Queensland Reds v British & Irish Lions: Five takeaways as ‘real excitement’ over tourists’ four ‘classy’ half-backs but there is ‘great concern’ about key areas
British and Irish Lions fly-half Finn Russell and prop Andrew Porter.
Following a 52-12 victory for the British & Irish Lions over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday, here’s our five takeaways from the tour clash at Suncorp Stadium.
The top line
Another half century of points helped the British and Irish Lions see off a below strength Queensland Reds 52-12 in a promising performance that grew in confidence as the match progressed.
This display from the Lions was a slow burner, one that started with some really powerful contact work from the Reds that rocked the Lions through contact, but one that unfolded to a confident and classy showing as combinations slowly but surely started to gel.
However, the context of the match is key. This was a Reds side shorn of some world-class performers such as Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson, as the Wallabies prepare for their warm-up Test against Fiji.
The Lions tries came from Duhan van der Merwe, Jac Morgan, Maro Itoje, Tommy Freeman (2), Huw Jones, Andrew Porter and Garry Ringrose, with the Reds replying through Josh Flook and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen. The big take out is that the Lions nilled the Reds in the second half and, other than a concern over the outstanding Elliot Daly, the team emerged relatively unscathed from their performance.
Excellence unfolds
There will be real excitement about how all four half-backs performed. Both nines added tempo and ambition, taking pressure off their backline with some lovely probing of the short side, and real intent around their recycle speed from ruck. Finn Russell and Fin Smith both showed some classy touches but one offering unpredictability and the other thriving on delivering structure.
With Bundee Aki running some great lines, and Freeman and Van der Merwe tireless in their appetite for contact, the Lions showed real power in carry, but there may just be a question mark about outright pace in a country where hard track rugby is so valued.
Meanwhile, Itoje’s workrate was quite phenomenal, leading the charge to every breakdown, stealing a couple of crucial throws to take his lineout tally to eight in the match and grabbing a try as he shone in every aspect.
Ditto for the absolutely outstanding player of the match Morgan, who really stood up to deliver a classy all-court performance, grabbing the most carries and turnovers – two right at the end in quick succession – to keep Welsh hearts interested in the Lions and make sure that the seven debate is one that is still not settled.
Whilst he made 14 carries and tackled hard close to the breakdown, Jack Conan added power to the defence and impact on the gain line. Perhaps he will be disappointed in the metre return for the carries he made (34m) but he added real balance to the back-row and made hard metres without quite making the breaks we have seen from him with Ireland.
It was a match that the Lions grew into; perhaps not quite the statement performance they would have wanted, but one that both highlighted obvious work-ons whilst allowing systems and combinations to blossom. In short, a decent day at the office.
The good
There was a lot to like about the Lions with ball in hand in this match, with real intent in carry. The Lions made some 500 metres or more, powering through contact and committing the Reds to double teaming to stop the initial carry on several occasions.
Daly at 15 continued his form and his work coming into the line and distributing as a second receiver allowed the Lions to attack the fringes of an excellent Reds blitz. Daly wandered off clutching his arm after a tackle and his recuperation will be key to the Lions balance in the back three, even given Blair Kinghorn’s imminent availability.
Feeding the backs, Jamison Gibson-Park’s distribution and speed of decision was quite outstanding, especially his ability to attack the short side when the Reds pushed up to pressure the openside options. His cutback line into traffic to take defenders out and offload for the Itoje try was a wonderful piece of scrum-half play, one made from Gibson-Park’s speed to pass and recycle after a thundering run from Aki off early phase had committed numbers.
When Mitchell and Smith came on, they continued the good work of Russell and Gibson-Park, with the Saints nine bringing a lovely pass out of the bag to meet a brilliant line from Morgan for the Lions’ second try of the second half. Like the man before him, tempo was the key to the try – fast mini rucks and reactive speed from the scrum-half.
The bad
The Lions aerial work in restart, set-piece and open play was, bluntly, well below the standard of an elite Test side.
They struggled with system and structure around the restart, with poor support and control of drop zone, something that will concern Andy Farrell’s coaching staff greatly. The Reds won three restart challenges, something that will really need some attention and work-ons before the Tests start in earnest.
In the lineout, the Reds nicked three of the Lions throws. Given that area is a sum of many moving parts, this is one that could be put down to familiarity and the Lions experimenting with their options. Perhaps at times they might have been accused of overcomplicating moves, and they will know that practice makes perfect as the relationship between the various players matures.
In terms of the aerial chase, the Lions opted to keep ball in hand far more than we saw against Los Pumas. A couple of early efforts that went the way of the hosts ensured that the visitors stuck to a handling match, but Test rugby demands aerial excellence and the Lions will be keen to sort that out.
The ugly
Scrum time and defensive collision need a lot of work.
Led by the brilliant Hunter Paisami in midfield, the Queensland Reds made some massive early hits into the Lions defence. They took man after man with them and the power of the carrying led to a lovely try for Flook, as half-back Kalani Thomas created a carbon copy of the Bordeaux play by Maxime Lucu for Damian Penaud to score in the Top 14 final last Saturday.
In truth, the space behind for the kick was created by the carrying into contact that narrowed the Lions up numerically, and the defensive coaches will be stressing that their team simply cannot lose so many contact metres in the Tests.
The Lions scrum should have dominated but referee James Doleman, again excellent, was hard on Porter and his known propensity to swing out and drive in. They conceded four scrum penalties, with both the starters and the finishers incurring Doleman’s displeasure on far too many occasions at this level. They need to fix their issues quickly.