Owen Farrell (left) and Rob Kearney (right) compete for the ball during the British and Irish Lions first Australian training session, at Langley Park in Perth on Monday. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
ONCE again an unforgiving Super Rugby round has left Wallabies coach Robbie Deans with yet more grey hairs and injury dilemmas as the first Test against the Lions touched down in Australia.
Injuries to forwards Scott Higginbotham and Sitaleki Timani have ruled them out and with it some physicality which the Wallabies will sorely need when the Lions come calling. Bad boys, Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale still have a chance to be involved. This is if Cooper can sort out his defence (possibly a dress rehearsal coming up this Saturday as the Lions meet the Reds) and Beale continuing his rehab away from the schooners, for club side Randwick.
Meanwhile, the British Lions got their campaign underway with more of a sweaty bark than a roar. The win against a talented but ultimately inferior Barbarians side in Hong Kong was nonetheless a convincing outing for the squad. In suffocating humidity, the Lions engineered plenty of blood and a ridiculous amount of perspiration – it was tantamount to animal cruelty for the poor front five in 90% humidity. You almost shed a tear at the sight of the heroic and hairy duo of front-rowers Adam Jones and Martin Castrogiovanni thundering around in near impossible playing conditions.
Perhaps more of a PR exercise rather than a genuine test first up for the Lions, there were some useful pointers for Warren Gatland’s team as they toiled hard in the Hong Kong sauna. Mike Phillips was back to his snarling, annoying best (although he alongside Toulon winger Delon Armitage seems to enjoy showboating when pointing to the direction of the try line). One of these days they are going to get a good ‘chinning’ in the words of the great Brian Moore, the former England hooker, who voiced his disapproval to this loutish soccer style behaviour.
Anyway Phillips, Jamie Roberts and Alex Cuthbert enjoyed strong games alongside the gallant and heavily perspiring Adam Jones up front. Mentions also go to the exciting Justin Tipuric at open-side who once again pressed his claims against the injury-stricken Lions skipper Sam Warburton. But the man of the match was Wales Tongan torpedo Toby Faletau who was absolutely everywhere in the first half and must be a shoe-in for the first Test in Brisbane.
The standard will inevitably increase now the Lions have arrived in Australia. Given the soapy conditions of Hong Kong, play at times was so slow that the well-oiled Hong Kong expat bankers who made up most of the crowd had time to go to the bar still be back in time for the next scrum.
Crucially, unlike the Wallabies this weekend, the Lions reported a clean bill of health; save for a sore chin for poor old Owen Farell who got thumped by his own club teammate, Schalk Brits.
The serious business starts in Perth on Wednesday. When the Lions line up again the Western Force we will get a much clearer idea of where the tourists are at.
[ Source: Australian Times ]