Sydney – The British and Ireland Lions may have lived on an undefeated tour record in Australia, but their performances didn’t really take the hopes of manager Andy Farrell, which was a memorable night for NSW rugby.
The Lions won 21-10, but it was Waratah who far surpassed their reputation. NSW has produced lively performances like the other few they have convened in recent years as they went toe-toe with Farrell’s men all 80 minutes at Allianz Stadium.
It is not an exaggeration to say this is their most brave efforts at a rebuilt Sydney venue. This ironically quickly placed the bullets on the grass again, claiming to visitors that Waratha “watered” the pre-match pitch.
“Unfortunately, we were a bit inaccurate around the set piece and we had the ball in key time, so we probably stopped us… if we got 21-17 out there and it was a contest in the final few minutes, it would have been interesting.”
“But yeah, I’m proud of this effort.”
The surface condition may have something to do with 70mm rain falling earlier in the week, but Sydney nights usually leave a coating of dew at this time of year. And it wasn’t that bad, certainly compared to other games played in the same venue.
The Lions lamented 20 sales and, as Farrell said, a desire to “overplay” but Waratah’s defense was heroic. This was fully demonstrated by both Tom Lambert and Teddy Wilson. He separately denied Josh van der Freier and Ellis Jenge, respectively, of the last and last tri-line defense.
Scrum half Alex Mitchell and center Foo Jones were among the few Lions who pushed their lawsuit to begin the test. Otherwise, this was a disappointing performance by visitors following efforts in Perth and Brisbane.
They controlled ownership and territory, but there was no clarity and clarity of their play, especially in the second half.
Without Mitchell, who won one attempt and produced several other crafty plays, the Lions could have faced one of the biggest turbulent disruptions in celebratory history. They didn’t address the threat of a gamble-led Waratah breakdown as NSW disrupts recycling in 80 minutes in Sydney.
“Listen carefully, getting a victory is good, but I think we’re trying to judge performance at this stage. We reflected a little more, a little more after the match. “We were disappointed enough with the amount of ownership and territory we had and how we dealt with certain circumstances, different types of games.
“But I’m glad that it happened to us. Yeah, we have good learning that we need to learn quickly about that type of game.”
Waratah had paid as much as $30 to a local bookmaker before kickoff. Not only did they make that price ock lol, they made countless critics along the way, but they’re sure NSW also recovered with pride and pride in their jerseys, and if they play like Saturday nights, they’re sure it’s worth watching in 2026.
How they can bottle that attitude will be at the top of McKeller’s list throughout the offseason. Because he is also trying to block the holes left by the departing Taniela Tupou, Rangi Gleason, Rob Leota, and several other longtime Waratah contributors.
And that made this Waratah’s performance even more impressive. NSW didn’t have regular starters Angus Bell, Dave Polecki, Gleeson, Jake Gordon and Joseph Oakso Suaari.
“I think New South Wales has a desperate rugby community behind Waratah. I think I saw it earlier this year. The finish is just a disappointment. I’ve injured a key player,” McKeller recalls the season.
“I think the injury profile this year is significantly better, but if Joseph (Suali) only plays five games (Max) Jorgensen plays five (Dave) Jake Gordon with Polecki playing six, they’re the quality players you need and you have a little luck.
“Ideally, we can keep them in the park next year and maintain that strike power in the park, but we continue to play with the same courage and courage we did tonight.
Previously, the Lions received a score 12 minutes later when Australian-born centre Sionetwiproto dropped a beautiful short ball to midfield partner Foo Jones.
Jones added his second addition 21 minutes later, but forced Waratah to stretch his 22-year-old lion and to issue a yellow card warning on the way to repeatedly infringe on the way.
The same crime denies visitors try it in the closing minutes, but TMO is a constant threat throughout the contest, and was heavily threatened by the rage of a strong crowd of 40,568 people.
There’s no moment more than when the video umpire denies Waratah’s winger Derby Lancaster, outside of Mitchell and teammate Charlie Gamble, who was the other outstanding player on the field.
Despite a suspicious clean-out from Mack Hansen’s Fergus Lee Warner, the attempt was ultimately supported.
NSW started the second half and rolled an immediate penalty from the reboot and tried it for the Hooker Ethand Bins. Again, Fly Half Jack Bowen could not be converted, and Waratah did not threaten the Lions’ 22 afterwards.
However, their defensive attitude and execution were exceptional. Even when the inevitable hole opened – the Lions broke the line in a total of nine times – their despair forced the Lions into another pass or failed another stretch, like Genge and van der Flier.
Mitchell’s five-fifth-fifth pointer could have opened the flood, aided by fresh legs from the bench, but the introduction seemed to just complicate things to the lion. The slow kick dead from a replacement Marcus Smith penalty was a final humiliation for tourists who were repeatedly thwarted by Waratah’s open-side gambling, admitting 20 turnovers.
They enjoyed an edge in scrum time and gave Waratah trouble at the lineout. But aside the set piece and many touches in Mitchell’s class, this performance sucked away some of the momentum it had made from an impressive victory over Western forces and Queensland’s Red.
Meanwhile, Tupoe didn’t produce anything dominant that Wallabee coach Joe Schmidt wanted. That was something he had more to do throughout the Super Rugby season, if any.
The double pump of props for Lancaster’s attempts reflected his silky handling skills, but the bread and butter and scrumming of his games were not where he needed. Other wallabies, Andrew Keraway, who were released from Newcastle camp, saw little ball.
Still, when Judge Williams blew full-time, it was Waratta’s High Five – and the Lions had their heads dropped.
Matchday 23, which will be seen in Brisbane within two weeks, could run down to the Canberra Lions on Wednesday night. And boy, they don’t need them.