Waratahs v Lions clash sparks memories of Ronan O'Gara's battered face

Times

2 days ago

Ronan O'Gara has arrived in Australia just in time to watch the British & Irish Lions face the NSW Waratahs in Sydney, a fixture that has its place in the annals of touring infamy. Alongside the Battle of Boet Erasmus in 1974 and the Battle of Ballymore in 1989 sits the 2001 Lions fixture against the Waratahs; the symbol of which was O'Gara's battered face.
Duncan McRae, the Waratahs fly half, pinned O'Gara to the turf and landed 11 punches on his defenceless opposite number. The Lions believed at the time, and still do, that the assault was part of a Waratahs plan to take a few Lions names in the build-up to the first Test.
Tom Bowman, the Waratahs lock, was the first of five players sent to the sin-bin on the night, after landing an elbow to the face of Danny Grewcock only three seconds into the game. The Lions won 41-24, with Jason Robinson scoring a couple more sizzling tries to seal his place in the Test team, but they lost Will Greenwood and Lawrence Dallaglio to injury, plus O'Gara required eight stitches.
McRae has argued that O'Gara had already elbowed him once at a ruck and was trying to do it again, so he flipped the Irishman on to his back and said, 'What the f*** are you gonna do, champ?' before unloading a fusillade of punches. But he could not explain why he lost control, although the Lions have their theories.
McRae was sent off and received a seven-week ban. O'Gara, who has guided La Rochelle to two Champions Cup titles as a coach, says he only thinks about the incident when his children watch video footage on the internet. 'The kids put it on and go, 'Dad, what happened there?' It doesn't look good obviously,' he says.
Those frenzied acts of violence have largely gone from the game. Mike Catt, the England World Cup-winner who is now a coach with the Waratahs, insisted NSW had no plans to 'go the biff', as they say down under, ten days before the first Test.
Catt was a Lion in 1997 and in 2001. 'There is no talk in the Waratahs camp about trying to bash up the Lions,' he said. 'Midweek games in South Africa, they were pretty old-school. They were some tough, tough games. You just had to survive them. It was a different mentality.
'But that's not in the game anymore. Those days are gone. It's too fast. You can't get away with it. Which Lions star are you going to rough up anyway? They have so many good players. They don't really rely on one person, do they?'
One of the great joys of Lions tours is that sense of history attached to so many of the fixtures, even in Australia where there have only been four full-blown tours since 1899. Next Wednesday, the Lions face the Brumbies, a contest with its own history.
Pierre Schoeman takes that legacy seriously. On the wall by his seat in the changing room on Saturday will be a plaque that names many of those to have worn the No1 jersey before him, including the Scotsmen Tom Smith and Ian 'Mighty Mouse' McLauchlan, neither of whom are still with us.
'Tom Smith is close to my heart because he has played for Scotland as well and I have sat on the same seat as him at Murrayfield, which I have been honoured and blessed with,' Schoeman said.
'It is an amazing question and we do deep-dive on it. Sometimes Simon Easterby, our defensive coach, will take us through some of the key figures to create that aura. We speak about it, just a word. We have to deliver physically and mentally in that moment and create that aura of a Lions player.
'We believe you have to deliver. In this moment now, focus on the history and build on the legacy of the Lions. Be here in the now, in the moment, delivering those key moments.
'That's what the jersey demands of us as loose-head props, like Mighty Mouse — his family watches all our games — and that's the legacy of it. Our families will hopefully live a long and abundant life but it's much bigger than just that, so give it your all. That means fully submerge in everything in your tour.'
Schoeman has been rooming with Ellis Genge, another Lions loose-head. The props are a different breed and on this tour they have their own group chat that excludes even the hookers.
'We are like bison, migrating together. We have a secret meeting every night,' Schoeman, 31, added. 'Finlay Bealham started it and now all the props have bought in. We stick together and have tea after every training session and we get to meet each other's families and ask deep questions. But it is just for props in our group in whatever hotel we live in. Props have a soft side as well.'
The Lions set piece needs to improve, their lineout is still scruffy and their scrum has not yet clicked. Andy Farrell raised a quizzical eyebrow at the refereeing of the scrum against Queensland Reds on Wednesday, pointing out to the officials that his collection of top-class front-row forwards would hardly be looking to collapse the scrum.
The challenge for Schoeman on Saturday is a fascinating one. The Wallabies have made available Taniela Tupou, the troubled tight-head prop whose career has reached a crossroads after a dramatic loss of form triggered anxiety and confidence issues. The 29-year-old has dropped out of the Wallabies equation and has signed a big-money deal with Racing 92 in France for next season.
'We have massive respect for him,' Schoeman said. 'I played against him in Super Rugby. Since then he has been a powerhouse. Respect to him. It's good they release him to get more game time because it's good prep, it's better than training. These games really build up to the Tests and the fans want to see the best players going against each other.'
They do. But the Lions have been given a relatively soft ride by Western Force and Queensland Reds, scoring 16 tries and more than a century of points in two games, reinforcing concerns about the strength of opposition on tours to Australia.
Compare this experience with the 2017 tour to New Zealand, where the Lions battled to a statement 12-3 win against the Crusaders, the dominant Super Rugby team of their generation who featured a host of frontline All Blacks.
The Wallabies have retained seven Waratahs for their Test against Fiji on Sunday, including Angus Bell and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, the star NRL convert who is fit again after breaking his jaw in mid-May.
The 21-year-old's availability is a huge boost to the Wallabies, who are sweating over the fitness of Will Skelton, Rob Valentini and Jake Gordon for the Lions Tests. All three miss the Fiji game.
There is little chance, then, of the Waratahs giving the Lions a stern test. It will be a memorable occasion, though, for Jamie Adamson, the former England and Great Britain sevens player who is on the Waratahs bench.
There is a midweek feel to the Lions line-up as Farrell starts to direct his selection strategy towards the first Test on July 19, including the first outing for a six-two bench. The Lions have picked a rapid, dynamic back row with Henry Pollock at blind-side flanker and Josh van der Flier at open-side, with Ben Earl starting at No8 and covering inside centre for the second time this week.
Fin Smith and Sione Tuipulotu pair up at fly half and inside centre, acutely aware that Owen Farrell arrives into Sydney on Friday night, gunning for a place in the Test squad.
Most significantly, given the injury to Elliot Daly, Hugo Keenan and Blair Kinghorn will make belated Lions debuts together and fire the starter's gun on their race to the Test full-back jersey. Keenan is in pole position for the role, with Kinghorn on the wing.
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