Powder-puff Lions all at sea

By CHRIS HEWETT

GOSFORD - Utility back Austin Healey predicted a week ago that the number of Lions tourists playing their way into the test side would quickly be exceeded by those playing themselves out of it.

The Leicester Lip was proved correct in spectacular fashion in Gosford on Tuesday night when the midweek team imploded against a well-drilled, intelligently coached Australia A outfit who, had they kept their most accomplished performers on the pitch for the full 80 minutes, would have won by a margin much greater than 28-25.

Suddenly, the three-match series against the Wallabies looks about as much fun as a Tory Party post-mortem.

It is an interminably long time since a Lions side looked so completely at sea in the basic rugby disciplines of lineout and restart.

It was not simply the lack of precision that will keep Graham Henry, a not very pleased coach, from his beauty sleep.

Far more worrying was the lack of physicality, most notably from the second-row pairing of Scott Murray and Malcolm O'Kelly.

Their powder-puff contribution contrasted sharply with that of Tom Bowman and Justin Harrison in the opposition engineroom and made a complete mockery of the Australians' pre-match grizzling about orchestrated skulduggery and institutionalised "biff."

"Maybe my words had the desired effect," grinned Eddie Jones, the super-sharp Australia A coach, who had pointed a very public finger at the Lions' behaviour after the victory over Queensland last weekend. "We saw a fantastic game of rugby and I cannot recall one off-the-ball incident."

There was, however, one on-the-ball incident that may deepen the tourists' depression over the next couple of days.

Richard Graham, the Queensland fullback and Australia's sevens captain, suffered concussion and a suspected fractured cheekbone when Ben Cohen hit him high at the start of the second quarter.

There was no suggestion of evil intent about Cohen's tackle, but Jones will be looking at the video all the same.

The Lions also suffered a major casualty in the forlorn shape of Mike Catt, whose troublesome right calf muscle betrayed him again as he chased a kick ahead a minute or so before the end of a first half so calamitous that Lions historians will feel tempted to wipe it from the record.

It was his last role on the field during this tour. Catt, who missed the first three games because of the injury, will fly back to Britain at the weekend.

He is the third player to be sent home because of injury, joining Scottish flanker Simon Taylor and England hooker Phil Greening.

Catt will be replaced by Welsh centre Scott Gibbs, who is due to arrive in Australia tomorrow and is expected to play against New South Wales Country next Tuesday.

"Reality has really set in," Henry admitted after the match.

"This may be the baseline we required to have total focus, and understand what the tour is all about.

"The lineout was obviously not acceptable, we turned over a lot of ball at the kickoff, we just weren't sharp enough," he said. "There were a lot of negatives."

Tour captain Martin Johnson added: "The guys know they did not do themselves justice. The Australians played well. It was a wake-up call."

Although beaten, the Lions outscored Australia A three tries to one. But shadow Wallaby first five-eighths Manuel Edmonds made up the difference for the Australians, with seven penalties and a conversion.

Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio, making his first appearance on tour, had a forgettable night with a yellow card late in the game for persistent fouling in the ruck. But he said he had no reaction to a knee injury.

Jones said the Wallabies would not have gained any significant psychological advantage from the win, but they certainly would have been encouraged.

"It showed the Lions are beatable, and possibly exposed some areas where Australia can put pressure on them," he said.

"They struggled in the tackle and in the lineout, and it was probably the first time they had competed against a side who could contest in those areas. But it shouldn't be seen as a great disappointment for them."

- INDEPENDENT