How do you bounce back from defeat in a first Lions Test? In 2009, our response was brutal

The Guardian

25-07-2025

It is worth comparing and contrasting two separate events over the past week to really get a sense of the challenge that faces the Wallabies on Saturday. Shortly before half-time in the first Test in Brisbane, Tom Curry tackled Tom Lynagh in the air. None of Australia's players went after him. The Lions No 7 had just cut Lynagh – a young fly-half making his first Test start – in half and the Wallabies left him alone. Three days later Darcy Graham is on the receiving end of a high shot in the first few minutes. Owen Farrell piles straight in, sending a crystal clear message: 'We're not standing for it.' It's part of the reason anyone who has played with him cannot speak highly enough of him.
Put simply, the Wallabies need to get in the Lions' faces if they are going to level the series. They were too passive in Brisbane and they need to set that right at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. I see similarities between where the Wallabies are now and where the Lions were in 2009. We didn't show up in the first Test in Durban and we got monstered in the scrum. I remember John Smit scored a try after five minutes in what was South Africa's first entry into our 22.
I'll never forget the debrief we had on a Monday. The defence coach, Shaun Edwards, played us the clips of that try, it was carry after carry and every Springbok got over the gainline before Smit ran through two defenders. Edwards told us it was one of the worst opening defensive sets he had ever seen in international rugby. So we had to show up in the second Test, which has gone down in history for its brutality. We had Simon Shaw come into the team, an enormous second-row who was named man of the match despite featuring for the losing side. The Wallabies will be hoping Will Skelton can have a similar impact.
When you're 1-0 down you are hyper-focused because the series comes down to the 80 minutes on Saturday. You want to keep the gameplan simple but there are things you can demand and expect. Emotionally you have to be in the right place, physically in the right place and work rate has to be through the roof. You've got to fight for everything, you've got to be desperate, but desperation can't lead to ill-discipline or trying too hard and where you end up doing other people's jobs. Because we know what the fallout will be if they don't get it right.
Australia were poor last week but when the Lions are doing their preparation they will be preparing for the best version of the Wallabies. You don't prepare for last week's version because if you do you'll find yourself with egg on your face. I fully expect that Australia will show up this weekend and I've spent a bit of time this week hoping that they will. That's alien to me in the context of a Lions tour, I don't ever remember feeling or hoping that the Kiwis or South Africans will turn up.
Why has it taken this sort of poverty of performance to invigorate this Wallabies side for a series that happens once every 12 years? Do you have to play so poorly to realise that you have to show up? Sometimes sport can be really simple when you are out of options and the Wallabies are at that stage, they have to show up. They have to be so much better. Yes, there were some green shoots but I didn't feel that the result last week was ever in question. To concede as early as they did, it was soft, and the hope must be they don't concede soft tries again, I really hope we get a competitive match.
And I'm confident we will. Rob Valetini will bring significant physicality, so will Skelton. With what's on the line you hope it's just a lot better. This is the first time as a fan with the Lions that I've wanted to see major improvements but it's a demonstration of where the Wallabies are.
They are the sixth best team in the world and almost by default, because other teams around them have lost. We're not in rugby union territory in Melbourne, I was at the AFL the other night and there were 65,000 there for a club match. The MCG should be sold out for a Lions game that happens once every 12 years and it's not.
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But while I have a sense of sympathy, the Lions won't. They'll be thrilled to be in the position they are but they'll be frustrated with themselves because they didn't play to their levels in the second half.
They need to show more of a ruthless edge because it's going to be massively physical, energetic, emotional – they've got to weather than storm and then get into gear and stay in gear. If they do that I'm confident they can wrap up the series.