British and Irish Lions survive First Nations & Pasifika XV scare in Melbourne
British & Irish Lions centre Jamie Osborne and First Nations & Pasifika XV captain Kurtley Beale compete for possession in Melbourne.
The British and Irish Lions avoided an embarrassing defeat in their final midweek tour match after edging past a determined First Nations & Pasifika XV outfit 24-19 in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The First Nations & Pasifika XV deserve plenty of credit for their performance as they were competitive for long periods and offered stern opposition throughout.
In the end, the famous touring team got the rub of the green as they outscored their opponents by four tries to three with Jamie Osborne leading the way with a deserved brace.
The Lions‘ other points came via five-pointers from Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe while Fin Smith added two conversions.
For the home side, Triston Reilly, Seru Uru and Rob Leota scored tries and Kurtley Beale succeeded with a couple of conversions.
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The home side suffered an early setback when Reilly was yellow carded for a dangerous hit on Graham in the fifth minute.
Shortly afterwards, Osborne opened the scoring with his try after gathering a perfectly weighted chip kick from Owen Farrell inside the First Nations & Pasifika XV’s 22.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side in the 11th minute when Smith found Graham with a long skip pass and the Scotland flyer cantered in for an easy five-pointer.
Smith slotted both conversions and the tourists continued to dominate as the half progressed but the game’s complexion changed in the 18th minute when Reilly intercepted a pass from Blair Kinghorn on the edge of the Lions’ 22 before racing away to score his try.
And five minutes later, the First Nations & Pasifika XV drew level with their second converted try – Uru rounding off from close quarters after Kalani Thomas and Taniela Tupou laid the groundwork with strong carries which gave their side good momentum.
To make matters worse for the tourists, James Ryan was sent to the sin bin after repeated infringements from the visitors in the build-up to that score.
The rest of the half was a tight affair as the sides battled to gain the ascendancy but neither side would score points during that period and they were deadlocked at 14-14 at half-time.
Just like the opening stanza, the Lions made the brighter start to the second half as five minutes after the restart Osborne went over for his second try after running onto an offload from Kinghorn.
The next 15 minutes was an arm wrestle with the teams giving their all to gain the upper hand but this period was characterised by excellent defensive efforts from both sides.
However, the Lions extended their lead in the 64th minute when Farrell showed his class by drawing in a defender before offloading to Van der Merwe inside the First Nations & Pasifika XV’s 22 and the behemoth winger had an easy run-in for his five-pointer.
The home side needed a response if they wanted something from this encounter and that came in the 71st minute when Leota dotted down from close range after gathering a pass from Richie Asiata.
The game’s closing stages were frantic as the invitational team upped the ante in a bid to claim a stunning victory but it wasn’t to be as the tourists held on for their narrowest triumph of their Australian tour so far.
The teams
First Nations & Pasifika XV 15 Andy Muirhead, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 David Feliuai, 11 Triston Reilly, 10 Kurtley Beale (c), 9 Kalani Thomas, 8 Tuaina Taii Tualima, 7 Charlie Gamble, 6 Seru Uru, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Darcy Swain, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Lington Ieli
Replacements: 16 Richie Asiata, 17 Marley Pearce, 18 Mesake Doge, 19 Mesake Vocevoce, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Harrison Goddard, 22 Jack Debreczeni, 23 Jarrah McLeod
British & Irish Lions: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben White, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jac Morgan, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Jamie George, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Tom Clarkson, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Garry Ringrose
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
FPRO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)