The Australian tour of the British and Irish Lions is currently three games in advance, with tourists undefeated after winning the Western Force, Queensland Reds and NSW Waratah.
Next is Brunby, Canberra, on Wednesday night (Wednesday morning BST).
But all the roads are of course back to Brisbane. There, the first test against the Wallabies will be held at Suncorp Stadium the following week.
With that in mind, overreact to previous tours – and prepare for the Wallabies.
Wallabies are destined to have no. 10
verdict: Overreaction
Australia’s only hit before the first Test against the Lions was against Fiji on Sunday. A 79-minute attempt from Harry Wilson avoided a second straight loss to the Pacific Islanders. The Fijians were great, riding a 5-pointer momentum on the halftime stroke to completely control the second stanza.
Unlike the last two Lions visits to Australia, this was the first time the Wallabies enjoyed the game before facing tourists. It was very valuable, but continued the problematic recent theme for Flyhalf Noah Reracio, who has now started all but two of Schmidt’s 14 tests. In the 61st minute of Saturday’s game at Newcastle, Lolesio worked hard on the ground, reaching for the second Medicab in two months. Also, Brunby won Drua in Round 1, and then his fourth head knock in 2025 after another incident in the semi-finals by the chief.
With all this in mind, the fact that fellow Wallabies squad member, No. 10, Tom Linag, spent time on the sidelines following a head knock, is it when Wallabies panic about No. 10? No, because there’s a simple solution to fix it.
Besides protecting Wallabee’s fly-half options to face the Lions, Joe Schmidt could also turn to either James O’Connor or Bernard Foley. If that’s enough for Andy Farrell, who brought his son Owen last week, then surely Schmidt can follow that? It’s not acknowledge that his desire to look to the future was wrong, but instead a short-term fallback just for the series. And they probably aren’t needed at all. But this isn’t a time to be proud of, a good coach is adaptable and Schmidt has to be here. – Bruce himself
Sloppy mistakes become a real problem for lions
verdict: It’s not an overreaction
Even in the opening exchange with Argentina, it was clear that the Lions were trying to force play too much and try to do too much off-roading. It wasn’t so obvious to the Force and Red, but this issue has brought up his head again against Waratah.
One day, everything sticks, everyone finds their rhythm, and that doesn’t matter. Other people, things don’t go as well as you want them to. Andy Farrell’s concern is the fact that he really grabbed the game by the prime minister at the neck and said, “This isn’t working.”
Now, Farrell might have told them to play that way, but there’s a point when you need to put pressure on, go through some phases and apply pressure. The Lions definitely have players to produce sparkling offensive rugby, but sometimes they need to close before they can go down that path. – James Regan
The Wallabies have the respect of lions, but there are few fear factors
verdict: It’s not an overreaction
Following Australia’s positive performance at the fall International, there was a consensus that the Lions Tour was not as one-sided as people thought it would follow the World Cup. Given that we’ve only tested the Wallabies once, it’s hard to judge them, but it’s not impressive to see Fiji win 21-18 before facing the Lions, but it leaves us with a sense of growth in the north where tourists can win the series 3-0.
They have star power and have some experienced campaigners who have experienced many successes at the national and international level. It’s not that a series win is guaranteed – there’s nothing on a tour like this – but the Wallabies simply don’t have the fear factor they had the previous year. They have talented players, but the team doesn’t have the aura that past aspects held.
Can they develop it? Absolutely… and things can change soon. However, at this stage, the Lions are not shaking precisely in their boots. – James Regan
TMO Confusion Can Determine Series
verdict: Overreaction
Rugby certainly isn’t the only one, but technology continues to present the issue of moderators, both in terms of speed of delivery and when and where TV match officials can intervene and where. On the weekend, we saw multiple instances over the weekend, not only in the Wallata Lions and Wallabys Fiji games, but also in the thrilling New Zealand French Test matches.
Most of the time, we have reached the right decision. However, there remains a certain degree of ambiguity in the role of TMO. Fiji coach Mick Byrne was confused after Sireli Makaka’s attempt was cut off as Sireli Makaka’s attempt touched before visitors’ sales in Newcastle on Sunday.
The concern is that this highly anticipated series between the Lion and the Wallabies could be cast shadow by TMO. I’m not thinking about it without weight, but given that there are three tests, I hope either the Wallaby or the Lion can prove their advantage over the two weeks through play on the field. It is inevitable that decisions will be discussed and TMOs will be called out, but rugby is talented enough to talk. At least that’s what I hope for now. – Bruce himself
– As it happened – Lions 21-10 Waratah of England and Ireland: Error-prone tourists stutter to victory
– Three things we learned from the Lions’ victory over Waratah
– Andy Farrell questioned the “watering” surface versus the watasse
– Full fixture list for Australian Lions Tour
– Everything you need to know about Summer Lions Tour
– Complete 38-person Lions Team