Donal Lenihan: Lions must kill series here and now
HOWZAT? James Lowe gets in the swing. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland
THE 2000 AFL final at the MCG was contested between Geelong and Melbourne. How do I know? Well not only was I there, I was inspecting the respective dressing rooms as the bag men from both sides were in the process of hanging up the team kit.
So keen were the Trust that owns the Melbourne Cricket club, the southern hemisphere’s largest stadium originally built in 1853, to host the second test on the 2001 British and Irish Lions tour, I was given unbridled access despite the biggest game in the AFL taking place within hours.
With a capacity of 100,000 not only was it felt a Lions tour wouldn’t attract an audience of that magnitude in a city dominated by Australian Rules, the massive playing area and low stand setting didn’t feel conducive to rugby. On a tour clearly designed to generate as much revenue as possible, none of those factors appears to matter this time around.
So 24 years on, the MCG finally gets to host a Lions test. Right now I’m not sure whether that will prove a help or a hindrance to the Wallabies. One would imagine that for the Australian players getting a very rare opportunity to play at such an iconic venue would offer a lift at the most opportune time.
For whatever reason the Wallabies were far too passive in the opening half of the first test in Brisbane and stood off the Lions. They paid a big price for that and were left chasing the game from the break.
With many of the Australian players sitting in the stand for the Lions game against the First Nations/Pacifica side on Tuesday night, they will surely have taken a lot from how a massively physical approach from the proud indigenous and island players not only discommoded the Lions but presented the tourists with their most severe examination since arriving in the country.
If the Wallabies are in need of further inspiration, they need only look back to the last two Lions tours to the country in 2001 and 2013, when having lost the opening test the hosts bounced back, against the odds, to extend the series to the final game of the tour. What Joe Schmidt would give for history to repeat itself on that front today.
To stick or twist? That was always going to be more of a dilemma for Andy Farrell than Schmidt on the back of the respective performances in the opening test.
When you lose, the clamour for change becomes louder yet Schmidt has confined his alterations to the forward unit. No surprise there, given the dogs in the street were clamouring for the return of the beastly duo of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini once declared fit to help counteract of the foundation stones of the Lions' game plan in relation to set piece power and physical dominance in the contact area.
Ironically Schmidt isn’t a big fan of Skelton, deeming him more suited to the hard physical grind of the French Top 14 than the fluid running game he likes to impose.
Ever the pragmatist however, Schmidt appreciates more than most that for a gifted three-quarter line to function properly, Australia need to break even in the trench warfare up front. Given an adverse weather forecast with heavy rain expected throughout the game, the requirement for the hosts to go toe-to-toe and bring a more physical edge up front is even greater this time out.
That’s why Schmidt has opted for a 6/2 split in favour of forwards this time out with the timely return of Langi Gleeson to his bench, along with another dynamic breakaway in Carlo Tizzano, to add even more power and carrying ability over the last 30 minutes.
Behind the scrum, the big surprise for me surrounds Schmidt’s continued faith in last week’s starting half back pairing of Jake Gordon and Tom Lynagh. It proved a really testing night for Lynagh in Brisbane on his first ever start in test rugby. No great surprise there given he’d never played before with Gordon as his scrum half partner or Len Ikitau outside him at inside centre.
Schmidt has chosen to stick with that pairing, continuing to hold the impressive duo of Tate McDermott and Ben Donaldson in reserve. McDermott made a big impact off the bench last week but Schmidt isn’t ready to press the panic button just yet.
With Skelton, Valetini and hooker David Porecki all back in harness up front, Schmidt is banking on a more aggressive pack being able to compete on an equal footing over the first 50 minutes in the hope that his more experienced half back pairing may be able to close out the contest.
Farrell too is targeting the closing half hour after a disappointing showing from his bench in Brisbane, switching the loose head props with Andrew Porter starting and Ellis Genge tasked with making holes against a tiring Wallaby defence with his explosive carries after the break.
Having decided to flip his midfield, tasking the Irish duo of Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki to create more problems for Australia in attack and defence than the Scottish pair of Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones managed last week Farrell will be disappointed that Ringrose is set to lose out once again.
Having missed the chance to make his Lions test debut at Suncorp Stadium, the fact Ringrose put his hand up, selflessly and unsolicited, when declaring a recurrence of his concussive symptoms, serves to reinforce the “team first” philosophy Farrell has preached from the outset. That will only serve to unite his squad even further.
From a neutral perspective, a win for the Wallabies is exactly what the series needs to keep the public engaged in a tour that, to date, has failed to capture the imagination to the same extent as previous expeditions.
With their backs to the wall, Australia recognise they have to make things far more difficult for the tourists from the outset this time out. Speaking Thursday, Schmidt set the ground rules for his team.
“We don’t want to be nice, and we don’t want to be submissive”. The message being painted was loud and clear. The Wallabies will be far more confrontational than last week and, with those three changes up front, look better positioned to impose themselves from the off.
That will come as no surprise to Farrell, well used to a similar approach from his rugby league days with Great Britain against the same opposition. While this Wallaby side is suffering in comparison to their great teams of the past, as an extremely proud sporting nation, you can be guaranteed they’ll come out with all guns blazing.
The Wallaby scrum has been stronger than anticipated and with more scrums expected due to the adverse weather conditions forecast, that will play a big part. From that perspective, it’s vital that Porter stays on the right side of Italian referee Andrea Piardi.
If the heavens open, the game will come down to getting the basics right at the set piece and the breakdown, along with the accuracy of the Lions kicking game and ability to convert chances in the Wallaby twenty-two. Favourites from the outset of the tour, the Lions must close out the series now.
Schmidt encountered hurling for the first time when he arrived in Mullingar in 1991 and was captivated by it. With the pressure on after losing the opening test, I doubt very much he was watching Tipperary’s astonishing win over Cork last Sunday in a final the Rebels were widely fancied to win.
We all know what happened there. On so many occasions across a wide variety of sport history has shown that, in a two-horse race, anything can happen.
