Well, that was quite the weekend in terms of controversy, wasn’t it? In a second Lions Test, which saw the Tourists clinch the series, there were plenty of contentious points, and lots of people have asked us what we think. So we’ll throw caution to the wind, and after veritable hours of studying the last five minutes of the second Lions Test, we will, as requested, pass judgement. However, we will only do so under the caveat of a huge credit to both teams irrespective of the final scoreline. The Lions and the Wallabies provided us with a memorable Test match which we throroughly enjoyed every minute of, even if some of the technical minutiae caused perhaps some of the most intense debate over some frothy pints we’ve ever seen. Judgement, however, has been passed, so take what you will from it and respect both teams. Although the Series may be won, there is no denying that Saturday’s final game in Sydney is definitely not being seen as a simple dead rubber match. Australia’s pride and potential for heading into a hotly contested Rugby Championship in just over two weeks time is on the line, and there are plenty of points to prove, the least of them being denying the Lions a first ever 3-0 whitewash.
Meanwhile, excitement here at the Lineout is reaching an almost feverish pitch as we start the countdown to our extraordinary Women’s World Cup campaign. They start spooling up this weekend in Ottawa in a preparatory match against old rivals the USA. Apparently ticket sales for the game are going through the roof, so if you are anywhere near Ottawa this Friday then sign yourselves up and make this the biggest attendance ever for a Women’s rugby game in North America. And if you can’t get there, make sure that this is the biggest televised audience for a Women’s game in North America by making sure you are glued to your TV screens on TSN on Friday night!!!!
So plenty to talk about and lots of controversy, much of which caused some raging debates here at the Lineout and, at times, heated differences of opinion. However, we managed to thrash it out, so here are our thoughts and views on what was at the end of the day an amazing game of rugby from two quality sides. However, first and foremost, we simply have to share our excitement about our Canadian Women’s imminent departure for England and the World Cup!
Canada’s Women get ready to hit top gear ahead of perhaps the biggest rugby event this country has ever seen!
So it’s T-25 days folks till our fabulous Canadian Women kick off their World Cup campaign against Fiji in York. To get them prepared, they will play two matches this month. One here in Canada at Ottawa’s TD Place against the USA on August 1st, and then a game against Ireland the following Saturday in Belfast. On that note we are delighted to announce that their fund raising target of $1,000,000 for their World Cup Campaign is 88% complete and a huge shout out to anyone who has clicked on the link on the TV page and donated. If you haven’t done so already, please think about lending your generous support, especially as they are now so close to reaching their target. Remember this remarkable group of Canadian Women Athletes are ranked as the second best Women’s rugby team in the World after England, but still ahead of New Zealand and France. If that’s not enough incentive, then we don’t know what is.
On that note, we were delighted to see Center Alex Tessier be appointed as Canada’s World Cup Captain. Although till last year, Sophie de Goede has worn the Captain’s armband, her ACL injury last year, and subsequent rehabilitation has meant she has had little game time over the past twelve months. Tessier, however, has taken over the Captaincy, and in the process, Canada simply hasn’t missed a beat in their preparation for the World Cup. A nominee for World Player of the Year in 2024, Tessier is an exceptional talent and her leadership role in Canada’s campaigns in both the WXV last year, the Pacific Four and the recent successful Tour to South Africa has been exemplary.
Canada’s squad for the World Cup is looking exceptionally strong. Former Captain Sophie de Goede made a brief but positive return to Test Rugby in South Africa. Meanwhile, we were delighted to learn that the injury Laetitia Royer picked up in the final Test in South Africa is not serious and will not compromise her ability to compete in the World Cup. While we are reluctant to single out key individuals in such a talented squad there is no denying that the fitness of players like Royer and De Goede will be critical to Canada’s success in their World Cup campaign.
In front of what could end up being the largest ever attendance for a Women’s Rugby game in North America, Canada looks in excellent form. While the USA will be a significant challenge and excellent preparation, home advantage and a team that appears to be building on each consecutive victory should see Canada able to put in a convincing performance to get a momentum building win ahead of the World Cup.
As much as we have sung the praises of this team, we’re sure that they are not underestimating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead of them in the next two months. However, we’d argue this is perhaps the best prepared team Canada has ever sent to a global competition in any sport. Like we say, without wanting to overhype or jinx it, this is perhaps one of the biggest events in Canada’s recent sporting history on a global stage.
So, in short, if you’re in Ottawa this Friday, then you know where you need to be, and if you’re not, then make sure you have access to a screen somewhere and let the cheering begin!
Canada vs USA – Friday, August 1st – 7:00 PM (Eastern) TSN 5 and TSN+ (live and on demand)
The Lions clinch a historic win in Australia, albeit not without controversy!
So before we reflect on an epic second Test between the Lions and the Wallabies which saw the famous Tourist side clinch the Series, let’s get the elephants out of the room as many of you seem to want to know what we think. We’ll be completely honest, we’ve looked at the footage of this game more than perhaps any other in our history of watching the oval ball. The debates at times were ferocious, pints were spilled, but in the end, after looking at every angle and reading every opinion, our conclusions are unanimous, even if they may not be popular. So here we go.
The Lions won the Series plain and simple despite some VERY spirited Australian opposition! Did the Officials get their decisions right in the Second Test, within the letter of the law and despite its potential grey areas, of which there are many? Yes! Is Australia a worthy touring destination for the Wallabies? The unequivocal answer to that question is a resounding YES!!!!
If you’re like us, the second Lions Test against Australia was one of the most nailbiting we’ve ever witnessed. We were literally on the edge of our seats from the opening whistle to the final. In short, it was a CLASSIC, and both sides should feel enormously proud of their performances even though for the Wallabies, it ended in a truly agonising last gasp defeat. So yes, we hear you say, were two of those Lions tries which clinched the deal actually legitimate? Well, here is our breakdown for what it’s worth!
Exhibit one: the first Lions try courtesy of Ireland’s Dan Sheehan. The debate seems to revolve around whether or not by diving for the line and over a potential tackler he contravened a rule. The way we read the rule is if he had attempted to dive over a rising tackler, then he would have violated the law. However, in this instance, he dives over a tackler already going to ground and is therefore entitled to dive for the line and in the process over the hapless tackler. Try awarded.
Exhibit Two: the second and massively controversial ruling that has dominated the debate since referee Andrea Piardi’s final whistle, is that Lions’ player Jac Morgan’s ruck clearout on Wallaby Carlo Tizzano is illegal, which ultimately led to a Lions penalty and Match/Series winning try. The argument by the Australian media is that in attempting to clear Tizzzano off the ruck, Lions forward Jac Morgan makes contact with Tizzano’s neck. We have watched the replay of this “rugby incident” more times collectively than we’ve had coffee this week.
Our unanimous verdict is that although eventually Morgan does make contact with Tizzano’s neck, it is a sliding contact that started just slightly below the Australian’s shoulders and therefore the initial impact is not on the neck. As the law stands Morgan’s approach to the ruck clearout is legal, and to be honest his technique is textbook as he simply could not have got any lower than he did and is therefore within the scope of the rules. Furthermore, in attempting to clear out the ruck, he makes a clear and evident attempt at a wrap around the jackaler Tizzano with his arms, which is also a legal requirement. Sure it would not have been particularly comfortable, though Tizzzano’s resulting “soccer type” dive was a bit over the top, but some expression of pain by the player being cleared out is not exactly unjustified. Being hit by a Jac Morgan coming at you with force and speed is not a prospect that most of us would relish regardless of the legalities. In short, it would hurt, but it is still as the current laws stand legal.
But doesn’t that make all your recent arguments surrounding player welfare and poor official calls a hypocrisy we hear you say? We can fully understand why some people who have read this blog would think so and you are not without reason. However, in this instance, although we perhaps winced at the actual intensity of the contact it’s the laws that are out of kilter in this instance and not the player Jac Morgan’s actions – plain and simple.
To add weight to our arguments, two leading Australian pundits have actually come out in support of the Officials’ decision that Morgan’s actions did not break the rules and therefore the play which ultimately set up that Series winning try was within the bounds of the law. Former Wallaby Tim Horan and who was part of the commentary team for the Australian media has said that Morgan’s actions were legal and was not the reason that the Wallabies came agonisingly short of taking the Series to a Third Test decider. Furthermore when former Wallaby David Campese, who is potentially one of the most notoriously one eyed Wallaby supporters on the planet also comes out and says that Morgan’s actions were within the bounds of the game’s current laws then you can’t help feeling that referee Andrea Piardi and his fellow Match Officials must have been on to something.
Ultimately, it’s a tragedy that such a high-quality game from both sides will be remembered less for the intensity of play on show, which was immense from both teams but more for a controversial decision. The behavior of some of the Australian commentary team, such as Morgan Turinui, was simply unacceptable during and after the match. It was ironic that in the post match interview Stan Sport’s Justin Harrison tried to draw one of Australia’s best players of the match Will Skelton out on the decision, but to Skelton’s credit he refused to comment on it and showed his class by, although being clearly gutted by such a narrow loss, recognsing that the Wallabies came just a hair’s breadth short of getting the job done.
Australia suffer an AGONISING Series loss to the Lions, riddled with controversy, but their future ultimately lies in how they deal with both the loss and the third and Final Test!
So we’ve unpacked all those controversies of the Second Test as much as we can, so let’s talk about the rugby and more importantly what we though was a truly stellar peformance from the Wallabies, irrespective of the final scoreline. Much like the First Test, this was a game of two halves, which, unlike the first Test, saw the Wallabies come out second best in the final forty minutes.
However, let’s talk about that first 40 from the Wallabies, which was truly immense and such a dramatic turnaround from the First Test. Australia dominated the Lions in the first Half and simply denied them the opportunity to play their game. Their attack was composed and played at breakneck speed and showed some genuine inventiveness coupled with the required precision needed to execute a game plan designed to keep the Lions on a defensive backfoot. The Lions were having to do all the work in defense while Australia dominated territory and possession.
We’d also like to highlight the performance of Wallaby scrum half Jake Gordon, who we’d been so critical of in the First Test. In Melbourne, he was essentially unrecognisable from a week earlier in Brisbane. His speed of delivery and decision making went from zero to hero in the space of a mere seven days. To be honest, in the Second Test, his performance made us eat humble pie for almost a full eighty minutes. Our only criticsim would be that in such a crucial juncture of the game while Australia were still ahead and with five minutes left on the clock Gordon reverted to type and chose to box kick away possession to a Lions side who had gained the upper hand in game momentum. The rest is sadly history. However, in that first 70 minutes, Gordon was utterly outstanding and made us to a man, woman, and child dramatically revise our opinion of him as a big game player.
At Fly Half, although Tom Lynagh continued to be a target for the Lions, he still showed huge courage and is clearly a player of enormous potential for Australia. He may not have had the best game but there is no denying the effort he put in and a work rate that cannot be faulted – it’s just a case of giving the Test rookie more time at this level.
Perhaps what was most evident throughout the match was the impact of second rower Will Skelton and back rower Rob Valentini, both of whom did not feature in the first Test. The fact that neither had any time in the second half painted a telling picture of Australia’s potency. The minute they left the field, the Lions started to gain instant ascendancy, and sadly, the rest is history. Langi Gleeson made a positive impact and had some brilliant moments as Valentini’s replacement, as did Skelton’s subsitute Jeremy Williams, but none of it was the kind of momentum suffocating impact that Valentini and Skelton had. Valentini disrupted the Lions’ ability to organise while at the same time generating the kind of go forward ball that had been so absent for much of Australia’s performance in the first Test. Skelton as predicted made the Lions setpiece work difficult and was constantly getting under Lions Captain Maro Itoje’s skin, prompting the only blemish in the Lions’ Captain otherwise stellar performance as Itoje made the playground call of “he started it” at one point to referee Andrea Piardi.
Nevertheless, put all the controversy and the loss aside. This was a performance that the Wallabies should be justifiably proud of. They were half a glass short of finishing the job in the final ten minutes, but up to that point it had been a thrilling and impressive performance that the glorious Wallaby sides of the 80s and 90s would have been proud of. Australian rugby, even though it fell agonisingly short of the mark at the final whistle, made a statement last Saturday. It may be struggling for attention, but clearly has potential, and when you can pull in 90,000 spectators, then there surely must be some hope for the game in Australia even if half of those were Lions supporters.
So that brings us to this Third and Final Test. The Series is lost, but we’d argue Wallaby pride is not. Australia showed enough last weekend that they were able to make this Series competitive. Although the silverware is now being wrapped for the trip to cross the Equator, the Wallabies will be desperate to deny the Lions a whitewash and with it develop the confidence to face a challenging two Test Tour to South Africa for the Rugby Championship. Come out of that strongly and then arguably the most cherished prize in Australian rugby, the Bledisloe Cup between Australia and New Zealand, all of sudden could be up for grabs.
In short, we just can’t see the Wallabies lying down and waving the white flag for this final Test. Pride, which is a big deal in Australia, is at stake, and when their backs are against the wall, the Wallabies have a habit of producing some truly memorable games. The Lions want the sweep, the Wallabies want to deny them the privilege and set themselves up for the rest of a challenging year. The silverware may be wrapped up in a packing crate, but this Series is far from over in its final hurrah in Sydney. If you want an insight into the Rugby Championship just around the corner, then this is required viewing.
Australia vs British and Irish Lions – Saturday, August 2nd – 6:00 AM (Eastern) – 6:00 AM (Eastern) – DAZN, Premier Sports Asia and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
The Lions win the Series after a truly epic Second Test against the Wallabies
Much like the first Test, the second round clash between the Lions and the Wallabies was a game of two halves. In the first the Wallabies were utterly dominant, but in the second as the Lions bench came into play it got the edge over Australia in an almost mirror image of the bench impact in the First Test in Brisbane. In Brisbane, it was the Wallabies bench that made the difference while the Lions were found wanting. In Melbourne, a week later, the fortunes were reversed, and the Lions bench impact left the Wallabies without any real answers despite some heroic resistance at times by Australia.
The Wallabies had the Lions on the ropes by the half hour mark and had blitzed to a seemingly unassailable 23-5 lead, but the Lions found a way to get back into the game and take the momentum away from the Wallabies slowly but surely from then on, aided by a master class performance from their bench in the second half. It was a textbook demonstration of how to turn a game around and regain the ascendancy. The Lions were simply better at the end of the day despite a vastly improved Wallaby effort and spirit. There is no shame in that loss as two sides equal to each other faced off in a thrilling contest with the Lions, ultimately mastering the final quarter and forcing the Wallabies into costly mistakes and errors of judgement. Whereas the Wallabies bench in the First Test had the ascendancy, albeit too late, the Lions bench had the edge last Saturday in Melbourne and while the Lions’ intensity ramped up in the final quarter the Wallabies by contrast started to fade. The rest is history is plain and simple.
Despite one moment caught on the stadium microphones, where Lions Captain Maro Itoje sounded almost like a bewildered schoolboy during a ruckus instigated by Wallabies agitator par excellence Will Skelton, the Lions looked remarkably nonplussed by events in the first thirty minutes and never once looked in shock. Although Itoje will want to wipe his indignant playground retort of ” but he started it sir” to referee Andrea Piardi, during said incident, there is no denying that as a leader Itoje has really come into his own this Tour. Apart from said outburst, we have to confess at being very impressed by Itoje’s leadership this Tour, and he is a player who has really come of age on the International Stage these past few weeks. We remember when we first saw him play for England in 2016, that we had a hunch he was destined for greatness, and there is no denying this Tour has finally given him the maturity and wisdom he needed to take his extraordinary skill sets to another level. In short, as a leader of Men, Itoje has risen to the task at hand this Tour and then some.
As for the rest of the Lions, despite the controversy, we were delighted to see Wales’ only representative Jac Morgan have such a crucial impact on proceedings when he came off the bench. This is an exemplary player who, despite the fact that the country he so proudly represents leaves him on the losing side far more than a man of his talents should be, is one of the potential greats of this generation. His skill level, commitment, energy and willingness to put his body on the line for this teammates allied to an almost superhuman work rate will continue to make him the linchpoint for a much needed revival of Welsh rugby.
As for the rest of his teammates last Saturday, there are honors aplenty. Ireland’s Dan Sheehan seems destined to become the greatest Hooker of this decade, Tadgh Beirne has created a legacy in the Irish second and back rows that rivals that of Paul O’Connell. England’s Tom Curry could easily work himself into the starting XV of any Test side regardless of his form leading up to the match. Scotland’s Finn Russell, much like his Lions Captain Maro Itoje, has matured into the complete player and Test playmaker we always knew he could be and is clearly having the time of his life. England’s Owen Farrell’s experience always adds value while England’s front row bench contribution of Ellis Genge and Will Stuart will have put a huge smile on the face of their boss back home, England Coach Steve Borthwick. Genge, in particular, was an absolute Test animal in his 25 minutes off the bench.
Also, spare a thought for Ireland’s Hugo Keenan. The fullback had to battle through injury, illness and a certain degree of lack of form on this Tour only to come storming into the second Test and silence all his critics by scoring the match and Series winning try at the death. When the dimunitive Irish high ball specialist is on song, there are very few who can match him, and in that final quarter in Melbourne, the man was in full voice.
Like we say, put all the controversy aside, but there is no denying that the Lions, as did the Wallabies, put in a massive shift to a man in the Second Test. This is still a relatively young and inexperienced Wallaby side when juxtaposed against the Lions collective resumes last Saturday. However, there is no denying that a talented Wallabies unit put up one hell of a fight, which will seriously bolster their credentials going forward. The Lions ultimately had the experience to be able to dig deep and turn the tide when needed, but they know they were tested and asked some very serious questions in the process.
Can the Lions pull off a history defining clean sweep this Saturday in Sydney? In theory, yes, and the motivation to do so is likely to be off the charts in a team that has built some serious bonds in the short space of two months. The players and legions of travelling Lions supporters have thoroughly enjoyed their time in Australia and have consistently remarked on the hospitality and warm welcome they’ve received as well as the world class sporting experiences that Australia can offer. However, a 3-0 Lions Series win has never been done before, and this group clearly has the cohesion and drive to make some history.
We’d argue that although the Series is lost, as a result of last weekend, Australian pride is not, and the need to prove something ahead of the upcoming Rugby Championship has been heightened. It’s not a Lions Series game anymore, it’s simply a Test to prove the worth of Australian rugby on the International Stage. Last Saturday, we got more than just a glimpse of that quality, so Lions beware!!!!
Australia vs British and Irish Lions – Saturday, August 2nd – 6:00 AM (Eastern) – DAZN, Premier Sports Asia and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Well that’s it for this week but two massive games lie in store this weekend. We will be cheering the Wallabies on to make one final statement that this Tour has been a positive experience for all concerned. Finally we’ll be crossing all our collective fingers and toes that our fantastic Women can remain injury free in what should be a tough encounter against the USA this Friday, as they pack their bags for their big World Cup adventure!
The Lineout 