Waratahs v British and Irish Lions winners and losers: ‘Redemption’ for Scott Cummings but ‘something amiss’ with three starters from Ireland

Lawrence Nolan
Tadhg Beirne

Tadhg Beirne, the British and Irish Lions skipper for the day, produced an underwhelming performance in Sydney

This wasn’t the calibre of performance that was expected from the British and Irish Lions four games into their tour. Yes, they defeated the Waratahs, but their third win on Australian soil didn’t represent a collective step forward as regards building momentum ahead of the Test series against the Wallabies.  

Producing a slack first-half display was nothing new for these Lions. Reaching the break just 14-3 ahead was in keeping with what had been seen against the Western Force and the Reds in the last week.

However, unlike in Perth and Brisbane, they failed to press on the second-half accelerator, and such was their lack of overall gainline dominance, they would have been relieved to bag their 21-10, three tries to two win. Here are the Planet Rugby winners and losers from a drab fixture that won’t live long in the memory:  

Winners

Alex Mitchell: So passive was his first-half effort, we were set to put him in the losers’ category, but he came good in the second period, taking it upon himself to play like a French nine and dictate the game.

His initial ineffectiveness was visible in how he couldn’t prevent Charlie Gamble from grounding for a disallowed try, and then when he slipped off a tackle in the move that ended with Darby Lancaster scoring.

Despite giving Huw Jones the assist for the second Lions try, Mitchell generally looked lethargic and his team’s performance suffered because of this, but he revved through the gears on the resumption and was different gravy.

Look at his break five minutes into the second half that ended with Josh van der Flier nearly getting over and his show-and-go try on 55 minutes – that was a nine taking charge in a real time of need and this tempo injection, which included a neat 50/22, made sure no upset result materialised.

Dan McKellar: The Australian exited Leicester last year with his reputation tarnished following a frustrating single season in charge at Welford Road. There was no major upsurge in fortunes in his first year in charge at the Waratahs as they won just six of their 14 matches to finish in eighth place.

However, he can take pride in the competitiveness of the Sydney-based Super Rugby Pacific franchise in causing the Lions a headache that never abated. Whereas the Force and the Reds waved the white flag in their second halves against the tourists, the Waratahs stuck at it and the 11-point margin of defeat was a ‘victory’.

The way they refused to buckle at the breakdown was a feather in their cap. There was even room for a heartwarming storyline with Jamie Adamson stepping off the bench 20 minutes from the end.

Adamson was an ex-England 7s player spotted by McKellar last year in the Shute Shield, the Sydney club competition, and the coach’s punt to give the 25-year-old a shot at Super Rugby has paid off generously.

Huw Jones: The only starter retained from Wednesday’s XV, the midfielder looked way more comfortable in this combination with his Scotland colleague, Sione Tuipulotu, than he did with Bundee Aki.

It was the first time on the tour that head coach Andy Farrell went with an already established country partnership in the midfield, and Jones put his hand up for Test series selection with the finishing for his two first-half tries.

The first on 12 minutes was a training ground scrum ball move, Jones fastening onto a no-look pass from Tuipulotu to score.

Then, 21 minutes later, he had the appetite to go again after an attack off lineout ball initially ended with him short of the line. Getting back to his feet, he got back in the line and showed loved footwork to score off Mitchell’s pass. His overall effort was the best so far by someone wearing the No.13 shirt.  

British and Irish Lions dig deep as Huw Jones scores two tries in victory over the Waratahs

Ellis Genge: His battle with Andrew Porter for the No.1 Test shirt is bubbling away nicely, and this impressive 29-minute run off the bench will do his chances of starting versus Australia no harm at all.

Yes, the Lions were comfortable at the scrum before they altered their entire front row 11 minutes into the second half, but Genge was very effective with what he did. There were two set-piece penalties won on his side of the scrum, and a third was then awarded for the whole front row.  

That set-piece success spruces up Genge’s series credentials in that important area, and he would have also had a try but for separation when grounding on the hour mark and then for maul obstruction by Ben Earl four minutes from the finish.  

Scott Cummings: A week ago, the Scottish lock was lambasted for his desperate 48-minute display versus the Force. So poor was that performance that the expectation was that he wouldn’t feature much for the rest of the tour.

The best redemption stories, though, often come with an unexpected stroke of luck, and the 11th-hour absence of Henry Pollock from the starting line-up resulted in Tadhg Beirne switching to blindside and Cummings getting promoted from the bench to start at lock.

His commitment the whole way through was excellent. This effectiveness started with his important second-minute chasing-back intervention to put manners on a dangerous Wilson break, and it continued from there.  It won’t get him into the Test selection picture, but as a riposte to his critics after Perth, Cummings deserves kudos.  

Losers

Hugo Keenan: It doesn’t look like it is going to come right to tour for the full-back. Injured since Leinster’s United Rugby Championship quarter-final win over Scarlets, that hamstring frustration gave way to annoyance with the bug that forced him to give up a starting spot last Wednesday against the Reds.

That illness beaten, Keenan ran out at No.15 in Sydney, but he appeared way off the full-back standard set by Elliot Daly, who is now gone from the tour with injury.

His display began with a handling error that nearly cost a try, and he was then at fault for slipping off a tackle for the Waratahs try just before the interval. His aerial effort was also out of sync, and he was hooked on the hour mark, a decision that resulted in Blair Kinghorn switching from wing to full-back.

Keenan has plenty of credit in the back with Farrell from Ireland, but he is struggling for form and needs a transformation if he is to be a deserving pick to start against the Wallabies on July 19.

Fin Smith: You want competition for every place on these tours, but this Waratahs match highlighted the chasm that exists between the inexperienced Smith and the matured Finn Russell at fly-half.

Russell has appeared at ease pulling the strings in his appearances against the Force and the Reds, mixing up his game and playing with momentum-generating intelligence.

In contrast, Smith struggled with the level of the challenge presented in Sydney, playing behind a pack having issues with its breakdown physicality and in partnership with a scrum-half who was pedestrian in the opening half.

With Mitchell taking command in the second period, Smith’s influence was reduced even more, and his 60th-minute exit was inevitable.  

British and Irish Lions ratings: Irishman has a rare ‘mare’ as Huwipulotu shines in an underwhelming outing

Tadhg Beirne: The versatile Irish forward is another player with plenty of country credit under Farrell. However, having done well so far on tour, something was amiss against the Waratahs.

Beirne was originally chosen to start at lock, but that plan was shelved with Pollock’s absence and what he managed at No.6 was rather limited and underwhelming. Perhaps the burden of the match day captaincy proved too heavy for him to shoulder.

Whatever was up, he wasn’t comfortable in the breakdown battle and there was a leadership void in terms of getting an underperforming pack to up the ante on the pitch as the action unfolded.

James Ryan: Having made his Lions debut off the bench on Wednesday, this first start was the Irish lock’s chance to shine and plant the seed that he could perhaps be the player best suited to partner tour skipper Maro Itoje in the engine room.

Alas, he never got out of the blocks, and it said much that he was eclipsed by Cummings, someone who had the crushing disappointment of last weekend’s performance in Perth.

Ryan now needs a Cummings-like redemption, but this evidence from Sydney will count him out of the Test selection talk for now. He is way down the pecking order compared to his positional rivals.

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