Lack of Force in Perth leads to a convincing Lions win
Lions storm to a second convincing victory with a 17-69 win over Western Force.
After the convincing win against the Barbarians on Saturday the Lions were ready to play their first game of rugby on Australian soil. Despite this there were complaints from both the lions camp and rugby supporters in general after Micheal Foley announced a rather disappointing Force team to face the legendary red outfit. As Foley rested his players in preparation for a big league match, the Lions players still wore their red shirts with pride as they had to fight for their place to be a part of the first XV to face Australia on the 22nd of June.
Many will remember the Lions tour of 2001 when the British and Irish players destroyed Western Australia 10 - 116. The men in red did not quite achieve this scoreline today down under but they did manage to win with confidence.
Players such as Jamie Roberts, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Davies and Paul O'Connell had all laid down their markers during their performance against the Barbarians the week before and so the starting XV had a lot to prove to Gatland and the Lions coaching team as they ran out on to the field for the first time in Australia. The first 15 minutes of the game saw many gaps appearing the Western Force defence allowing Irish fly half to swerve gently through players and score the Lions first try. However, WF very quickly fixed this problem and only a couple of minutes later they stopped English powerhouse, Tuilagi, from making it a second try for the red outfit.
Partnerships are extremely important within any team and this unity is even more important within a team such as the Lions which is made up of players who have never played with each other before. Last week we saw great synchronisation between Welsh centres Robers and Davies and the partnership between captain O'Driscoll and Tuilagi was also impressive today. This unity was evident as communication between 10, 12 and 13 allowed BOD to score a try in the 64th minute. However, there is the question of will this partnership that faced WF today be strong enough to face the pressure of the Wallabies.
Despite scoring nine tries against the Australian side, the game against WF was far from being a 'walk over'. The Aussies piled on the pressure numerous times dur ing the game and put the Lions defence under stress. This pressure resulted in two tries for WF and for Brown and McCaffrey, but even more worryingly for the Lions was how they reacted to this pressure. On many occasions the ball was spilt, a messy pass was played or lose ball would be played. They might have been able to get away with it today but by no means will the Australian XV allow any of the Lions' mistakes go unpunished. The men in gold will capitalise on all the mistake the Lions make, therefore the Lions can not afford to continue to buckle under pressure. The weather could not be blamed for today's fumblings - conditions were perfect in the West.
Just before half time mixed emotions ran through the Lions' air. In the 33rd minute North offloaded a fantastic ball to O'Driscoll which allowed the captain to score a perfect try in the corner. Halfpenny had his work cut out for him but, as usual, he kicked an awesome ball that danced through the uprights. This euphoria turned to concern only 2 minutes later as Irish prop, Cian Healy, w as seen lying on the ground in immense pain after going down in contact. Watching Healy's reaction during slow motion replays of the incident made the injury seem quite serious. It has been confirmed by the Lions' medical team that the front rower has suffered an ankle injury however it has yet to. be announced if this is the end of the prop's tour of Australia. The injured prop has also been a . ccused by Western Force scrum-half, Brett Sheehan, of biting. We will have to wait to see if anything comes from this accusation.
Almost immediately after the second half kick off, Irish number eight, Heaslip, powered over the line and score the first try of the last forty minutes. The number eight put on an extremely impressive performance and most definitely put down his mark as a potential test starter.
With more tries from Croft, Farrell and Vunipola the Lions impressed. However, the stand out player of the match was full back and kicker Leigh Halfpenny. The Six Nations man of the tournament showed why he should be picked for the starting XV to face the Wallabies.With an impressive 100% success rate against WF the Welshman showed just how good he can be. His beautiful strikes seemed to float over the posts with ease in a way that neither Sexton nor Farrell had shown in the previous game.
A win is a win and with a score board that read 17-69 it was an impressive win at that. Despite this the Lions have a lot they would like to work on before their first big match against the Wallabies on he 22nd. Scrums and lineouts need to be more clinical and communication between players, although very good on most occasions, needs to improve to prevent more unneeded errors.
Halfpenny, Heaslip and Vunipola have all been players that have stood out during today's game - these are the players that have really stuck their hands up to become a starting test Lion.
Next they face the Queensland reds on Saturday.
Replacements: Hugh Roach, Sione Kolo, Tim Metcher, Ben Matwijow Lachlan McCaffrey, Alby Mathewson, Nick Haining, Junior Rasolea.
Yellow card: Stubbs (57-67)
Lions: Leigh Halfpenny, Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll (capt), Manu Tuilagi, George North; Jonny Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Dan Cole, Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Evans, Tom Croft, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Tom Youngs (for Best, 66), Mako Vunipola (for Healy, 37), Matt Stevens (for Cole, 68), Geoff Parling (for Evans), Toby Faletau (for Croft, 71), Ben Youngs (for Murray, 66), Owen Farrell (for Sexton, 66), Sean Maitland (for Bowe, 76).
Yellow card: AW Jones (71-81)
Referee: Glen Jackson (NZ)
Attedence - 35, 103
After the convincing win against the Barbarians on Saturday the Lions were ready to play their first game of rugby on Australian soil. Despite this there were complaints from both the lions camp and rugby supporters in general after Micheal Foley announced a rather disappointing Force team to face the legendary red outfit. As Foley rested his players in preparation for a big league match, the Lions players still wore their red shirts with pride as they had to fight for their place to be a part of the first XV to face Australia on the 22nd of June.
Many will remember the Lions tour of 2001 when the British and Irish players destroyed Western Australia 10 - 116. The men in red did not quite achieve this scoreline today down under but they did manage to win with confidence.
Players such as Jamie Roberts, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Davies and Paul O'Connell had all laid down their markers during their performance against the Barbarians the week before and so the starting XV had a lot to prove to Gatland and the Lions coaching team as they ran out on to the field for the first time in Australia. The first 15 minutes of the game saw many gaps appearing the Western Force defence allowing Irish fly half to swerve gently through players and score the Lions first try. However, WF very quickly fixed this problem and only a couple of minutes later they stopped English powerhouse, Tuilagi, from making it a second try for the red outfit.
Partnerships are extremely important within any team and this unity is even more important within a team such as the Lions which is made up of players who have never played with each other before. Last week we saw great synchronisation between Welsh centres Robers and Davies and the partnership between captain O'Driscoll and Tuilagi was also impressive today. This unity was evident as communication between 10, 12 and 13 allowed BOD to score a try in the 64th minute. However, there is the question of will this partnership that faced WF today be strong enough to face the pressure of the Wallabies.
Despite scoring nine tries against the Australian side, the game against WF was far from being a 'walk over'. The Aussies piled on the pressure numerous times dur ing the game and put the Lions defence under stress. This pressure resulted in two tries for WF and for Brown and McCaffrey, but even more worryingly for the Lions was how they reacted to this pressure. On many occasions the ball was spilt, a messy pass was played or lose ball would be played. They might have been able to get away with it today but by no means will the Australian XV allow any of the Lions' mistakes go unpunished. The men in gold will capitalise on all the mistake the Lions make, therefore the Lions can not afford to continue to buckle under pressure. The weather could not be blamed for today's fumblings - conditions were perfect in the West.
Just before half time mixed emotions ran through the Lions' air. In the 33rd minute North offloaded a fantastic ball to O'Driscoll which allowed the captain to score a perfect try in the corner. Halfpenny had his work cut out for him but, as usual, he kicked an awesome ball that danced through the uprights. This euphoria turned to concern only 2 minutes later as Irish prop, Cian Healy, w as seen lying on the ground in immense pain after going down in contact. Watching Healy's reaction during slow motion replays of the incident made the injury seem quite serious. It has been confirmed by the Lions' medical team that the front rower has suffered an ankle injury however it has yet to. be announced if this is the end of the prop's tour of Australia. The injured prop has also been a . ccused by Western Force scrum-half, Brett Sheehan, of biting. We will have to wait to see if anything comes from this accusation.
Almost immediately after the second half kick off, Irish number eight, Heaslip, powered over the line and score the first try of the last forty minutes. The number eight put on an extremely impressive performance and most definitely put down his mark as a potential test starter.
With more tries from Croft, Farrell and Vunipola the Lions impressed. However, the stand out player of the match was full back and kicker Leigh Halfpenny. The Six Nations man of the tournament showed why he should be picked for the starting XV to face the Wallabies.With an impressive 100% success rate against WF the Welshman showed just how good he can be. His beautiful strikes seemed to float over the posts with ease in a way that neither Sexton nor Farrell had shown in the previous game.
A win is a win and with a score board that read 17-69 it was an impressive win at that. Despite this the Lions have a lot they would like to work on before their first big match against the Wallabies on he 22nd. Scrums and lineouts need to be more clinical and communication between players, although very good on most occasions, needs to improve to prevent more unneeded errors.
Halfpenny, Heaslip and Vunipola have all been players that have stood out during today's game - these are the players that have really stuck their hands up to become a starting test Lion.
Next they face the Queensland reds on Saturday.
Line ups
Western Force: Sam Christie, Dane Haylett-Petty, Ed Stubbs, Chris Tuatara-Morrison, Corey Brown; Sam Norton-Knight, Brett Sheehan; Salesi Manu, James Hilterbrand, Salesi Ma'afu, Toby Lynn, Phoenix Battye, Angus Cottrell, Matt Hodgson, Richard Brown.Replacements: Hugh Roach, Sione Kolo, Tim Metcher, Ben Matwijow Lachlan McCaffrey, Alby Mathewson, Nick Haining, Junior Rasolea.
Yellow card: Stubbs (57-67)
Lions: Leigh Halfpenny, Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll (capt), Manu Tuilagi, George North; Jonny Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Dan Cole, Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Evans, Tom Croft, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Tom Youngs (for Best, 66), Mako Vunipola (for Healy, 37), Matt Stevens (for Cole, 68), Geoff Parling (for Evans), Toby Faletau (for Croft, 71), Ben Youngs (for Murray, 66), Owen Farrell (for Sexton, 66), Sean Maitland (for Bowe, 76).
Yellow card: AW Jones (71-81)
Referee: Glen Jackson (NZ)
Attedence - 35, 103
Comments
Post a Comment