Five things we learned from the Lions' shaky win over the Waratahs

Irish Times

18 hours ago

Keenan out of sorts
Hugo Keenan
has been the player
Ireland
has relied on over the last number of years at fullback. He has never let the side down with poor or even average performances and if people are looking for an upside to his outing against the Waratahs, it is that
Andy Farrell
knows that.
He knows Keenan has been out and was sick last week, enough to miss the last match against Western Force. He also know first-hand that Keenan has been a rock of solid play under high balls and running support lines. Nor has his tackling ever been seen as a weak part of his game. It was out of character then when he missed high ball and put in a poor tackle on Darby Lancaster as he was running in to score a try for the Waratahs. He will get another chance because Farrell knows what is in his locker.
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Work to do
The coaching staff behind the Lions ought to be a little worried about the performance against the Waratahs. A 21-10 scoreline is a poor outcome for the cream of the Six Nations against a club side. The Lions wouldn't be stupid enough to say it out loud but they would have been hoping for 50+ points as they managed in the last two matches.
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Lions attack does not quite click in unconvincing victory over Waratahs
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The difference between international players and club players, some of whom will never get to play on an international team, is vast. The speed at which they do things, the strength they have in all facets of their game, and the physicality are all greater than club players. But very little of that was apparent, and on occasions during the game the Waratahs appeared to dominate the breakdown area. In the first half the Lions were losing collisions, which is one of the first principles of the game. They took a step backwards.
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Owen Farrell and Bundee Aki after the game against the Waratahs. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/PA
Centre selection
It will be an interesting choice for Lions head coach Andy Farrell as to what centre partnership he will go with come the first Test match against Australia. He can go Scottish with the Glasgow club combo of Sione Tuipulotu at inside centre and Huw Jones outside him, or he can go Irish with
Bundee Aki
at 12 and
Garry Ringrose
at 13. If he goes Irish, then
Jamison Gibson-Park
, still the front-runner even after Alex Mitchell's performance against the Waratahs, will add a further Irish link at scrumhalf. Then again Finn Russell, the firm choice at this stage to start at outhalf, will have a closer understanding of his Scottish players at 12 and 13.
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Lions v Waratahs player ratings: Josh van der Flier and Mack Hansen among best of the Irish
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At the end of the day the relationships and understanding of the players will be the most important aspect. That was made evident in all the games played so far.
Slowing things down
Flanker Charlie Gamble earned four turnovers for the Waratahs in Saturday's match. He might have just told Australian coach
Joe Schmidt
something about the vulnerability of the Lions when they are faced with a side that sets out to disrupt them and prevent them from getting fast ball out to the wide channels where they have dangerous strike runners. It appears that Farrell wants his team to play running rugby, although maybe that is a ruse and they will turn up kicking everything come the Test match. The doggedness and the committed way the Waratahs suffocated what the Lions were trying to do and the way they competed hard with the Lions pack at the breakdown made life difficult at times, especially in the first half when the Lions were defending their line. On several occasions committed bodies were all that was keeping the Waratahs from scoring more tries. Noted.
Ben Earl and Tadhg Beirne after Saturday's game. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho
Adaptable Earl
Ben Earl, the England and Lions number 8, had 21 carries against the Waratahs – twice as many as any other player on the touring team and eight more than the nearest player, Waratahs prop Tom Lambert. The next Lion to Earl was Scotland centre Huw Jones with nine carries, while Mack Hansen and Sione Tuipulotu ended with eight carries each. Earl is seen by England head coach Steve Borthwick primarily as a backrow, but because of his good hands and pace he also has the ability to fill in at centre, particularly when teams employ a 6-2 split on the bench. Nobody knows how Farrell will split the bench against the Wallabies but with Earl seen as having the speed and ball-carrying ability to make an impact in the midfield and backrow, his selection would seem to be a strategic advantage.