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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
British and Irish Lions withstand late Australia pressure to take lead in Test series
The British and Irish Lions lead the series against Australia thanks to a First Test win in Brisbane. Ultimately it was a game of two halves as Andy Farrell's side were the dominant force in the first-half, leading 17-5 at the break thanks in part to a brilliant performance from Finn Russell. From the moment Dan Sheehan increased the lead right at the start of the second half, the First Test looked a forgone conclusion. However, a mixture of the Lions' levels dropping and Australia growing in confidence resulted in a much closer game. Billed as strong favourites to win the first Test at Suncorp Stadium, they surpassed expectations by taking the Wallabies apart in a first half that exposed the gulf in class between the rivals. Flankers Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne were at the heart of their dominance up front with props Ellis Genge and Sheehan delivering strong supporting roles, while Russell cast a spell over the home defence. Russell had serious firepower to unleash in the form of centres Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, the classy number 13 touching down with the omnipresent Curry and Sheehan also crossing. For all the fireworks from the Lions, who had built an unassailable 24-5 lead just seconds after the interval, their play became far more ragged in the final half-hour with Australia's bench having greater impact. It was perhaps a reflection of the effort they had put in during a phase of the match when it looked like men against boys, but the Wallabies' fighting spirit was also evident. Australia finished the stronger side in a development that bodes well for the Tests to come in Melbourne and Sydney and it is hoped bulldozing forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini will return from their calf injuries imminently to take part. With the power of Skelton and Valetini missing, the Wallabies were given little hope and their worst fears came to pass inside the opening 10 minutes as the Lions raced clear with Russell dictating play beautifully. A penalty that rewarded the intent shown by Curry and Beirne at the first breakdown was followed by two sublime passes as part of a move that ended with Tuipulotu strolling over. Curry and Beirne were terrorising the Wallabies in contact and at the breakdown, justifying their selection in the ferociously-competitive flanker positions, while Tuipulotu and Jones were beginning to find their stride. Jones had a try disallowed for not releasing and having just shown steel in defence, the Lions were burgled when Max Jorgensen stripped Hugo Keenan after the full-back had caught the ball before escaping to touch down. Leading 10-5, the tourists needed more points to reflect their dominance after James Lowe and Joe McCarthy went close and their pack duly delivered with Curry producing the last in a series of pick and goes. The second half was just 78 seconds old when the Lions moved out of sight with Curry and Jones instrumental in a try for Sheehan. Australia showed signs of revival with their forwards at the heart of their best passage of play so far that saw Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Harry Potter almost pierce the red wall. The Lions bench was not having the expected impact and instead it was the Wallabies' reinforcements who were making their mark, with a dominant spell ending when Carlo Tizzano barrelled over. The try was richly deserved and in a nod to Australia's growing challenge, Marcus Smith drilled over a penalty to create a 15-point lead before Tate McDermott claimed a late consolation try. Additional reporting by PA.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Andy Farrell sings praises of 'absolutely immense' Lions duo as team selection is justified in Australia win
British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell said Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne had fully justified their selection after playing key roles as the tourists dominated Australia physically early in their first test victory on Saturday. Farrell said he had noted the media commentary around the form of the two flankers when he included them in his team at the expense of Wales captain Jac Morgan and Irish loose forward Josh van der Flier. Curry scored one try and provided a pass for another, while Beirne was hard on the ball at the breakdown throughout the match at Lang Park, where the Lions earned a comfortable 27-19 victory. "Immense, absolutely immense," Farrell told reporters. "Big game players, who were probably challenged by a good few. And I think it told the story. I think Tom Curry put in some really nice shots defensively. "Tadhg got the turnover very early doors that set the tone really, and I don't think it stopped there. He carried on for the rest of the game. "(Number eight) Jack Conan's carrying was very much on the front foot, wasn't it? So those three guys, I'm sure they'd be delighted with how they responded to selection. "They are men of their word and they delivered." Farrell was also impressed with how effective the more direct running from the Lions was as they scored three tries in the first 41 minutes. "You could see the difference in our game," he said. "As I've said all along, the hardest part about any team coming together is gelling attack because it takes a lot of cohesion for that to happen. "So we're trying to find out about ourselves in that regard." Farrell was disappointed that the Lions let Australia back into the game in the last quarter when the Wallabies scored two tries. "I thought we let them back into the game in regard to a lack of discipline in the second half, which gave them a bit of a sniff to get back in the game," he said. "Physically, I suppose when you give a couple of penalties away, or you're getting warnings, or there's a loose offload or a loose carry, that suppresses you a little bit, and we started losing a few collisions. "(But) I actually believe that's a fantastic place for us to be, because there's so much more in us."
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘The Lions built this club': watching the first Test at Ballymena RFC, home of Lions legends
An hour before kick-off, and I'm beginning to wonder if watching the first Test at Ballymena RFC was such a bright idea. It's only me and the girl working the bar, and she doesn't have a strong opinion on whether or not Tom Curry should be playing No 7. 'Which paper did you say you were with, the Ballymena Guardian?' No, it's the other Guardian, I say. 'Oh, the Antrim one.' Just about the time I was beginning to think that all of Ballymena's thousand-or-so members must have been among the tens of thousands going the other way into Portrush for the Open, they began to trickle in, one, two, three, four dozen, and more. Soon enough everyone's comparing the vintages of their Lions jerseys. There's one from '01, another from '05, a few from 2013, and a couple of little kids, more interested in playing their own game than following the one on the TV, have the 2025 edition. They're too young to understand anything much about the match except that it matters to the adults. The Lions is an idea that gets passed on from one generation to the next, follow it back long enough and you'll end up at to two men who were born and bred in this very club, Willie John McBride and Syd Millar, who did as much as anyone to make the team into what they are today. Millar, the son of a butcher, and McBride, the son of a farmer, were both Ballymena men. There's a wood-panelled room upstairs in the clubhouse which is named after them. It's filled with their memorabilia. They played, coached, managed, and chaired nine Lions tours between them, and led the legendary 1974 tour, when Millar was coach and McBride captain of the team that went unbeaten in South Africa. There's a huge picture of McBride in the moment after the third Test all along one wall, signed by every one of his squad. When Scott Quinnell visited here four years ago, he broke down in tears standing in front of it. 'Attitude is the first thing a Lions team needs to have,' Millar said. 'If the attitude is right, the other things fall into place.' Downstairs, the Lions' attitude seems to be shaping up just fine. They are 10-0 up already, and the sting has already gone from the game. Truth is, it doesn't feel like there's a lot of jeopardy on this tour. Most people in the bar seem worried for Australia, who are in the unfamiliar position of being seen as easy-beats. 'I'd hoped the Wallabies would give them more of a game than this,' says the man on the next barstool along. Turns out he has a Lions jersey of his own at home, 1989 vintage, although he's not wearing it. 'But then,' he says, 'I was only a midweek player.' Stevie, as they all call Steve Smith, was the reserve hooker for Finlay Calder's Lions team, who came back from 1-0 down to beat Australia. 'I played against his da',' he says, watching the young Tom Lynagh on TV. Smith has the look of a man who's done some hard living. Maybe his busted knuckles are still recovering from the time he knocked out four of Sean Fitzpatrick's teeth. He still seems a little in awe of McBride. 'They were big shoes to fill.' But he loves Millar, who gave him a break by picking him for the Barbarians when he had been banned from playing for Ulster because of his misadventures on tour. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion But then everyone here owes a lot to Millar. He even came back to serve as the club rep after he finished his four-year stint as the chair of the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby). They say he used to give the union hell in the provincial committee meetings. When the French decided to award him the Legion d'honneur, they asked if he would fly out to Paris for the ceremony. No, Millar, told them, but you're welcome to come here, and we can do it upstairs in the Ballymena clubhouse. In Millar's day Ballymena were the best club in Ulster, and Ulster were the best team in Ireland. Smith was part of the Ulster team that beat the Wallabies during their famous grand slam tour in 1984, 15-12 at Ravenhill, 'a better Australian side than this one', I say, and he doesn't disagree. When Ulster won the Heineken Cup in 1998-99 they had 15 Ballymena players in the squad. No wonder the club won the all-Ireland title a few years later. It's different now. This is the first time in 20 years there's not an Ulsterman on tour with the Lions, but no one's complaining, Ulster are on their uppers, three million in debt and third-bottom in the URC. At Ballymena, too, there are members who ask why the club aren't winning like they used to. But back then McBride, Millar, Smith, Trevor Ringland and all the rest of the international players used to turn out for the club at every opportunity. These days their best young players get funnelled into the professional system, and they don't see them again till they're spat out the other end. They even took down a photograph of one of their more recent international players because he had never actually turned out for them, only been registered to the club by the governing body. So Ballymena's changing. They've become a community hub, and a participation club, with five adult sides, and a full slate in age groups, and a side for players with learning disabilities. 'The Lions built this club,' Smith tells me. 'It put us on the map.' But it's true, I say back to him, that once upon a time a couple of men from this club built the Lions, too.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lions one win from ending wait – 5 things we learned from first Test
The British and Irish Lions are one victory away from completing their first series win since 2013 after dispatching Australia 27-19 in Brisbane, where the scoreline failed to reflect their dominance. Here, the PA news agency examines five things learned from the first Test. Now finish the job The sense of anticlimax at the final whistle contrasted starkly with the pre-match buzz around Suncorp Stadium. A gulf in class between the rivals had been exposed during the 42 minutes it took the Lions to canter out of sight and now anything other than an emphatic series whitewash will be seen as failure. Andy Farrell's men were able to butcher a host of chances and take their foot off the gas after Dan Sheehan crossed early in the second half, yet still be streets ahead. A long couple of weeks awaits the Wallabies. Test match animal The term coined by Sir Ian McGeechan to describe a special breed of player who rises to the occasion on the biggest stage was typified by Tom Curry, the full-throttle England flanker who terrorised Australia in contact and at the breakdown. Described as a 'machine' by Andy Farrell, Curry shrugged off his indifferent form in previous tour matches to set the physical tone from the moment he pulverised James Slipper in the opening seconds. Just a fraction behind him were Tadhg Beirne and Tadhg Furlong, who also fully justified why they were picked on reputation. Russell shines For periods of the first half, Finn Russell cast a spell on the home defence. His range of passing released team-mates, created openings and set-up tries to leave former Lions fly-halves Dan Biggar and Ronan O'Gara purring in the commentary box. If Australia had a plan to take him out of the game, it clearly did not work as the Scotland ringmaster cut loose behind a dominant pack. Fresh from steering Bath to the treble, Russell is operating at the peak of his powers and, on current form, is the best 10 in the game. Farrell's wing woes Apart from the failure to crush the Wallabies, thereby breaking their spirits heading into the second Test, Farrell will be most concerned about his wings. James Lowe continued the dismal form he has shown all tour while Tommy Freeman made too many wrong decisions game and both would be fretting over keeping their places if there were strong alternatives. However, Mack Hansen is struggling with a foot injury and Duhan van Merwe's defensive shortcomings have been exposed repeatedly ever since the curtain raiser against Argentina. Blair Kinghorn was seen as the first-choice full-back but with Hugo Keenan proving solid enough in the first Test, the Scot could be picked on the wing if he recovers from his knee injury. Skelton and Valetini The return of powerful forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini cannot come soon enough for Australia. Having missed the first Test with calf injuries, they have been given the all-clear for the attempt to level the series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Skelton's sheer physical presence will prevent the Wallabies from being bullied in quite the same way, while Valetini provides a destructive carrying option. It is upon their availability and the fight shown in the final 30 minutes at Suncorp Stadium that Australia's hopes rest.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Lions one win from ending wait – what we learned from the first Test
The British and Irish Lions are one victory away from completing their first series win since 2013 after dispatching Australia 27-19 in Brisbane, where the scoreline failed to reflect their dominance. Here, the PA news agency examines five things learned from the first Test. Now finish the job The sense of anticlimax at the final whistle contrasted starkly with the pre-match buzz around Suncorp Stadium. A gulf in class between the rivals had been exposed during the 42 minutes it took the Lions to canter out of sight and now anything other than an emphatic series whitewash will be seen as failure. Andy Farrell's men were able to butcher a host of chances and take their foot off the gas after Dan Sheehan crossed early in the second half, yet still be streets ahead. A long couple of weeks awaits the Wallabies. Test match animal The term coined by Sir Ian McGeechan to describe a special breed of player who rises to the occasion on the biggest stage was typified by Tom Curry, the full-throttle England flanker who terrorised Australia in contact and at the breakdown. Described as a 'machine' by Andy Farrell, Curry shrugged off his indifferent form in previous tour matches to set the physical tone from the moment he pulverised James Slipper in the opening seconds. Just a fraction behind him were Tadhg Beirne and Tadhg Furlong, who also fully justified why they were picked on reputation. Russell shines For periods of the first half, Finn Russell cast a spell on the home defence. His range of passing released team-mates, created openings and set-up tries to leave former Lions fly-halves Dan Biggar and Ronan O'Gara purring in the commentary box. If Australia had a plan to take him out of the game, it clearly did not work as the Scotland ringmaster cut loose behind a dominant pack. Fresh from steering Bath to the treble, Russell is operating at the peak of his powers and, on current form, is the best 10 in the game. Farrell's wing woes Apart from the failure to crush the Wallabies, thereby breaking their spirits heading into the second Test, Farrell will be most concerned about his wings. James Lowe continued the dismal form he has shown all tour while Tommy Freeman made too many wrong decisions game and both would be fretting over keeping their places if there were strong alternatives. However, Mack Hansen is struggling with a foot injury and Duhan van Merwe's defensive shortcomings have been exposed repeatedly ever since the curtain raiser against Argentina. Blair Kinghorn was seen as the first-choice full-back but with Hugo Keenan proving solid enough in the first Test, the Scot could be picked on the wing if he recovers from his knee injury. Skelton and Valetini The return of powerful forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini cannot come soon enough for Australia. Having missed the first Test with calf injuries, they have been given the all-clear for the attempt to level the series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Skelton's sheer physical presence will prevent the Wallabies from being bullied in quite the same way, while Valetini provides a destructive carrying option. It is upon their availability and the fight shown in the final 30 minutes at Suncorp Stadium that Australia's hopes rest.
