British & Irish Lions news: Lions pass their hardest test so far against the Brumbies
This week saw the match-ups between Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions and the Australian franchises come to an end after a 36-24 triumph over the ACT Brumbies on July 9.
The Lions finished with a perfect record in these warm-up games.
The Lions now go on to face the Australian–New Zealand Invitational squad – which, despite being filled with some Southern Hemisphere stars, should be a much more disjointed squad, similar to a Barbarians-esque set-up.
So, with the Brumbies being the best Australian team in Super Rugby Pacific, what did Farrell and his coaches learn from this game, and the games against all of the other Australian franchises?
Here, Sports News Blitz rugby writer Jacob Garrett discusses the road ahead for Farrell and the Lions.
Brumbies’ physical game plan
The Brumbies came with a clear objective: to rough up and physically compete with the Lions.
They did this through a clear mindset to blitz the Lions’ attack, compete over the ball, and mix things up with an aggressive kicking game of high, competitive bombs.
You would often see a shortened, five-man lineout, with a quick and simple set-up which eventually transitioned into the fly-half’s hands – who would blast a high bomb into the middle of the pitch, with the back row chasing into midfield.
Even if they did not win the ball in the air, their back row would fire into the breakdown, to either try to blow over the defence or steal through a jackal.
This game style was backed up by the stats — the Brumbies only ran 199 metres, compared to the 427 metres run by the Lions, and only carried 86 times.
These stats then coupled with their success at breakdown time, with five turnovers throughout the whole game.
This provided an excellent battle for Farrell’s side, as they had their first opposition truly test them up front in the physical game.
And, after a minor shock early in the game — the Lions stepped up.
The likes of Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum were excellent in the tight, with half-backs Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell pulling the strings, putting the over-eager defence of the Brumbies to the test.
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Half-back excellence
The star-power half-back partnership of Gibson-Park and Russell were excellent in the capital this week.
The pairing are probably the only two backs who are ‘nailed on’ to play in the Test matches against the Wallabies at the beginning of the tour.
Gibson-Park won Player of the Match for the Lions and certainly earned that award (even though I would have personally given it to his half-back counterpart).
At scrum-half, the pace at which the Irish star played was very impressive, pushing back the Brumbies’ aggressive defence, forcing them to scramble and fall out of their structure.
He found value on the outside and through the middle, but it all started with the pace he injected from the deck.
Then onto his partner — the maverick, Finn Russell.
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The Scottish star was exceptional on Wednesday, not with his flair and outside-the-box thinking, but through his ability to facilitate the outside backs and attacking structure.
His ability to manipulate the rushing, aggressive defence was notable.
The Brumbies were clearly targeting him and the options running off him.
With this knowledge, he would often dummy to allow the defender to overrun and give space to the runners outside him – stifling the Brumbies’ defensive structure.
If you look at James Lowe’s try, the value of Russell’s ball-playing ability is noticeable, his quick distribution allowed the time and space for centres Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose to put the wing through on the edge.
His ability to recognise the space out wide and quickly transfer the ball to space is such a simple skill, but often one that is overlooked by other fly-halves, who favour Hollywood long passes or kicks into space.
“The simple things done well” is one of the most repeated phrases in rugby, and Russell is the personification of this.
Back row shaping up
A lot has been of the Lions squad when it was announced, regarding what the back row was going to look like, both in style, configuration and personnel.
The team selection this week was certainly the most interesting of the tour thus far, as it looked as close to the Test side that we have seen.
The premier half-backs played, as did skipper Maro Itoje along with the best hooker in the world, Dan Sheehan (who was excellent as per usual).
With this knowledge, it gave us great insight into how the ever-competitive back row may look.
It seems as if Farrell is leaning towards a more lineout-based configuration, with the blindside flank as a second-row hybrid.
This week, this was in the form of Ollie Chessum.
This configuration worked brilliantly, as the forward pack looked solid on both sides of the ball.
Alongside a brilliant lineout set-up, which had been struggling in games prior, as Farrell’s side ended up with a 100% lineout success rate.
So now that the configuration has been sorted, what about the personnel?
Chessum was excellent. His much-improved carrying ability was evident, alongside his brilliant lineout presence.
With Tadhg Beirne perhaps not living up to previous heights from his time in an Irish shirt, I would say that the Leicester Tigers man should have that six jersey secured.
But who will play alongside him?
Tom Curry was quiet again on Wednesday, and is not living up to his performances from years prior.
Alongside what was recognised as the closest selection to a finalised Test match-day squad thus far, perhaps Curry’s opportunity to claim the iconic seven shirt may be gone.
On the other hand, you have the sole Welshman, Jac Morgan, who has really put his stake in the ground with the game time he has had, including a Player of the Match award against the Queensland Reds.
Finally, you have Jack Conan, who despite being relatively poor against the Brumbies, will likely be wearing the number eight come the opening Test against the Wallabies.
His profile is rare in this Lions squad—he is the only out-and-out number eight.
English duo Henry Pollock and Ben Earl are more athletic number eights—more in the shape of traditional flankers.
Thus, Conan is likely set to don the shirt with his ability to punch up the guts and physically put the opposition onto the back foot.
For me, I would love to see a back row of Chessum, Morgan and Conan — coupled with Pollock and Earl on the bench to inject pace into the game when they come on.
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Full-back dilemma
The Brumbies game saw yet another twist in the battle for the number 15 shirt for the Lions.
Elliot Daly started the tour as the only real full-back who was fit and available.
With Blair Kinghorn still involved in the Top 14 at the time, and Hugo Keenan suffering from sickness, the Englishman really staked a claim for a starting spot in the backfield, being one of the most in-form players on tour.
Unfortunately, the Saracen’s tour ended with a forearm injury.
This left Keenan and Kinghorn fighting for the shirt, with Marcus Smith as a last resort.
Unfortunately, Kinghorn got injured against the Brumbies, after only 24 minutes.
These 24 minutes were filled with some really excellent touches, both in his ball-playing ability and running game on display.
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Despite not knowing the extent of his injury, it seems the jersey is Keenan's.
Although, the Irishman has not impressed on the tour thus far.
Against the Waratahs, his aerial game and backfield positioning were quite poor, two areas that have made him one of the best full-backs in the world for many years.
This concern is coupled with his spotty injury and health record of late.
So, what about Marcus Smith?
He was very impressive off the bench this week, with some brave aerial play combined with an excellent kick-assist for Ringrose.
His ability to create something out of nothing is second to none, and this golden attribute, mixed with his versatility, will probably see him get the 23 jersey come Test week.
But, if the full-back area continues to be a headache for Farrell, could we see the English star get a shot in the starting 15?
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