As we put pen to paper on this one, our fabulous Women are now across the Pond, currently residing in Belfast ahead of their fixture against Ireland this Saturday as their last warm up match before their World Cup opener with Fiji on August 23rd in York. Last Friday was a momentous occasion as the largest ever attendance for a Women’s Rugby game in North America was registered in Ottawa. After a shaky start, Canada put the USA to the sword 42-10 in the second half, scoring 35 unanswered points. Heading into the World Cup, they maintain their World number 2 ranking, and the excitement is building by the hour. The challenge ahead is enormous, but if there was ever a group of athletes who could make some history, then it’s definitely this incredible group!
The Lions Tour drew to a close in temptous conditions in Sydney, which saw a Wallabies performance for the ages, despite the torrential rain. Australia were able to deny the Lions a clean sweep and have surely put to bed any pre Tour nonsense being spouted in media circles that the Land Down Under is not a suitable destination for the famous Touring Team. Australia got better with each successive Test and Saturday’s performance in a rain sodden Olympic Stadium showed enormous character, with the Wallabies comfortably being the better team. It may not have been a Lions Tour that we’ll all still be talking about in five years time, but it entertained nonetheless and for those lucky enough to attend the games, the festival character and good humor of such Tours from both sets of supporters was in plentiful supply.
Perhaps the only blemish of the week was once again how a blatant act of foul play seemingly got brushed under the carpet. So much so that it didn’t even get a mention during the Final Test by the Officials. No, this is not an excuse to revisit the hotly contested call of Jac Morgan’s clearout on Carlo Tizzano in the Second Test and which we still feel was officiated correctly. However, the blatant shoulder to the head contact by Ireland/Lions Hooker Dan Sheehan in clearing Wallaby Tom Lynagh from a ruck was cynical and downright dangerous. It has since been sanctioned as such, but the fact that no reference to it during the match was made by any of the officials beggars belief!
So only two games to talk about from last weekend and one ahead of us, so a relatively short one this week – so let’s get into it!
Canada’s Women get the PERFECT send off in Ottawa for their upcoming World Cup adventure and make some history in the process!
We’ll be the first to admit that we were fidgeting nervously after that first half performance by Canada against the USA last Friday in Ottawa. Canada had only a slender 14-10 lead going into the sheds at the half-time whistle. Our biggest concern was that in an effort to reward the record crowd that had turned out for the game at Ottawa’s TD Place, Canada would throw caution to the wind to secure the win but in the process rack up the injuries against a very determined and physical USA side. In short, the last thing you want as you pack your bags to head for a World Cup the next day.
Canada’s customary organisation, composure, and execution that we’ve come to expect from them just wasn’t really there in the first half. However, with five minutes to go in the first forty, suddenly all the lights came on for Canada, and they simply didn’t look back and continued that momentum into and throughout the second half. It left the USA scrambling for answers and unable to get any points on the board, as Canada cruised to a comfortable 42-10 victory. Even better from our standpoint was the fact that the medical team was not required, and Canada boarded the plane for Belfast on Saturday night with a clean bill of health.
There were some oustanding performances across the park from Canada on Friday night in Ottawa, but there is no denying that once again we were quite taken aback by how good a player centre Florence Symonds is both in attack and defence. We fully expect her to end up as part of the Team of the Tournament once the final whistle on the Rugby World Cup is blown at the end of September. Front rower Daleaka Menin had another massive game, while back rower Karen Paquin showed the world that at the tender age of 38 you can still be a world class International, as she ran like a proverbial cheetah while at the same time putting in the kind of physicality that could have stopped an elephant dead in its tracks time after time. It was fantastic to see former Captain Sophie de Goede back to her best after recovering from injury and showing no signs of rustiness whatsoever, including her legendary goalkicking being on song as well.
As always, Captain Alex Tessier led from the front, and the Center’s cool head and eye for opportunity gave Canada the control that the USA lacked. There was also a huge performance off the bench from Prop Olivia DeMerchant. Like we say we feel we do the team an injustice by singling out any player in particular, as once again this was another superb team performance from Canada’s Women with the full matchday 23 deserving the credit for an outstanding second half performance.
Ireland, currently the fifth ranked team in the World will be a challenge next Saturday, though it remains to be seen if they will field their first choice lineup, and the same could also be said of the selection decisions that Canadian Coach Kevin Rouet and his staff will make for this last warmup game before the big show gets underway on August 23rd. Whichever way you cut it though Canada should feel well pleased with their preparations ahead of the most exciting chapter in the history of the Women’s game in this country.
Spare a thought, though, for the Americans who gave Canada a strong challenge, especially in the first half hour of the game. The USA were exceptionally strong physically, and although their organisation started to crack and along with it their discipline, as Canada tightened the screws as the match wore on, they were worthy opponents and should feel optimistic about their chances at the World Cup, even though they currently rank at number 10 in the World. They also have the unenvious task of having to play the World Cup opener against hosts England as well as sharing their Pool with Australia. In short, if ever there was a Pool of Death, the Americans seem to have found themselves in it.
On a side note, though, we couldn’t help noticing that despite the hype surrounding her, the USA’s Center Ilona Maher had a pretty quiet game, and many of her teammates outshone her on the pitch. To be honest we couldn’t really figure out what all the fuss is about, and think that her being touted as the greatest female player of all time is a bit of a stretch to say the least – maybe we’re just not as in tune with social media as we need to be, though we’d argue your actions speak louder on the pitch than they do on Instagram. In the center channels on Friday, her opposite numbers, Canada’s Alex Tessier and Florence Symonds completely overshadowed her.
Although it so far hasn’t appeared in the TSN+ broadcast schedule, apparently, they are showing the game on Saturday at 7 AM (Eastern). Hopefully, the medics stay off the pitch once more, and Canada simply tighten up their skill sets one more time, try a few new plays, and then focus on that all-important opener against Fiji on August 23rd. Stay safe, Ladies, and from everyone here at the Lineout, we can’t wait to see you make Canada even more proud of you than we already are!
Ireland vs Canada – Saturday, August 9th – 7:00 AM (Eastern) – TSN+ (live and on demand)
Note: Also, remember to head on over to the TV page and pledge your support to help them reach their fundraising target of $1,000,000 for the World Cup, which they have almost achieved at 88% so far. Your support of such a noble cause will be hugely appreciated by the team.
While we sided with the Officials in the Second Test, the appalling lack of any kind of citing during the Third and Final Test for Lions Hooker Dan Sheehan for a reckless clearout brought back all of our concerns about a lack of consistency in officiating.
Just when we thought we could put the unpleasant side of officiating inconsistencies to bed after the second Test and watch the Third Test without controversy, we were dismayed to see one final twist in the tail on this one. We sided, albeit after a huge amount of debate and video replay, with the officials’ verdict on Jac Morgan’s clearout of Carlo Tizzano in the dying minutes of the Second Test and which saw the Lions snatching a last gasp Series winning Try.
However, Lions Hooker Dan Sheehan’s blatant shot to the head of exposed Wallaby Tom Lynagh was absolutely clear-cut in our opinion. The Irishman is a fine player and one of the best performers for the Lions this Series. He is also not by nature a dirty player prone to cheap shots. However, his enthusiasm got the better of him last Saturday, and his actions were downright dangerous. We appreciate that in the heat of the moment in the kind of full throttle and emotive fixture that Saturday’s Third Test was, rugby incidents will happen. However, when knowingly going in to clear out a ruck, seeing a player’s head right at your shoulder, you simply have to be careful how you aim your entry. We don’t think it was malicious, but it was extremely dangerous and reckless. The fact that even though we saw it plain as day on our screens and drew a collective intake of breath and winced at how much that would have hurt – we were left speechless that none of the three match officials on the pitch picked it up or that it was caught by the TMO. That was a serious collective failure in officiating whichever way you cut it.
Furthermore, given that Sheehan is a firm fan favourite here at the Lineout and we’d argue one of the finest players of Ireland’s new generation, we were very disappointed in both Sheehan’s actions and the fact that in the subsequent post match hearing in which his citing was determined, he refused to show remorse for his actions or accept that anything he did was wrong. A little bit of humility here Dan would have gone a long way, as well as showing due care and attention for the unfortunate Tom Lynagh even though it was after the fact.
All credit must be given to Tom Lynagh, who even though he was well within his rights, simply picked himself up off the floor and did not protest and got stuck straight back into trying to ensure his team kept up the pressure they were exerting on the Lions, even though the poor lad must surely have been seeing stars at the time. Fortunately, courtesy of the mouthguards that register such head impacts on the medics monitors, he was taken off moments later for a Head Injury Assessment which he consequently failed causing him to miss the rest of the game.
Sheehan now has a four match suspension, which may be reduced to three. It means he will miss Leinster’s opening URC games but will be available for Ireland duty and that all important encounter with the All Blacks in Chicago at the beginning of November. In reality, after doing service with the Lions all summer, he probably would have missed most of those games anyway, so the punishment is hardly all that draconian.
Like we say though the positive out of all of this, if one is to be found, has been Tom Lynagh who was having an excellent game in appalling conditions up to that point, and who showed genuine character by not seeking to make a big deal out of it, but rather attempt to play on and help his team maintain momentum. The young fly half has really come of age this Series, and we expect to see him play a massive part in Australia’s upcoming Rugby Championship campaign and beyond.
As for the Officials though can you please learn some valuable lessons from this whole experience and apply them as you start the two year countdown to the World Cup. In short, overall, we thought the officiating this Series for the most part was solid and allowed the games to flow, but there were some glaring inconsistencies and oversights that simply have to be addressed moving forward.
The Wallabies showed enormous character and some genuine promise in avoiding a Lions Series whitewash in appalling conditions in Sydney and got a much needed win in the process!
If the Wallabies needed a test of character, then they got one and then some in the monsoon conditions at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium for the Third and Final Test. The silverware was gone and packed away in the Lions Hotel Room, but pride and the viability of the Wallabies’ future was on the line. They stood and up and were counted to a man, in what for us was one of the best Australian performances we’ve seen in a decade, and one which the whole team and Wallaby supporters should be justifiably proud of. With it, there should also come a healthy sense of optimism for the future.
Sure you could argue that once the Lions saw the conditions and with the Series already wrapped up and the end of a very long season starting to take its toll, they were not as perhaps switched on as they could have been. However, history was on the line, and a first ever clean sweep was up for grabs. This team has bonded incredibly well over the six weeks they’ve been together, and prior to the match, they certainly appeared up for the opportunity to create some genuine history for the famous Touring side.
We’ll never really know what was going on in the Lions collective mindset, but there is no denying that the Wallabies were outstanding, and by contrast, the Lions were poor. Furthermore, full credit must be given to Australia for handling conditions that, for the most part, would have been more suited to Northern Hemisphere rugby. Instead, the Wallabies were the masters of proceedings from the get-go and never let up once. What amazed us the most was the precision the Wallabies were able to produce in conditions that usually produce a game littered with handling errors and breakdowns in setpiece accuracy and cohesion. The Wallabies made remarkably few handling errors compared to a seemingly endless number from the Lions, despite the Australians still feeling confident enough to chuck the ball around on a regular basis, even though it must have felt like trying to catch a bar of soap with 200 volts of electricity coursing through it at times.
Even with an energy and momentum sapping delay of 40 minutes due to lightning just as the second half got underway, the Wallabies still managed to remain focused and on point while the Lions simply began to fade away and in the final ten minutes were utterly outplayed. It was an outstanding Wallaby team performance with the full 23-man matchday squad playing a part. Their scrum and lineout work was solid and made a mess of the Lions’ efforts in said areas. The impact of Taniela Tupou in the front row made you wonder how different the Series could have been if he’d played all three Tests. Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams had huge shifts in the second row, while enforcer and agitator par excellence Will Skelton was brutally effective at creating the niggle needed to put the Lions off their game. Their back row of Tom Hooper, Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson stole all the limelight with their Lions counterparts struggling to keep up.
In his last game for the Wallabies, one of the world’s most annoying but effective scrum halves Nic White had a genuinely stirring sendoff for the ages to a glorious career, as reflected in the standing ovation he got from the Wallaby and Lions supporters when he left the pitch. Like we say, we were devastated to see Tom Lynagh have to leave the game after the ugly incident with Dan Sheehan. Lynagh grew with every game, and Australia should feel very excited about the part the young fly half has to play in the Wallabies development and rebuild leading up to the next World Cup.
While much of the talk this Series has been about Max Jorgensen on the wing, on seeing him in action, we were amazed that Dylan Pietsch only featured in the Final Test. We’d argue that his spectacular try in the 7th minute was what really set the tone for the Wallabies’ self belief in this game. Len Ikitau and the much hyped Joseph Sua’ali”i really showed what a powerful pairing they can be. If they were that good in the wet, imagine what a threat they could be on a dry track. Last but not least, Tom Wright was superb at the back, and some of his breaks from deep were spectacular despite the conditions.
As always, Tate McDermott was fantastic at scrum half when he came off the bench, and his sniping ability is exceptional. There was so much to like about this Wallaby performance. Furthermore, to do it in conditions that would traditionally favor a dull war in the trenches type of match makes it even more impressive. The fact that the Wallabies were able to play some glorious running rugby in weather tusually makes such an approach a potential suicide trip, was nothing short of a miracle. However, they were able to do so because their set piece work was also so strong and precise and simply denied the Lions any kind of platform to work with.
As a result of Saturday’s performance, the Wallabies can look forward to a very demanding two Test Tour of South Africa, with some degree of optimism. It won’t be easy, and the Springboks will be much more of a challenge than what has been a strong but at times disjointed Lions side. There will be altitude to deal with in Johannesburg and probably a decent amount of rain in Cape Town, though the Wallabies have shown they can cope with the latter. Add into the mix the Springboks passionate and at times hostile fan base and the Wallabies Test of character, so admirably passed last Saturday in the Rain, is about to go up another few levels.
In addition, the announcement this week that the deeply unpopular “Giteau Law”, which limited to a handful the amount of overseas based players that could be selected for Wallabies duty, has been scrapped will be of huge benefit to Australian rugby going forward. Given our concerns with the depth of the player base available to the Wallabies if they are only allowed to select domestic based players, this will make them infinitely more competitive at the International level with a raft of additional high quality players currently playing in Europe and Japan now available for selection. This will have a hugely positive impact on the Wallabies’ fortunes in the upcoming Rugby Championship and the November Internationals, along with their buildup to the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027.
There is still a long way to go before Australia can really say they are genuinely out of the woods, but keep playing like they did last Saturday and we think it’s safe to say that the Wallabies have turned a corner just in time!
So it’s over for another four years, and although it’s probably not a Lions Tour we’ll remember much past the next World Cup, we still think it ticked the boxes and was a worthy endeavour for players and fans alike
Sure it wasn’t the most memorable of Tours, and yes a lot of the matches leading up to the three Tests were relatively dire affairs with the exception of the First Nations/Pasifika game but were we entertained in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney? We think the answer to that is a resounding yes! Were bonds made amongst the team that will last a lifetime? Once again, we think there’s a solid checkmark for that traditional Lions Tour spinoff. Were fans from both camps brought together in one of International Rugby’s most festive occasions? That also gets a resounding thumbs up. Last but not least, have the critics who said before the Tour that Australia no longer held merit as a Lions Touring destination been silenced? We’d say yes to that in no uncertain terms.
We agree that the format of such Tours moving forward may need to be looked at as many of the filler matches between Tests were instantly forgettable affairs. However, the Tests themselves, although perhaps not classics, were still enthralling contests with both sides giving it their all. The Lions will reflect on a hard fought series against a courageous and increasingly resilient opponent in the shape of the Wallabies. The Australians simply got better with every outing and by the time the Third Test rolled around, even though the Lions had lifted the silverware in the second Test, the contest in Sydney’s mini typhoon was an incredible display of the Wallabies pride in their fabled jersey.
On that note the Lions won’t be happy at how a) they were dominated in conditions that traditionally favor Northern Hemisphere sides and b) how they were utterly outclassed by a side determined to deny them a historic Series whitewash in the Third Test. Despite the disappointment self evident in that third Test, where for much of the game the Lions were a shadow of what we had seen in the first two games, all the players will savor the fact that in a hard fought Series they emerged the winners in a jersey that only a select group of players get the priveledge of wearing. Certainly the camaraderie that such Tours foster between players who would otherwise be sworn mortal enemies, especially come the Six Nations, was there for all to see and is always, at least for us, one of the most uplifting aspects of a Lions Tour.
There were some absolute standout performances. Ireland utility forward Tadgh Beirne was voted the player of the Series, and the 33 year old, who is unlikely now to don the famous jersey again as his career comes to a close, was for the most part an absolute juggernaut for the Lions. Even in the Final Test, where many of the Lions players had a genuinely poor game, Beirne still managed to stand out. Maro Itoje led by example throughout the Tour, and it will be interesting to see how this will strengthen his abilities as England Captain, which were so impressive this past Six Nations. England’s Tom Curry was immense across all three Tests alongside Tadgh Beirne, and although he often failed to impress outside of the actual Tests, on the big stages he was an enormous asset to the Lions when it mattered, even in the lost cause of the Sydney malestrom.
Scotland’s Finn Russell pulled the strings masterfully for the Lions in the First Two Tests from the fly half berth but did appear to have checked out come the Final Round, which will concern Scotland Coach Gregor Townsend on his return to International duty for the Scots this November. Finally, a special mention has to go to Irish fullback Hugo Keenan, who struggled for much of the Tour but was outstanding in the Second Test and even in the Third Test despite some early wobbles. Keenan was definitely one of the Lions’ better players in truly appalling conditions in Sydney, as was England Prop Ellis Genge when he came off the bench.
For the rest of the team, it was a tour of mixed fortunes. There were some exceptional performances across the board at times, but in general, very few of the players other than those mentioned above really developed any degree of consistency when it came to their performances. On the wings, England’s Tommy Freeman and Ireland’s James Lowe had a surprisingly ineffectual Series for the most part, especially Lowe. Irish Center Bundee Aki, despite some moments of traditional brilliance from the barnstorming Galway battering ram, definitely appears to be entering the twilight stage of an impressive career. Even Irish scrum half Jamison Gibson-Park was starting to look off the mark at times. It remains to be seen how much longer Irish Prop Andrew Porter can hang onto to his Irish jersey as his scrummaging technique is increasingly being drawn into question, and invariably finds him on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle.
However, the purpose of this piece is not to criticise, merely to point out some things that the Lions players’ respective Coaches may need to ponder when their charges arrive home this week. Instead, although it was perhaps not the best Lions team ever assembled, it still managed to put in some genuinely impressive performances and we still hold that despite some of the controversy surrounding the three Tests, were worthy Series winners.
The next time a Lions squad is assembled, it heads to New Zealand, arguably along with South Africa, the most daunting of the Lions’ traditional hunting grounds. The All Blacks are currently in transition, though we’d argue by 2029, and with possibly a fourth World Cup title in their kit bag, they are likely to be a fearsome challenge. To win, the Lions will need to up their game considerably from what we saw in this Series. Many of the veterans who showed up over the last six weeks will have hung up their boots for good by that stage, and as a result it could be a fascinating showcase of the talent the Northern Hemisphere has to create a generation of Lions players that hark back to the famous Tourists’ golden years.
Irrespective of how you perceive this Tour, while perhaps not a classic, it was still a success and while there may now be a slight collective sigh of relief that we can all get back to regular International Rugby for another four years, we think it’s safe to say that despite the downsides a good time was had by all. The Wallabies are better off for the experience. The Lions players have learned a great deal about themselves and each other, and the fans from both sides clearly loved everything about the Tour. Lions fans were afforded an excellent sporting experience by their Australian hosts, and there was a unanimous consensus that Australia is a fabulous and welcoming destination for such occassions, with many counting the days till they can return for the World Cup in two years time.
So well done to the Lions, the Wallabies, and ultimately Australia! The Wallabies and Australian rugby may still be facing some considerable challenges on the road to the World Cup in their country in 2027, but this Lions Series has left them in an infinitely better spot to meet those obstacles with confidence and a sense of optimism!
Well, that’s it for this week, folks. It’s pretty quiet on the Rugby Front until the Rugby Championship kicks off in mid-August and then the Women’s Rugby World Cup on August 21st. So enjoy some time away from your TV screens as come the end of August we have a hunch you’re going to find it hard to drag yourselves away!
The Lineout 