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ABC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Kotoni Staggs praises Reece Walsh's aggressive mentality despite fiery clash as Broncos ride hot streak
Brisbane will go in search of six victories in a row with centre Kotoni Staggs relishing his red-hot and volatile rapport with fullback Reece Walsh. The duo have been two of the Broncos best for the past month, despite having a heated exchange during the 26-14 win over Gold Coast before the bye. Staggs dropped a Walsh pass in the first half and copped a spray, before returning serve. After the break, Walsh threw a lovely pass, Staggs burst away and Walsh backed up to score. It was classic backline play and what the pair will want to replicate against Parramatta at Lang Park on Friday night. Staggs brushed aside his words with Walsh and said the No.1 had the right mentality. "Walshy is someone I love playing with. He is a competitor and he doesn't like losing," Staggs grinned. "So, when things don't go his way he does blow up a bit. We've just got to calm him down at times." The passion with which the pair play is highly regarded by teammates, with the long-range try they scored against the Titans summing up their quest for excellence and maturity after the verbal exchange. "You've got to be in the right position at the right time, which I was. I put a bit of footwork on and he was pushing up through the middle as a good fullback does and got the try for us," Staggs said. The Broncos have climbed to fifth position after they had slipped to 11th with five losses on the trot. Staggs said the negative outside noise was not a reflection of the inner sanctum. "I just think we have gotten closer," Staggs said. "We are all buying into what is going on at training and we have shifted some things around as well. "We do have the team to win the premiership. We just have to believe in one another and keep turning up for one another. "We have strike players on the field and we have just got to get the ball in their hands." Staggs, who has re-signed until the end of 2028, is in career-best form. "I am a leader at this club and want to put my best foot forward every game. If I am doing my role and playing my best footy the boys jump on the back of me," he said. AAP
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Andy Farrell sings praises of 'absolutely immense' Lions duo as team selection is justified in Australia win
British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell said Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne had fully justified their selection after playing key roles as the tourists dominated Australia physically early in their first test victory on Saturday. Farrell said he had noted the media commentary around the form of the two flankers when he included them in his team at the expense of Wales captain Jac Morgan and Irish loose forward Josh van der Flier. Curry scored one try and provided a pass for another, while Beirne was hard on the ball at the breakdown throughout the match at Lang Park, where the Lions earned a comfortable 27-19 victory. "Immense, absolutely immense," Farrell told reporters. "Big game players, who were probably challenged by a good few. And I think it told the story. I think Tom Curry put in some really nice shots defensively. "Tadhg got the turnover very early doors that set the tone really, and I don't think it stopped there. He carried on for the rest of the game. "(Number eight) Jack Conan's carrying was very much on the front foot, wasn't it? So those three guys, I'm sure they'd be delighted with how they responded to selection. "They are men of their word and they delivered." Farrell was also impressed with how effective the more direct running from the Lions was as they scored three tries in the first 41 minutes. "You could see the difference in our game," he said. "As I've said all along, the hardest part about any team coming together is gelling attack because it takes a lot of cohesion for that to happen. "So we're trying to find out about ourselves in that regard." Farrell was disappointed that the Lions let Australia back into the game in the last quarter when the Wallabies scored two tries. "I thought we let them back into the game in regard to a lack of discipline in the second half, which gave them a bit of a sniff to get back in the game," he said. "Physically, I suppose when you give a couple of penalties away, or you're getting warnings, or there's a loose offload or a loose carry, that suppresses you a little bit, and we started losing a few collisions. "(But) I actually believe that's a fantastic place for us to be, because there's so much more in us."
ABC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Lions coach hails 'big game players' as Russell and Curry rise in win over Wallabies
The first rendition of the Lions' simplistic, eponymous yet rousing chant had barely faded away at a packed Lang Park on Saturday night when Tom Curry nailed James Slipper with a massive shot in midfield. The Englishman, just 12 seconds into the contest, was setting out his stall early. Tadhg Beirne, his back-row partner, was over the ball in an instant and, just 20 seconds into the game, Ben O'Keeffe was blowing his whistle and pointing to the sky, a penalty to the Lions. The British and Irish Lions walloped the Wallabies in the first half of the opening Test of the series, racing to a 24-5 lead off the back of that brutal intensity out of the gate. Curry, whose selection had been criticised heading into the Test, was one of those players who grabbed his opportunity and ran with it. He helped keep the dangerous Wallabies centre partnership of Len Ikitau and Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii quiet with some monstrous defensive pressure. Beirne too, another member of that hotly contested back row that was given the nod for this first Test, was on the way to vindicating his selection with a player of the match performance. Farrell was not surprised though. Despite the commentary over their selection, the Ireland coach was unequivocal in how he felt Curry responded to his critics. "Immense," he said of the English flanker. "Absolutely immense." The 27-year-old had not been in great form on tour but, selected on account of his experience and temperament, repaid the faith Farrell showed in him with a stunning performance. "I read all that," Farrell said, when asked whether they had vindicated his call. "Yeah, it was interesting, wasn't it? "Big game players, who were probably challenged by a good few and I think he told the story. "I think Tom Curry put in a really nice shot defensively and Taidhg Beirne got the turnover very early doors, set the tone really and I don't think it stopped there. "He carried on for the rest of the game, Jack Conan's carrying was very much on the front foot. "So there was three guys, I'm sure they'd be delighted with how they responded to selection." Big game players on the biggest of stages. The build-up to the first Test in Brisbane had been electric as the wave of Lions fans broke over south-east Queensland, the sea of red as evident in the pubs and clubs of Paddington as it was in the stands of a raucous crowd of 52,229 at Lang Park. And the Lions fans had plenty to roar about early, as the tourists took the game by the scruff of the neck held a 24-5 lead just after half time. "Absolutely delighted," Farrell said of the performance. "Big occasion, big game. "We know what coming to Suncorp means to Australia, so they would have been targeting this, so delighted to come away with the victory." Another of the Lions' "big game" players, Finn Russell, was orchestrating the back line with all the guile and skill of a virtuoso conductor, all quick hands and lightning thought. It was five minutes in when Russell kicked a 50-22. Seven minutes in when he reached around Nick Champion de Crespigny to release Dan Sheehan. Eight minutes in when he lofted a peach of a pass over three stricken Wallabies defenders onto the chest of Sione Tuipulotu to give the Lions a 10-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes. "I can't take any credit for that," Tuipulotu told media after the match. "That's him finding me. "It was kind of weird when he was throwing it, I felt like he was gonna throw it to that space and more I didn't have to do much, I just have to accelerate and catch the ball. "That's what playing with special players is. It's pretty cool." Special players. Russell left the field in the second half. Just cramp, according to Farrell, who said the Scotland 10 "controlled" the game perfectly with Jamison Gibson-Park. "When they were able to show the best of themselves, we know what they've got in the locker as far as the point of difference is concerned. It came out every now and again and and that's the brilliance of the two," Farrell said. The Lions coach is no doubt hopeful Russell will be OK to play at the MCG next week, the very biggest of stages that the Lions will have ever played on. So will his Scotland teammate Tuipulotu. "It felt like we were playing a Scotland game together, you know?" said Tuipulotu, part of the first 10-12-13 axis from the same country to play in a Lions team since 1993. "I think his nature helps everyone, calms everyone. "And then added to the fact he's got probably the best skills out of any 10 in the world." Wallabies number 10 Tom Lynagh said it was "an incredible experience" to play against Russell. "It's a joy to play with, isn't it?" he said, "still shaking with adrenaline" an hour after the full time siren. "You can't get starstruck about who you're playing against," he said, as if reminding himself. "You've just got to play your game." Lynagh in particular was far from starstruck, although the team as a whole was perhaps a little tentative, a young team against a squad of hardened veterans. That being said, the Wallabies recovered from 24-5 down to fall just eight points short at the final. "I thought we let them back into the game, " Farrell said. "It doesn't really matter whether you think the game was won or lost. "I thought we let them back into the game in regards to a lack of discipline in the second half. "I actually believe that's a fantastic place for us to be because there's so much more in us." Maro Itoje said the Lions "weren't accurate with our decision making". "When you're not accurate with your decision making against a good team, you tend to put yourself under pressure." But as much as Farrell said the Lions would take a lot from the victory, he said, "We know what's coming". "We know what happened in the second half … We roll on to the second game knowing full well what happened in 2013. "When an Australian team becomes desperate, it's difficult to handle. "We expect a different game next week. But having said that, we expect more of ourselves as well. "Not only is that Australia's second game and they'll play much better because of that, but because of what it means to them and how proud they are. "We need to make sure that we're ready for them being 100 per cent at their best."
CNA
3 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Schmidt proud of Wallabies fightback despite first test loss
BRISBANE :Australia coach Joe Schmidt conceded that the British & Irish Lions deserved to win the first test on Saturday but thought the Wallabies fightback in the final quarter proved they were developing. After being dominated by the Lions for an hour, tries from replacements Carlo Tizzano and Tate McDermott got the Wallabies within eight points of the tourists and Schmidt thought they were unlucky not to have a couple more. Schmidt has been clear throughout his year in charge that his team are a development project and thought it a sign of progress that they fought back rather than folded. "I just think that this time last year, I think we probably would have melted, but I love the way this team is developing," he said after the 27-19 defeat at Lang Park. "I felt like we fought our way back into the game. I felt if we could get within one score, then you never know what can happen. "I'm not saying the Lions didn't deserve to win it, because I feel that they did on the balance of what they did in that first half. "We'll have a look in the cold light of day and be a little bit more analytical, but very proud of the way the players fought their way back." Schmidt handed a first test start to flyhalf Tom Lynagh and a debut to flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny and thought both acquitted themselves well. The New Zealander said loose forward Rob Valetini and lock Will Skelton would be fit to return for the second test in Melbourne next week, which might help the Wallabies compete physically with the Lions. "Some of our collision area work has to be better, just because we know they're coming so hard there," he said. "As I mentioned earlier, there were a few things in the lineout that I think we can tidy up. And I thought, in contrast, I thought the scrum was very strong." Schmidt was pleased with the impact of his bench in the last quarter and thought there were some other positives to take to Melbourne, when the Wallabies will be playing to stay alive in the three-match series. "We weren't far away," he said. "I think the team grew into the game. I think they did show a desperation to defend our line and to be in as many of the contests for position as they could be.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Schmidt proud of Wallabies fightback despite first test loss
BRISBANE, July 19 (Reuters) - Australia coach Joe Schmidt conceded that the British & Irish Lions deserved to win the first test on Saturday but thought the Wallabies fightback in the final quarter proved they were developing. After being dominated by the Lions for an hour, tries from replacements Carlo Tizzano and Tate McDermott got the Wallabies within eight points of the tourists and Schmidt thought they were unlucky not to have a couple more. Schmidt has been clear throughout his year in charge that his team are a development project and thought it a sign of progress that they fought back rather than folded. "I just think that this time last year, I think we probably would have melted, but I love the way this team is developing," he said after the 27-19 defeat at Lang Park. "I felt like we fought our way back into the game. I felt if we could get within one score, then you never know what can happen. "I'm not saying the Lions didn't deserve to win it, because I feel that they did on the balance of what they did in that first half. "We'll have a look in the cold light of day and be a little bit more analytical, but very proud of the way the players fought their way back." Schmidt handed a first test start to flyhalf Tom Lynagh and a debut to flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny and thought both acquitted themselves well. The New Zealander said loose forward Rob Valetini and lock Will Skelton would be fit to return for the second test in Melbourne next week, which might help the Wallabies compete physically with the Lions. "Some of our collision area work has to be better, just because we know they're coming so hard there," he said. "As I mentioned earlier, there were a few things in the lineout that I think we can tidy up. And I thought, in contrast, I thought the scrum was very strong." Schmidt was pleased with the impact of his bench in the last quarter and thought there were some other positives to take to Melbourne, when the Wallabies will be playing to stay alive in the three-match series. "We weren't far away," he said. "I think the team grew into the game. I think they did show a desperation to defend our line and to be in as many of the contests for position as they could be. "And I do think if we can just improve our accuracy, it will help us to be competitive."
