his career by hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup next to the Queen atTwickenham in 1991.The only other career disappointments that come closeto losing to the Lions was not winning a first grade premiership in 14seasons with Sydney University and seeing his great friend andteammate Tim Gavin miss the `91 World Cup through injury.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
22 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Wallabies' task to surf Sea of Red to relevancy
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt knows any of the ground his side's made up with the Australian public can be washed away in 80 minutes by a Brisbane red sea. The British and Irish Lions - and an estimated 40,000 supporters - are back in town, 12 years after a one-sided Sydney decider tipped the scales in their favour. They'll start heavy favourites at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, the Wallabies this week jumping from eighth to sixth in the world after their unconvincing defeat of Fiji earlier this month. Up 1-0 in 1989, the Wallabies were rocked 19-12 in a violent Brisbane Test, dubbed the "Battle of Ballymore", before losing the Sydney decider. In 2001 the Wallabies were world champions and, after a Gabba ambush that changed the way Australians supported their team, found another gear to win the series 2-1. Kurtley Beale slipped attempting the match-winning penalty in Brisbane 12 years later, James Horwill's men prevailing in a similarly tight Melbourne affair before that Sydney boilover. In 2025 the Wallabies are coming from further behind, two years ago at rock bottom when unable to escape from the World Cup group stage for the first time. In Brisbane they're missing two of their most important players in the injured Rob Valetini and Will Skelton. A new halves combination, 22-year-old flyhalf Tom Lynagh in his first Test start and veteran scrumhalf Jake Gordon, is another unknown. Still, Schmidt has created some optimism following a Spring Tour that featured the arrival of flash new toy Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii from the NRL. "We've felt a bit of a shift," Schmidt said of the public support. "There's a bit of a groundswell and the players are conscious you need to earn that every time you lace up. "We know that in recent times perhaps we haven't earnt that. "I don't know which is the cart and which is the horse, but we need each other." The cynic would say there's a reason Rugby Australia have made the historic call to emblazon the Wallabies jerseys with the players' surnames. But unlikely captain Harry Wilson, who until last year spent seasons in the Test wilderness after surging to a debut as a 20-year-old rookie, wants to take the chance to join John Eales as a Lion tamer. "It's something a lot of us haven't ever had," the scruffy No.8 explained to the media scrum of the build-up to the game. "We love seeing rugby being talked about and it's come at a really good time for us." Thousands of Lions supporters crammed into Brisbane's King George Square on Friday, singing Oasis, Neil Diamond and Queen songs as they waited for their heroes to walk onto stage. Queues for a beer at the nearby British pub stretched out the door. It was that Sea of Red that flooded the Gabba in 2001 and forced Rugby Australia to respond with a golden wave in Melbourne. With plenty to prove, Wilson is adamant his underdogs are up to it and Lions star-turned assistant coach Johnny Sexton isn't surprised. "We're just trying to put a great performance out there because that's what's going to be needed," he said. "A great performance, not a good performance, to beat this Australian team." Schmidt, who's coached with and against most of the Lions players and staff during his time in Ireland is smiling at the challenge ahead. "We've had one Test match. We've got 15 this year ... we thought we'd ease our way into the year," he grinned. "That's the magnitude of it, really."
7NEWS
4 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Incoming AFL operations boss Greg Swann foreshadows more transparency in major change to MRO
AFL match review officer Michael Christian will front more media scrutiny and provide greater public transparency on his decisions under the new footy department regime that Greg Swann is days away from leading. Outgoing Brisbane CEO Swann oversaw the last win of his Lions tenure on Friday night, copping a celebratory Gatorade shower from the players during the team song after his side beat the Western Bulldogs in a 10-point thriller at the Gabba. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Michael Christian set to provide more transparency under Greg Swann. From Monday, after almost three decades of administration at club level which has spanned stints at Carlton, Collingwood and Brisbane, Swann will begin life as an AFL executive. The 63-year-old was headhunted by AFL CEO Andrew Dillon to lead football operations, a portfolio which is already bursting with a long list of pressing to-do items. Chief among them is arguably the match review officer's role and directives, which are certain to change under Swann, who says there should be more public clarity around decisions made in the AFL judicial system. In an expansive and insightful chat with Channel 7 inside the Brisbane rooms after his final game at the Lions, Swann said he thinks the game is in good order generally speaking, but flagged a number of small changes coming, including with the MRO. 'I think the game's in fantastic health, I just think there are a few tweaks that we need, and hopefully we can get that done and we'll go from there,' he said. 'I want to go around and talk to the clubs and just see what people think. 'One of the things I think we also should do is actually explain why we get to a decision that we get to — I don't see any reason why we shouldn't do that. 'Michael Christian might have a bit more of a role in the media to explain how he's got to certain decisions. That's something that I think we should do and just be more transparent and put it out there.' Match lengths in 2025 have consistently been ballooning out towards, and even beyond, 130 minutes due to the number of stoppages throughout the game. Swann said he wants to tighten that back up. 'We wait too long for people to set up,' he said, as an example of why games are going so long. 'Even from a ruckman point of view, if there are enough people around the stoppage, just ball it up and get on with it. I think that's a thing we need to look at. 'And that might be able to be changed relatively quickly, so we'll see.' Also somewhere on his agenda will be the functioning of academies and father-son draft rules. Coming from a northern club like Brisbane, Swann knows the importance of having the academies, he said, so their role in the talent pathways system going forward is without question — despite the frustrations of some Victorian clubs. But Swann admitted the incoming changes to the drafting and points system — changes that pre-date his start date — are necessary. 'If the whole competition decided that that wasn't a good idea then you'd have a look at that, but I think most of the clubs want to keep that,' Swann said of the father-son rule, on the same day that potential 2026 No.1 draft pick Cody Walker, son of Carlton great Andrew, nominated the Blues as a father-son. 'As far as the academies go, there's a new system in place this year from a points perspective, so it's going to be harder for the clubs to get their players, so I think that needs to play out for the next year or two and see what that does. 'Having lived through it, the academies are really important to get guys and girls to play up here. We're in a big battle with the NRL and rugby union. 'But it is fair to say that the price that clubs have paid in the last few years hasn't been high enough, but this new system will make it so.' Across a chat that went for almost 10 minutes in all, Swann also said he wants to survey every club about the sub rule, and confirmed he is not a fan of umpires bouncing the ball at centre square restarts. And while change is doubtless under Swann, he said given he is coming into the role at this late stage of the season, it won't all come straight away, and won't necessarily be wholesale when it does.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘It's extra motivation for our boys': Kefu speaks out after Lions block Wallaby from playing
'I'm here to talk about the game tomorrow and as a playing group, as a coaching group, I don't think we're that fussed either way to be honest.' Sources with knowledge of the Lions' demand but not authorised to speak publicly said that Samu was told the news yesterday in Melbourne and was offered the opportunity to leave the First Nations and Pasifika XV, but requested to stay with the squad where he is helping at training. Samu's teammates were told on Friday morning at training. The First Nations & Pasifika XV fixture in Melbourne was created after the collapse of the Melbourne Rebels last May and will be the first time a team of this nature has played the British and Irish Lions in Australia. Because the original tour agreement signed between Rugby Australia and the Lions organisation initially had the Rebels fixture in it, the need to change to an alternative team after the Rebels' demise last year also meant the contract had to be amended. The Lions agreed, but insisted on a sign-off of the squad that would be put together. The Lions have drafted in three Scotland players Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland and Darcy Graham, specifically for Tuesday's game at Docklands Stadium, to provide cover for the Test squad. Samu is of Samoan heritage and played for the AUNZ XV that were defeated last Saturday by the Lions in Adelaide Oval. Kefu named a squad including Kurtley Beale, Charlie Gamble, Rob Leota, Seru Uru and Andy Muirhead to take on the Lions but it is arguably not as strong as the AUNZ Invitational XV, who were thumped by the Lions 48-0 in Adelaide. Loading Fijian Drua duo Mesake Doge and Mesake Vocevoce were also called into the squad, becoming the first Fijian internationals to face the Lions since the country's 1977 victory. The First Nations Pasifika squad has also been bolstered by Thursday's news that Wallabies Taniela Tupou and Filipo Daugunu will play in the fixture. Fijian Test winger Ponipate Loganimasi has also been added to the squad.
