Match
Report
Australia A vs British Lions
27:25
|
1.
|
 |
Dai Young
|
9.
|
 |
Austin Healey | //Start Edit text //End Edit text
|
2.
|
 |
Robin McBryde |
10.
|
 |
Neil Jenkins |
|
3.
|
 |
Jason Leonard |
11.
|
 |
Jason Robinson |
|
4.
|
 |
Scott Murray |
12.
|
 |
Mike Catt |
|
5.
|
 |
Malcolm O'Kelly |
13.
|
 |
Will Greenwood |
|
6.
|
 |
Lawrence Dellaglio |
14.
|
 |
Ben Cohen |
|
7.
|
 |
Martyn Williams |
15.
|
 |
Matt Perry |
|
8.
|
 |
Scott Quinnell | |||
| The picture of Lawrence Dallaglio sitting out the last 10
minutes of this bruising confrontation told its own tale. Dallaglio cut
a lonely figure, running hands through the remains of his hairline, grimacing
up at the scoreboard. The Lions were coming back at Australia A and there
might well have been some who wished the big man was still on the park,
drawing in defenders and making room for others to produce an unlikely
and, had it happened, undeserved victory. But he sat still, barely puffing out those finely sculptured cheekbones, as Perry and then Robinson went over for thrilling scores. The Lions were having more of the play, and while the strong contingent of supporters on the banks of Gosford's stands did the math and figured on a last-minute drop-goal, Dallaglio must have known that on this day, the Lions weren't at the races. Australia's cocky coach in waiting, Eddie Jones, had predicted a win for his raw recruits and the fact that the pace of their attacks and domination of line-out and scrum were reduced once he withdrew Tom Bowman was a testament to the domination of the big man in the basics and a stinging reminder to the Lions that a team on tour needs to gel and stick to the manual in order to compete at the highest level. So where do we begin? Leonard struggled to prevent Moore and Cannon from turning in on the loosehead at every scrum and once the initial forward thrust was lost at the point of engagement, the back five struggled to make any real impression in the drive. One of the focus points for the Lions on this tour has been their momentum in the driving maul (something Australian coaches have snipped at as old-fashioned and dull) and Jones' troops demonstrated how to bring the drive to a halt by using fair means (and occasionally foul). In the first half the Lions managed only two attacks of any note and both these were mounted on the counter with loose ball being hoofed up the field. Both Cohen and Robinson answered their critics as they defended the last man with resolute determination; indeed the team as a whole drove Australia back in the tackle but there was little respite from the Australian onslaught. And what an onslaught it was. After three games in which the Lions had scored over 30 tries we were reminded of the sight of rampaging Australian backs feasting on broken play as the forwards drew in the tackles and created space up the middle. Indeed if the centres had bothered to pass out wide more often then the bewildering imbalance of one score to the Lions three would have been redressed, and then some. The Lions defence was magnificent and the sight of players refusing to be drawn into the tackle and shadowing their man towards touch was encouraging. Phil Larder could afford a grin but with Andy Robinson prowling the sidelines, grimacing like a man who'd seen more action in a Smarties TV ad, this was not the time for raising a smile. Going forward was the real problem, something that Queensland had exposed towards the later stages of their game on Saturday. Dallaglio may have felt the pace after his absence through injury and Healey, Jenkins and Catt simply couldn't get their games going. Without decent ball, neither Cohen, Robinson or Perry could create much pressure and then the wheels came off once the basics at scrum and line-out proved beyond the capacity of tired but trusted lieutenants. It was a game where those who didn't play gained more in stature. Johnson, Woods, Howley, Wilkinson, Hill, Henderson and Balshaw will almost certainly be starters when the First Test kicks off on June 30th but for many others there is plenty to play for. And plenty more to get right.Also you have to wonder what the hell is Robin McBryde doing out there, and why does Henry persist with Jenkins, instead of O'Gara and Healey at outside half, when he clearly isn't at the races.
|
|||||
Click here to go back