Lions hold off First Nations-Pasifika XV 24-19 in Melbourne
Centre Jamie Osborne scored a try in each half, while Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe also crossed for the Lions who remain unbeaten on their Australian tour despite producing a largely ragged display at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium.
It was full credit to the FNP outfit, who gave Joe Schmidt's Wallabies a lesson in ferocity at the breakdown and had tries from Tristan Reilly, Seru Uru and Rob Leota, the last allowing them to creep within five points with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
The Lions swept the nation's four provincial teams and an Australia-New Zealand invitational side before downing the Wallabies 27-19 in the first test in Brisbane last Saturday.
They will look to seal the test series with victory over the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Piastri takes dominant sprint pole in Belgium
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Formula One F1 - Belgian Grand Prix - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium - July 25, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri reacts after qualifying in pole position for the sprint race REUTERS/Yves Herman SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium - Formula One leader Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Saturday sprint by nearly half a second at the Belgian Grand Prix while McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris qualified third. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen will join Piastri on the front row for the first race since Christian Horner was dismissed as team boss and replaced with Laurent Mekies. Piastri lapped the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with a best time of one minute 40.510 seconds, 0.477 seconds quicker than Verstappen and 0.618 clear of Norris. The Australian is eight points clear at the top after 12 of 24 rounds. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starts fourth but teammate Lewis Hamilton will line up 18th after a difficult afternoon for the seven times world champion, whose most recent win came at the same circuit last year with Mercedes. The Briton spun on his last flying lap while on course to go through, with the suspicion falling on a failure of the car's rear axle. George Russell, who finished first last year for Mercedes but was then disqualified for an underweight car, also struggled and qualified 13th. REUTERS Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Asia Recap: Evacuees recount explosions and separations as Thai-Cambodia clashes continue for second day Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Oscar Piastri takes pole position for Belgian Grand Prix sprint race
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS – Formula One leader Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Saturday sprint by nearly half a second at the Belgian Grand Prix, while McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris qualified third. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen will join Piastri on the front row for the first race since Christian Horner was dismissed as team boss and replaced with Laurent Mekies. Piastri lapped the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with a best time of one minute 40.510 seconds, 0.477 seconds quicker than Verstappen and 0.618 clear of Norris. The Australian is eight points clear at the top after 12 of 24 rounds. 'It was a good lap... the car has been mega all day. I feel like I was able to put in a lot of good laps. Thanks to the team, the car has been great,' said Piastri. 'This is a track I love. It's my favourite one of the year. Maybe that gave me an extra couple of tenths. When the car is handling as well as it was today, it's a pleasure. 'The car has been in a good window since Lap 1. I don't know why. I had good confidence. I feel like the last few weekends have been good from a pace perspective... It's nice to get a result today.' McLaren team principal Andrea Stella added on Sky Sports: 'Certainly that was a pretty amazing lap by Oscar. He capitalised on everything that was available in the car.' Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starts fourth but teammate Lewis Hamilton will line up 18th after a difficult afternoon for the seven-time world champion, whose most recent win came at the same circuit last year with Mercedes. The Briton spun on his last flying lap while on course to go through, with the suspicion falling on a failure of the car's rear axle. George Russell, who finished first last year for Mercedes but was then disqualified for an underweight car, also struggled and qualified 13th. Off the track, Verstappen insisted on July 24 that Horner's shock departure as team boss of Red Bull will have no impact on his future plans. The four-time world champion, who has been linked with a move to Mercedes next season, suggested that he expects to stay with Red Bull until the conclusion of his current contract in 2028. Speaking to reporters in the paddock ahead of this weekend's action, one of his 'home' races as he was born in Belgium and his mother is Belgian, the 27-year-old Dutchman said he was concerned only with improving the speed and performance of his car. The rest, he said, was not of great interest to him, adding that past tensions between Horner and his father Jos Verstappen had no bearing on decisions about his future. Asked if Horner's exit after 20 years as team boss made it more probable that he would stay at Red Bull next year, Verstappen said: 'No, it doesn't. Not really.' He added that the well-publicised discord between his father and Horner was never a problem. 'People can have a difference of opinion and I expect that to happen because if everyone agrees, there is a problem,' Verstappen said. 'You need to have differences in opinion. Now, we will work in a different direction and I am excited about it and I don't think it will matter at all for the decision over my future. 'The only thing that matters is that we work on the car and make it as fast as we can and try and be more competitive this year, a little bit, but for sure with the new regulations next year.' In other news, Formula E will remain until at least 2048 as the only all-electric single-seater series sanctioned by motorsport's world governing body after announcing a contract extension with the FIA on Friday. The Liberty Global-controlled series said the 10-year extension, with sources indicating an option for a further five years, provided a solid platform for long-term growth and investment opportunities. Formula E expects its cars to be on the same level as, or exceeding the performance of, other top-tier series including Formula One by the middle of the century. AFP, REUTERS
Straits Times
17 hours ago
- Straits Times
Piastri has learnt from costly Silverstone penalty
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium - McLaren's Oscar Piastri says he has learnt from a costly British Grand Prix penalty and will not brake as hard when leading behind the Formula One safety car at restarts. The championship frontrunner was handed a 10 second penalty at Silverstone this month for erratic braking before the restart when the safety car was about to return to the pits. The penalty cost him the win, handing it to teammate Lando Norris, and trimmed his overall lead to eight points at the season's midpoint. Stewards ruled the Australian had suddenly braked hard, forcing Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen who was right behind him to take evasive action and momentarily overtake. Piastri said he had done the same manoeuvre in the past, as had others, but accepted it would now be punished by the stewards. "I looked through it with the team afterwards and I think there's been a lot of learning on both sides," the McLaren driver told reporters ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, where he arrived with an eight point lead over teammate Lando Norris. "I still have my feelings about it I guess, but it's in the past now and I've moved on. "If it needs to be penalised now then that's fine. I know that for the future, but obviously immediately after the race I was frustrated." Piastri added that there had been discussions with the governing FIA to clarify the situation and how it might have been handled differently. "I won't brake as hard next time. It's as simple as that," he said. "And I think also now the threshold is a bit clearer on where that stands, so I will just simply not brake as hard." Belgium, the longest track on the calendar and one of the fastest, is a favourite circuit for Piastri although the race will only be held in four of the next six years as Formula One alternates some venues. "I would like to win anywhere but here is always a track I've really enjoyed from the first time I came here," said the Australian. "It's a track that in my opinion should be on the calendar every year as long as Formula One exists." REUTERS
