The Lions beat the Wallabies in Brisbane to go 1-0 up in the series

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0:35Valid through September 9th while supplies last. Selection varies by location. See Lowe's.com for more details. Soil offer excludes Alaska and Hawaii. This episode is sponsored by Aerie. If you know me, you know that my philosophy is all about looking good and feeling good every single day. and that honestly comes down to the first layer. I'm talking about bras. If your bra is digging into your shoulder or maybe it's riding up in the back or you are dying to take it off at the end of the day, then that bra is not the right fit. And what I love about Aerie is that they have 59 different sizes in really soft fabrics and really good fits because at the end of the day, your bra should hold you in and not hold you back.

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1:36Welcome back to The Ruck, the journalist's rugby podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times, where we are in an empty Suncorp Stadium. The Lions have done the job in the first test. They have beaten the Wallabies and they will now go on to the MCG in Melbourne with the opportunity to wrap up the series. I'm Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe back alongside. And gents, well, the Red Sea is here, that sea of red that we have been hoping for for the whole tour. And the game itself, probably as we suspected, maybe feared, it panned out that way.

2:09Alfie Reynolds: Ten minutes it lasted, did it? Fifty seconds, maybe, even. It was, wow. I mean, look, let's start at the beginning. Caxton Street was awesome. we were here however long that was ago talking about it's going to be brilliant when the fans roll in and they have rolled in and they're slightly younger maybe than the people who've done the full tour and so there were 100 people queue outside the bars weren't there Alex when we walked up and we got some proper chanting we even heard some Welsh singing as well poor guys with no one in the team we saw some guys in Lions onesies with Jack Morgan and Thomas Williams printed on them and bless them Thomas has gone home and Jack's not playing so the Welsh are here the Scots here, lots of kilts, lots of Irish, lots of Athamrys, lots of, didn't get a swing low but there's plenty of English voices.

2:52Alfie Reynolds: I heard a swing low outside the Caxson Hotel, yeah. But then, after the fireworks and the cool light shows and stuff like that, Tom Curry and Tygburn just ended the test match in 50 minutes, in 50 seconds, didn't they? Like, the first hit from Curry, the jackal turnover from Tygburn, as if to go oh, so we're not the jackaling back row, are we? I mean, that was dominant, wasn't it? And set the tone for a pretty dominant first half, at least.

3:17Alex Lowe: Yeah, I mean, everything that the Lions did in that first half was built on a dominance in the collisions. The physicality was off the scale compared to Australia, who couldn't halt their momentum. And equally, at the same time, Australia couldn't get anything going themselves in that first half. I think you saw how much they missed, Will Skelton and Rob Vallottini in that first half in particular. The Lions were just in control and really should have been much further ahead. The finishing has been questionable on this trip, actually. It's one of the areas, and we saw three tries that they could easily have scored in that first half, which they didn't.

3:54Alex Lowe: James Lowblown won.

3:55Alfie Reynolds: There was sort of an awkward one with Joe McCarthy where there was a bit of a cross kick that was kind of out of his grasp.

4:01Alex Lowe: And there was one held up over the line. Another one held up over the line. It's about the 15th on the tour, yeah. Their dominance wasn't actually reflected on the scoreboard at halftime where they were 12 points up, But it was just one of those games where you then felt that once they send on Oli Chesson and Bundyaki and the bench, that they would then, you were looking up the biggest Lions wins, weren't you, Will, during the game. And it felt to me like that was what it was being set up for. They'd sort of softened them in the first half. They were going to bring on some more punch in the second.

4:34Alex Lowe: And the Lions went a bit flat. As did the crowd, to be fair. Well, and then as did the crowd, because the game was up. I think even though the points margin wasn't as great, the Lions came out second half, Dan Sheehan scored straight away. That's the test. That's the test. The Wallabies then came back, the Lions got a bit ragged, they lost their discipline, they were on a yellow card warning, and the Wallabies came back and made it much closer than I think the golfing class between the two teams actually warranted. But fair play to them, they kept going, and I think the Lions will, I don't know, if you're a coach, you go, right, first half we imposed just what we wanted to do and now it's probably given those coaches, that second half has given them something to take into the week going to the MCG because already Andy Farrell is sort of cranking up the sort of, if you thought this was intense, once they get Skelton and Valentini back and the wounded Wallabies, they're going to come even stronger.

5:28Alfie Reynolds: They're going to be desperate.

5:29Alex Lowe: Desperate.

5:30Alfie Reynolds: Like they were in 2013, he was saying.

5:32Alex Lowe: So almost having that second half is, from a coaching perspective, probably quite useful if we the first half itself though just as you mentioned the physical dominance of the Lions which we knew was what they were aiming for we spoke about it in their selection it was close to the biggest pack that they were able to select we felt like they just wanted to absolutely take it to Australia and Australia couldn't cope with it like if I'm part of that Lions squad I'm thinking lads if we turn up and produce that they cannot live with us And get near us, really. Exactly. And I think that's the fear for Australia for the rest of the series, is can they actually compete with the Lions if the Lions produce that consistently?

6:11And I'm not sure they can, even with Skelton and Valentini.

6:14Alex Lowe: I mean, they'll have a better shot with those two. And I think where they were unable to really make an impact on the game in that first half was with the ball, because they couldn't generate any momentum. They couldn't dent the Lions' defence at all. you know Curry is flying up they're setting the tone as Will said from the inside that first minute with the ferocity of his of his defense and and even if he's not quite making it he's forcing runners into into the teeth of the Lions of the Lions defense so if those two are going to do anything to help the Wallabies it might be to to just dent the Lions a bit and help generate something because Tom Liner had no momentum to work with at all um you know they profited from a a high kick which we thought was likely to be their their only route to success and it certainly was for for a while so listen those two will help but you know if you're not if the Lions come in with a with a blank sheet of paper for the second test and go do you know what we won't start Ty Burnham we'll start Ollie Chesson we won't start Tom Curry we'll start Jack Morgan you know these the yeah we won't start Jack Cohn and we'll start Ben Earle but there's no you know there's no let up there in the intensity and the physicality that would be brought.

7:27Alex Lowe: And you're right. How the Wallabies go about trying to stop that will be playing on Joe Schmidt's mind this evening.

7:34Alfie Reynolds: There were some bits to cling on to for the Wallabies, weren't they? Like they could have gone away. And the phrase that Joe Schmidt used afterwards was a few months ago, we would have melted in that second half. And they did show a pretty good amount of character to come back through that, didn't they? And score a couple of tries to make it tighter. but there was sort of never a threat that they were going to actually win the game. And to be fair to the Lions, they managed that bit well, where they just got beyond two scores, took their time over the shot clock for the penalty for Marcus Smith, then did what everyone does, the sort of walk, the very, very slow walk back to halfway when the try scored and all that, and just eke out the time.

8:12But I'm still a bit like, how do they get more out of Sueli?

8:17Alfie Reynolds: This absolute superstar athlete is not getting the ball. And he did have that sort of whacking carry where I thought Ben Earl took him out with a no-arms tackle and the refs disagreed. But that could have, would have been a try. But he just doesn't really get in the game. And it's not his fault necessarily, but maybe that's all because of the platform's not there and no one's giving him the ball. But I'm almost like, do they need to find him a different position so they can get him into the game from another route?

8:47Alex Lowe: You're obviously struggling to move the ball because I had no forward momentum. When I went to see John Connolly, former Wallabies, Bath, Swansea, Queensland Reds coach on Monday, wrote a big interview with him in Saturday's edition of The Times, and one bit which didn't make the article but was really interesting was about Su Ali, who plays at fullback for the Waratahs, although he only had half a Super Rugby season because of injury. John Connolly's view was by playing him at 13, he called it a pigeonhole position. so he he's reliant on others getting him the ball connolly would want him to play 15 in this wallabies team because it would give him license to roam license to go and find the ball now the problem there is that tom wright is one of the wallabies best players so you'd be asking him to move to the wing or to the bench which would be a you know i don't think they've quite got enough players to start putting some of their best players on the bench so therefore they're trying and make it fit but we saw the Fiji game where he was lightly used thinking maybe that was a you know a strategy let's just play with one arm behind our back so that the so the Lions don't have any like recent footage to study but we saw tonight that when he gets into the game he's got this acceleration over two paces to make half a break and the skill to offload around the back the power to drive through they just need to get him the ball more and whether he needs to play like an unorthodox 13 role where he's allowed to roam and pop up a false 13 maybe i just it's it's the kind of thing that given enough time schmidt would probably create almost needs him to be like a running back kind of just go looking just allow him to go find the ball and obviously then aerial

10:30Alfie Reynolds: threat as well yeah the lines actually did that okay i mean it was it now that the escorting things out it's all quite messy that area isn't it but they did all right he didn't dominate at

10:39Alex Lowe: No, not at all. No, not at all. I just don't know whether, I don't know quite how you manage everything to cover all the bases. But just in the same way that Matt Hansen comes off his wing.

10:50Alfie Reynolds: A messy winger, I think Andy Farrell calls him.

10:52Alex Lowe: Yeah, pops up at first receiver, gets his hands on the ball a lot. That's what Tsurili is brilliant at doing. And I think they need to manufacture more ways to get him into the game. Were you disappointed in Australia overall? We thought Joe Schmidt is going to have a plan. Joe Schmidt is going to have a few aces up his sleeve. and we just didn't see that? Was that more to do with just how dominant the Lions were?

11:13Alfie Reynolds: Yeah, like, look, I guess we wanted, we said it on the pod on Thursday when we did the team announcements that probably the best thing for the series were the Wallabies were to at least come out and, I don't know, go 14-0 up. I think I said that and I think you said they need to win the game. Yeah. Which would have lit up MCG next week like nothing else, wouldn't it? But I don't know if disappointing is the right word because it's sort of, well, we expected them to be arm's length away from the Lions, didn't we, really? and they're the sixth best team in the world. So the Lions should be more physical and dominant than they are.

11:44Alfie Reynolds: But it's just different from other Lions tours where the Lions are usually playing the world champions or one of the top two or three sides of the world, isn't it? So maybe that's not quite the right word because they sort of probably hit about exactly what we thought they would, if that makes sense. Do you fear for the rest of the series then? My point on the pod for the team announcement was I just feel like the Wallabies needed to win this to have a chance of A, winning the series, but also as having a series that is super engaging and draws you in and builds the narrative. Whereas I do fear tonight, I know a lot of people are saying, well, that was a better second half performance.

12:18But I just felt that first half performance, they looked miles off it compared to the Lions. They did.

12:22Alfie Reynolds: Submissive was the phrase that Joe Schmidt used, which is not something that coaches say about their teams very often, is it? Yeah, and I spoke to Tate McDermott pitch side at the end of the game and he said we weren't desperate enough. And I'm kind of like, how can you not be desperate enough for the first test of a Lions series? Once in a 12-year opportunity, yeah.

12:38Alex Lowe: Well, he was on the bench, wasn't he, for the first half?

12:42Alfie Reynolds: When I come on, it was really good.

12:44Alex Lowe: But it's hard to be desperate when you're getting walloped.

12:48Alfie Reynolds: How do you get more physical if you're just getting battered by some heavy hitters? Yeah, I don't know. But look, I think if you flip it round, we had heard talking to people around the stadium today who know what they're talking about, that the Lions coaches were really nervous today, which was very interesting. And I said this to the person that told me that, that that stands in quite stark contrast to how they've been with us. Quite bullish. They've been really bullish, 3-0, greatest Lions team ever, all that sort of chat. And look, Andy Farrell's actually been the one who's played it down more than the players, because he's gone, I know what the Wallabies are like, I know what Aussies are like in the sporting culture, whatever.

13:22Alfie Reynolds: But behind the scenes, he will be driving it, for sure. So it was interesting to hear that. And I feel like we sometimes hear that about the England coaches as well, that they get really touchy and nervous right before a test match, because it's sort of like so important. And I guess for the Lions here, they were so heavily expected. They were 10-point favourites. They didn't quite hit their margin, which is a blow for your betting account, Alex. But they delivered on the expectation, I guess, didn't they? And they should have put them away, probably. They should have won by 15 points, maybe, or more.

13:52Alfie Reynolds: They should have won by more. Lions don't win many test matches, do they?

13:56Alex Lowe: They should have won by more. They should have finished a couple of those chances in the first half more emphatically than they did. but we should highlight some of the individual performances which were can we do finn russell first yeah which were regardless of you know opposition this the occasion demands something of a lions player because you know we were walking in going well gosh he hasn't picked this back five of the scrum together before there's always whenever you get to the first set of a series there are unknowns it you know i put a line in my preview quoting mcgeekan from 97 that the The Lions jersey asks different questions of a player than any other test jersey.

14:34Alex Lowe: So regardless of how good Australia are, and they obviously gave them a bit of a bloody nose second half, the occasion, the fact there were probably 30 ,000 Lions fans in a 55 ,000 crowd.

14:47Alfie Reynolds: That was awesome, wasn't it? Awesome. The whole bit behind one goal was red, wasn't it?

14:50Alex Lowe: The size of the occasion requires a certain character, requires a certain something to produce a performance that matches it. And we've mentioned Tom Curry, who absolutely did that. We mentioned Tyg Burton. And I think there's a few more, but you start with Finn Russell.

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16:47Alfie Reynolds: finn russell man like he is seeing the ball that's a bit it's a cricketing phrase isn't it like a beach ball isn't it like it's his control and his ability to almost like change his mind at the last minute on pass selection is extraordinarily good isn't it incredible like the the sort of two passes in that the only two a piloto try were just brilliant weren't they the the sort of i'm going to offload it oh actually i'll wait take the tackle and then pass to dan sheehan was fantastic and then the triple miss pass skip ball floated over the top to to a lot to hit the line and score the try interestingly you said or someone was it you who said that reminded you of the yeah england hugh jones ball that he threw in 2018 and we spoke to see any two people about this afterwards and he said i was thinking about that when it was coming to me really yeah that same pass and And what a player.

17:44Alfie Reynolds: And having the best season of his career. And I'm really pleased. Sorry, just to finish that one off. I'm really pleased for Finn Russell because he's what now? 32, 33. And there's always been this thing of like, so what's the Finn Russell legacy going to be? Is he going to quite be one of the greats? And look, the context of this series perhaps is that the Wallabies aren't one of the greats. So beating them is not as big an achievement as beating the back-to-back All Blacks or World Cup winning All Blacks or the box. But if he guides the Lions to a Test Series win, maybe even a 3-0 from 10, he's up there, isn't he?

18:21Alfie Reynolds: Like, what a guy.

18:22Alex Lowe: The way that he's playing, he's in complete control of his game and the game.

18:27Alfie Reynolds: So it's like a pleasure to watch someone doing that.

18:31Alex Lowe: It's just lovely to watch. But whatever the standard of opposition, I would back him to play in exactly the same way, with exactly the same level of control. because what he doesn't struggle with is composure under pressure. As you just said, he has this incredible ability to buy himself time, to find time to either change his mind or not make a decision until the last moment. Now, when he was at Rassing, and he said this himself to us before the Prem Final, Rassing's a club where it's just like Hollywood highlights reels. They just want razzle-dazzle. It's individual skills. It's Galactico rugby kind of thing.

19:08Alex Lowe: And he was perfect for that because he was happy to throw the risky pass. You know, it probably only had to be 60-40 and he'd go, oh, I'm going to chuck it. And then it gets intercepted. The Champions Cup final against Exeter Chiefs, he threw one. He doesn't throw those passes anymore because in the two years with Bath, he has become as close to a complete ten as you can find because he can play any style of game. We saw in the Premiership final, it wasn't a free-flowing game that required loads of skills. It was a starlinger. And he just, there's no ego in how he plays. It's just what is needed at the time.

19:42Alex Lowe: It's control. It's maybe kicking in behind. His vision for where space is is incredible. And his range and variety of passes from hand and boot, fantastic. So I thought he, you know, obviously he was given a lovely platform upon which to work. But he's right at the peak of his powers right now.

20:02Alfie Reynolds: There are other couple of things that I noticed that the sort of things you don't really see when you're watching it on the telly, but we get the privilege of sitting in great seats here, and we were pretty close to the action today, weren't we? And it's probably obvious because he's a fly half, so of course he's loud and sort of directing the play, but he's almost literally putting people into positions around him to go like, you're there, this is what I want, and you can see it and hear it from where we were sitting. And then there was another bit where him and Hugo Keenan just got something a bit wrong in the backfield, and I got my binoculars and watched them for a bit, and they were just almost like coaching each other and solving it on the pitch because they hardly played with each other, have they?

20:39Alfie Reynolds: So I just found all that interesting as well and fascinating that it's kind of like that super chilled, relaxed bit of him, but also the intensity to be able to do that in the first Test of the Lions series. It's just awesome, isn't it?

20:52Alex Lowe: I enjoyed Tyg Furlong's attempt to emulate Finn Russell's 20-yard pass off his left hand. Great to have Furlong back. He was. I mean, the scrum wasn't as... Australia have got a really good scrum. Statistically, it's really so...

21:09Alfie Reynolds: Or clean, isn't it?

21:10Alex Lowe: Clean, yeah. It's not like John Connolly's Wallabies in 07, where Vickery and Sheridan just ate them for breakfast down in Marseille. It's not like that. They've got a clean... And if you were to chuck in a skeleton and a Valentini, that solidifies it even more. It powers up their set piece. so the Lions it was a bit messy there were a few too many free kicks and whatever but around the park here's a guy who's struggled for fitness all year barely played for Leinster barely played for Ireland but like Tom Curry if he is fit he is playing and the reason is you get a performance like like you saw tonight and I joke about the the kind of standing at 10 throwing a 20 meter pass off his left hand out out to the wing but it was the right decision at the right moment executed brilliantly but that was just that was like an obvious one but there were so many other moments around the field when the Lions were on the front foot where they knew they were they wanted like big carry after big carry to just keep going through the front door as we as we described it he was class and it was great to see.

22:14He said to me afterwards Tyg Furlong that it's almost benefited him the fact they haven't been able to train because he's able to just get himself back up to speed whilst it's been difficult from a team point of view that's actually something that's probably benefited him but you bring us on there Alex to also chat about Tyg Byrne and Tom Curry and along with Tyg Furlong they were maybe the three players that we looked at and thought they're not there on form at the moment they're there on what they've done previously you can understand why they've been selected but they're not necessarily the best in their position based upon the tour games and Tyg Byrne and Tom Curry talk about setting a tone for that game and that performance and that physical dominance like both of those guys just immense.

22:56Alfie Reynolds: So So the other privileged bit that we get to do that not a lot of people do is talk to these people afterwards and get a sense of how they were in the week and how they are. And let's say Tom Curry is channeling Michael Jordan, coming up with reasons to take things personally. And I don't know this for a fact, but it seems like someone in the Lions set up has said to Tom Curry, everyone thinks Jack Morgan should be playing and they think you're rubbish. What do you think about that? and it's interesting as well because Alex Bink wrote a piece who's out on the England tour of Argentina and the US with Ben Curry in the week and Ben was livid on Tom's behalf that there was this sort of like phantom criticism of him which I think comes from Twitter and not the sort of established written and broadcast media look we said as you just said there it wasn't a form selection it was a trust selection and you wrote a piece that was like of course Tom Curry's going to play because it's Tom Curry he's a machine and I think the headline said something like he was the first name on the team sheet and was always going to be so look, whatever the Lions have done internally is up to them because you've got to find ways of becoming sort of chips on shoulders and underdogs because they're massive favourites out here, like they've got to come up with something but it's just fascinating because he came in after the game, didn't he Alex and was let's say curt with his answers to the Her Majesty's press

24:13Alex Lowe: If anyone has seen the Brendan Venter interview it reminded me of that it was honestly one word answers at times How long did it last for? Well, I stuck around for about a minute and a half before I actually saw the Lions media officer and was like, what's going on here? It's ridiculous. And then Ty Byrne was in the corner. I was like, I'm going to chat to Ty Byrne because I might have a proper conversation with him. And he was great about Tom Curry and the room sharing and all sorts of things. But everyone uses different things to wind them up. And I think Richard Wigglesworth is really good at finding things, kind of Felix, they've learned from Felix Jones, those coaches about what...

24:53Alex Lowe: The box are the best in the world at that. The box are the best in it. As well as winning rugby games. Felix Jones would have brought some of that to England. Wigglesworth quite likes trawling back through social media and finding things and, you know, players don't get the difference between, you know, a kind of frustrated Welshman who wants Jack Morgan in the team and sort of some reasoned commentary, you know, and he can take it out on us and I don't care, but I just think, it felt very obvious to me that he had spent 10 days getting himself into a place where he could mentally, where he could deliver that kind of performance, which he delivers a similar type of performance whenever he plays.

25:26Alex Lowe: And it's not flashy, but it's physical and in your face. But today was one of those days where you get like Tom Curry-Max, where he elevated it and he therefore needed to take himself into that position. And I would imagine there have been a few things posted on his bedroom wall this week just to get him there.

25:48Alfie Reynolds: Or on his official Lions iPad, maybe. Maybe they don't print it off and put it on the wall these days. So what you're saying, Alex, is everyone who wrote hashtag justice for Jack Morgan on social media should take the credit for inspiring Tom Curry to a brilliant performance in the first Test of the Lions. Well done, X. You've made Tom Curry into yet another test match animal. Brilliant. So Tom Curry, Ty Burn, Ty Furlong, brilliant. We haven't mentioned him actually really quickly. Ellis Genge is on some form at the moment. This is the best form over a prolonged period. I think I've seen Ellis Gench having his career.

26:18Alex Lowe: He's having a monstrous tour. Another one who will have spent 48 hours before the game getting himself into a certain mindset. But he's also physically there now. I spoke to him on Thursday when they named the team. And as we discussed on that pod, he's two stone heavier now than he was when he first broke through. He's over 20 stone. And he says it slowed him down a bit, but he's still got enough in the legs to cover the ground. But he's become much harder to stop. and he's bumping defenders. And again, another really important piece of the jigsaw that kept the Lions on the front foot when they were on top.

26:52And up next for the Lions, the game on Tuesday, which you feel they probably would rather not have to be playing, but wholesale changes for that game.

26:58Alfie Reynolds: Well, there's going to have to be two people on the bench that played in this match because they don't have enough players. And just to cover off a few bits, they think that Blair Kinghorn, Gary Ringrose and Matt Hanson now probably could be available for that game. But the one to monitor is Joe McCarthy, who picked up what they call a plantar fascia injury, which I've had to Google this so you don't have to. It's basically the bit that connects your toes to your heel, and he's hurt that. So hopefully he's okay. But if he's not, they've got plenty of locks. Jamie George will start hooker, won't he?

27:29Alex Lowe: Owen Farrell will probably play 12.

27:31Alfie Reynolds: Outside Finn Smith, probably?

27:32Alex Lowe: Yeah. I quite like the sound of that combo. But anyway, it's a game that the Lions should never have scheduled to be between the first and second test. I think we've got to the point now where all these tornbacks should be pre-first test because it just gets in the way of everything and they've had to bring in all these extra players because of it. So it feels a slight irrelevance, but it's very important for some players to make their mark because if Joe McCarthy's injured, then there's a good chance for Scott Cummings or someone like that to make a case, James Ryan. So we'll be there in Melbourne for it.

28:06Alex Lowe: Team announcement Monday. there'll be some big name Lions picked in it who may be making their first start of this tour We shall wait and see So off to Melbourne second test next weekend the tour game midweek loads more happening but the Lions are 1-0 up in the series Are the Wallabies able to come back on the basis of tonight? I'll suggest it's maybe unlikely but we'll see when we get to Melbourne Thanks for listening This has been The Ruck the journalist's rugby podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times

28:40Cha-ching! That's the sound of Lowe's Labor Day Savings. Get up to 45 % off select major appliances and save up to an additional$100 on select laundry pairs. Plus, get three bags of Miracle-Gro.75 cubic foot garden soil for just$10. Labor Day deals are on now at Lowe's. In-store and online. Valid through 9-9. While supplies last. Selection varies by location. See Lowe's.com for more details. Soil Offer excludes Alaska and Hawaii. This episode is sponsored by Aerie. If you know me, you know that my philosophy is all about looking good and feeling good every single day. And that honestly comes down to the first layer.

29:20I'm talking about bras. If your bra is digging into your shoulder or maybe it's riding up in the back or you are dying to take it off at the end of the day, then that bra is not the right fit. And what I love about Aerie is that they have 59 different sizes in really soft fabrics and really good fits. Because at the end of the day, your bra should hold you in and not hold you back. Visit Aerie.com to find the right bra and your perfect fit.