Stagger then strike: What the Wallabies need to do to keep the series alive

Sydney Morning Herald

4 days ago

Wallabies hooker Matt Faessler had a difficult day at the lineout, missing two throws in the first half and shortly into the second half, overthrowing to the back of the lineout to Champion de Crespigny.
The hooker is often unfairly maligned in the lineout, in the same way a prop is blamed for a failing scrum when they are reliant on their second-rowers' push.
Faessler equally needs his lifters to work in tandem, but in this case, Fraser McReight's efforts in getting Champion de Crespigny up were irrelevant as the ball sailed over their heads.
The Wallabies were starved of attacking ball and desperately needed to make the most of the scraps they received. This moment led to a try from Lions' hooker Dan Sheehan, essentially killing off the game, despite Australia's fightback later.
Faessler paid the price for his poor performance and has been dropped completely from the match day squad for Melbourne, with the Waratahs hooker Dave Porecki starting and Billy Pollard coming off the bench, surely with steadier throws.
Beware the ball-playing prop
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery: just ask Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell. The first clip below is from seven years ago in the Six Nations with Schmidt in charge of Ireland against England.
Schmidt often used Irish tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong as a decoy playmaker, confusing the defence, who not unreasonably thought he would charge at them.
Furlong was a talented gaelic footballer in his youth and possesses elite passing skills. In this clip, he pops up a beautiful pass to Bundee Aki to charge through the England defence to set up a try.
In Brisbane, Furlong is back to his old tricks with Schmidt getting a sense of deja vu in the opposite coaching box.
The prop calls for the ball and his opposite number Allan Alaalatoa, not unreasonably braces for contact. Instead, Furlong pulls the ball back to Finn Russell, who exploits space in the surprised Wallabies defence. Sione Tuipulotu scored a Lions try shortly after.
Lack of grunt
The Wallabies were brutally outmuscled by a heavier pack in Brisbane and the lack of powerful ball runners such as the injured Langi Gleeson and Rob Valetini proved costly. Thankfully both men are back for Melbourne.
The stats are brutal: the Lions averaged 2.53 metres per post-contact carry against the Wallabies 1.87 metres in the game.
The following example of nine phases highlights the helplessness of the Wallabies against the well-organised Lions defence, which has high line speed. The Wallabies were unable to bend back the Lions defensive line.
The First Nations and Pasifika XV showed on Tuesday the need for aggressive and strong forwards to take the fight directly to the Lions.
Scrum parity
Although the Wallabies struggled with their lineout, their scrum was a highlight. Traditionally, the Lions have looked at the Australian scrum as an easy way to build domination in the game.
Wallabies tighthead Alaalatoa is playing some of the best rugby of his career and here scrums squarely forcing the giant Irish loosehead Andrew Porter to angle in illegally.
Australia have got the world's best scrummaging expert in Mike Cron on their coaching staff and the New Zealander will have been pleased with the work at the set piece which will only improve with second-rower Will Skelton's power in Melbourne.
The box kick can work
The box kick is never easy on the eye and in Brisbane, Jake Gordon's efforts didn't work for the majority of the game.
Gordon missed the Test against Fiji with a hamstring injury and was rusty with most of his kicks deprived of the necessary hang time to give his wingers a chance at a fair contest against the brilliant aerial skills of Lions' fullback Hugo Keenan.
On the 28th minute, Gordon nailed it perfectly, with Max Jorgensen showing not only great skill, but strength to rip the ball from Keenan's grasp and sprint through for a try.
The day of the jackal
Charlie Gamble has become the scourge of the Lions breakdown, causing havoc for the Waratahs and the First Nations and Pasifika XV.
Gamble was helped by an aggressive pack in both games who smashed opponents to give him a free shot at the ball.
McReight needs similar help, but is still brilliant at scanning for opportunities, even when outmatched and will look for further opportunities to disrupt his opposite number in Melbourne.
The sniping spark of McDermott
Tate McDermott is a victim of his own success coming off the bench and remains there for Melbourne.
He is the perfect spark plug for the Wallabies when the Lions are tiring. The halfback walks up to the ruck laconically, giving the impression he will move into the 7th phase with his forwards.
Irish tighthead Andrew Porter is expecting another carry, instead McDermott takes on two defenders and wiggles over for a late consolation try.
McDermott's ability to manipulate space is world-class and will continue to cause the Lions headaches in Melbourne, if utilised correctly.