Latest news with #CarloTizzano
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Australia tears its hair out as it tries to come to terms with Lions series defeat
The Wallabies were brave in Melbourne but the true test of their courage comes now. Despite snatching defeat from the jaws of victory yet again, they must try and put aside the disappointment of the last-gasp 29-26 defeat at the MCG and debate over that contentious 80th minute non-penalty, and win the final Test to deny the Lions a 3-0 sweep. The Wallabies can't save the series but they can save face in Sydney on Saturday – and claw back a little of the goodwill they squandered in letting the Lions off the hook with 90,307 fans in the stands and millions more watching on screens at home. It won't be easy. All week Australians have torn themselves apart wrestling with one of the crueller defeats in the Wallabies' woebegone recent history. Moods have swung between grieving and aggrieved, despair and defiance. On one hand the wider public are mourning a gut-wrenching defeat, a once-every-12-years opportunity lost amid an embarrassing, yet painfully familiar, inability to ruthlessly close out a game they were bossing with a 23-5 lead. On the other hand they are still aggrieved that Australia's early dominance over the Lions was denied at the death by a 50-50 decision. Carlo Tizzano's theatrics – reeling from the contact with operatic passion, hands clutching the back of his head in mock-agony – have also polarised. Was this cowardly 'diving' or canny gamesmanship to catch the camera's eye? Alas, Italian referee Andrea Piardi sang only from the songsheet of officialdom. He ignored Tizzano's squatter's rights to the ball in the ruck to reward Jac Morgan's lethal clean-out a split-second later. In the chaos, the Wallabies lost possession. The Lions cleared to the left and found space for Hugo Keenan to scramble over the line. Game over. Series won – and lost. For Wallabies fans who have endured a torrid two decades of decline, it was another cruel blow. But not an undeserving one. Australia had tempted the fates when young flyhalf Tom Lynagh coughed up a kick under no pressure to spark two Lions tries that saw Australia's 18-point ascendency vanish into a slender six-point buffer at the break. Yes, Piardi's decision had denied Australia a penalty that would've secured victory and squared the series one-all. But sport is built on drama, not justice. Rugby clings to respect for the referee as sacrosanct. Both captains Harry Wilson and Maro Itoje addressed Piardi as 'sir' throughout (even though the honorary title often gets lost in a torrent of profanity afterwards). For all its wine-producing and guzzling, sour grapes are not Australia's go. This, after all, is the land of 'cop it sweet'. The real cost for the Wallabies was bottling a golden chance to win back floating fans with a famous victory at the nation's most storied colosseum. With a World Cup to host in 2027, Australian rugby badly needed a boilover victory against an all-star touring side to give Joe Schmidt's ragged band of players a jolt of confidence before another arduous Rugby Championship against the All Blacks, South Africa and Argentina starting on 17 August. Instead, the opportunity for a week of fever pitch anticipation for a decider before more than 80,000 fans at the former Olympic stadium has been lost. Worse, the largely self-inflicted calamity in Melbourne has reopened old wounds of other near-victories cruelly vaporised – Kurtley Beale slipping in the mud to gift the 2013 Lions their first series win in 16 years, Bernard Foley penalised for time wasting when the Wallabies had the All Blacks on the rack in 2022. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion Are the Wallabies cursed? Former Socceroo Johnny Warren claimed an unpaid debt led a Mozambique witchdoctor to put a hex on Australian soccer in 1970 and led to a series of bizarre losses and a 32-year World Cup exile. Melbourne Demons fans swore the sacking of legendary coach Norm Smith in 1965 sparked the club's premiership drought until 2021. Footballers are superstitious creatures. In theatre circles it's unlucky to say 'Macbeth' before a performance and apparently these Wallabies won't utter the name 'Eddie Jones' aloud for fear of ghosting by their old coach. But superstition is borne from fear. The Wallabies must banish any demons from Melbourne and set their jaws for a last stand with these hungry Lions, not for their sake as much as ours. US basketball coach Dick Motta used to tell his troops 'you cannot find victory unless you first understand defeat … but show me a good loser in pro sport and I'll show you an idiot.' Australian fans are sick of lionising brave defeats and Schmidt can't shrug off the loss in Melbourne if he's to win Sydney. As the NRL and AFL close in, winning a 'dead rubber' in front of a full house keeps Wallabies hope alive.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wallabies player responds after teammate accused of devious act in loss to Lions
Wallabies lock Nick Frost says his men aren't listening to the 'outside noise' after teammate Carlo Tizzano was accused of 'diving' to try and win a late penalty in the crushing second Test defeat to the British and Irish Lions. Tizzano was at the centre of the game's biggest controversy, with suggestions he was taken out illegally before Hugo Keenan's match-winning try for the Lions, with 45 seconds left. Tizzano was left clutching at his neck after Lions star Jac Morgan appeared to hit him high during the clearout that led to the series-clinching try. The Aussies appealed for a penalty but the incident was ultimately cleared by the television match official and the referee, despite Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt claiming the decision went against rugby's strict 'push for player safety'. Former Wallabies star Morgan Turinui was the most vocal critic after pointing out on Nine's broadcast that the Lions player made dangerous contact with the Aussie's neck and insisted it should have been a penalty to Australia. But former Lions and England flanker James Haskell said it was a perfectly executed clearout from Morgan and claimed the Wallabies player should have been 'red-carded' for play-acting. 'Honestly, I never get that passionate about stuff, but I could not believe from every fibre of my being that it was even a thing," he said on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast about Australia's penalty claims. 'Only bit of foul play and nonsense in that incident was the Australian player diving. That should have been red-carded because that is utter crap. 'There is no physical way to clearout a player that is that low over the ball. The only way you used to be able to do it was put your head underneath him, but you go head on head. When you're that low over the ball, you've got a small window and you either get your arms underneath him, or you get your head underneath him. You have to hit where he hit... It is the only way to clearout, there is no other way to do it." Wallabies star defends teammate but admits Aussies faltered But Frost says the Wallabies are paying no attention to the backlash from former Lions players that has been shared across the UK's media. The Wallabies flanker defended his teammate over the staging accusations, but said regardless of whether it was a penalty or not, the incident masked a bigger picture around the manner of Australia's defeat. The Wallabies were in a position to send the three-Test series into a decider in Sydney on Saturday night after jumping out to an 18-point lead. But they were unable to close out the second Test as the Lions stormed home at the MCG. RELATED: Wallabies need to accept reality as 'biased' uproar masks sad truth Wallabies teammate floats major change as fans make Suaalii complaint "There were so many moments up until that where we could have capitalised," Frost told reporters. "We had a pretty decent lead in that first half, and we gave away a few tries. It doesn't always come down to the refs ... At the end of the day, you can't really rely right at the end for a decision there. If you're relying on that, you probably haven't done enough work throughout the game." The Wallabies now turn their attentions to Saturday's third Test in Sydney, where they will be hoping to avoid the unwanted history of a first three-Test series whitewash at home to the Lions, since 1904. "There is something to lose. It's a Test match," Frost said. "There's a bit of fire in the belly from the last couple of games ... And again, like it's a Lions series, it's our last time... to play against them." with AAP
The Australian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Australian
Wallabies desperate to not be whitewashed by touring Lions
Barbs that the Wallabies were unworthy opponents for the British and Irish Lions have the Australians desperate to avoid losing a series 3-0 to the tourists for the first time since 1904. Pride will well and truly be on the line in Sydney on Saturday night when the Wallabies attempt to prevent the Lions going home with wins in all three Tests after victories in Brisbane and Melbourne. That hasn't happened since it occurred 121 years go when the Lions, then called British Isles, won two Tests in Sydney and one in Brisbane, and restricted Australia to just three points for the entire series. If that's not enough motivation for the Wallabies to win at Accor Stadium, there is also the hurt of the second Test loss at the MCG, where Australia led for almost the entire match only be beaten 29-26 via a last-minute try that came after a controversial decision not to award the hosts a penalty for an alleged infringement by Lions forward Jac Morgan, who seemed to illegally strike Wallabies replacement Carlo Tizzano in the back of the net. Also driving the Wallabies to win in Sydney will be the pre-series talk that Lions should have toured South Africa to face the world champions rather than meet a weak Australia. 'It's another thing to add into the pot for things to get up for the game,' Wallabies lock Nick Frost said. 'We're definitely keen to rip in. Going out there, playing in front of your friends, for your family and for your nation, and on top of that, playing against the Lions – it's a massive game. 'We know there are so many things that we've got to improve on, but there are some really good parts to our game, and we're really looking forward to it. 'We're starting to play a better brand of rugby and a more attacking brand of rugby that suits some of our skilled players. 'The more games we can put together for longer periods of time, we're going to start to see some improvements on the scoreboard, and some more wins. It is a process.' Wallabies captain Harry Wilson (right) and replacement Langi Gleeson are shattered after the Lions series-clinching win in Melbourne. Picture: William West/ AFP Winger Max Jorgensen said while the Wallabies were 'gutted' to loss at the MCG, attention had switched to winning the final Test of the series. 'We put in such a big effort – it's a tough pill to swallow,' Jorgensen said. 'Everyone knows that, but there's a big focus on this weekend now and winning this game on Saturday.' The Wallabies have added prop Aidan Ross to their extended squad ahead of Saturday's clash, while winger Harry Potter has remained in Melbourne after injuring his hamstring in the weekend loss. Marco Monteverde Sports reporter Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world. @marcothejourno Marco Monteverde
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Jorgensen and Frost back up 'bloody tough' Tizzano
Wallabies Max Jorgensen and Nick Frost have come out in support of team-mate Carlo Tizzano after the replacement flanker was at the centre of a decisive late call in the British and Irish Lions series-clinching second Test win in to win a turnover at the breakdown, Tizzano was cleared out by Jac Morgan in the final ruck before Hugo Keenan's game-winning incident was reviewed and cleared by the video official and his on-field team, however Australia coach Joe Schmidt claimed, with Tizzano having won the race to the ball, Morgan's solo clear-out above Tizzano's shoulder line, should have been a penalty awarded the Wallabies' fly-half Finn Russell said after the match that Tizzano had "tried to get a penalty" by going down holding his head."He's a bloody tough player and he really puts himself in tough positions for us constantly throughout the game and week in, week out," said Jorgensen of Tizzano."Carlo's a competitor, like he always is, He's trying to get the ball.. he's there first and he gets hit pretty hard with a full force clean-out," Frost added."It is what it is. We can't do anything about a decision…"
Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Times
Jac Morgan got it spot on, unlike play-acting Australian — I hate simulation
I 'm a little bemused by the furore about the Jac Morgan clearout of Carlo Tizzano in the lead-up to Hugo Keenan's match-winning try for the British & Irish Lions on Saturday. What a fuss! I understand that there may have been some desperation in the minds of the Australians, as they had led the Test for so long and to be denied at the death, as they were, is always so cruel. Emotions would have been high, and understandably so. I thought I would go back to the start of the match and watch every single ruck. I am not exaggerating when I say that there was some sort of head or neck contact at one in every two rucks. That is rugby, that is the contact area. Just because there is head contact does not mean there is foul play. They are rugby incidents, as was the Morgan one.
