Coach Andy Farrell said he has earned a fierce victory over Act Brumby in Canberra with a knee injury to the Lions fullback Blair Kinghorn of England and Ireland.
The Lions had to work for a 36-24 victory with some of the best players who were absent in Australia’s training camp.
Kinghorn missed early in the first half and spent the rest of the match on ice in his left knee.
Losing Kinghorn would cause problems for Farrell ahead of the first Wallabies test on July 19, given that there is already no utility back Elliott Daly in the 3-match series.
After the match, when asked if he was afraid of the worst for Kinghorn, Farrell said “No.”
Fullback was singing in the bed where staff were rating him, he said.
“He slapped on the knee. He kept going quite a bit, but he didn’t have to keep going… he’s fine.”
Marcus Smith, who came for Kinghorn, scored one of the Lions’ five tries and performed well.
“He had a really nice touch,” Farrell said. “He’s dangerous with the ball in hand. That’s good learning for him.”
Farrell fielded the lineup near what would be expected of the first Wallabies match, recalling that Rock Malo Itoge had captain and fly-half Finn Russell directed the play.
The Lions had a bad start and tried it out in the opening minutes, but they placed fourth straight victory on the Australian tour following their victory over Western forces, Queensland Reds and New South Wales Waratah.
“Our game controls were pretty good tonight so we were able to continue putting pressure on the far right of the field. That’s a great step forward,” added Farrell.
“We’re in a good place… We’re doing well in certain aspects of the game, in fit and start, etc., but we need to improve in all areas.”
“That feels good,” said Ito je, sitting next to Farrell at a post-game press conference.
“We know it’s not a finished article, we know that we have to improve.
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