The Lions came to Australia for a 10 game tour, 7 warm-up games and 3 Tests against the Wallabies. The Lions come to the southern hemisphere every four years, alternating between Australia, New zealand and South Africa, meaning that the last time they were here was in 2001, and after this they won't be back until 2025. For rugby fans across the world its kind of a big deal.
A couple of weeks before the tour I'd had a couple of beers with a friend and ex-rugby player who declared sadly that the Lions were going to smash the Wallabies. "Rugby" he said, "is a boutique sport in Australia". His argument was that no-one watches it and no-one plays it and yet we think we should have a great national team. Somehow we demand that even though we don't care about whatever the Super 15 is or what a tight head prop actually does, on the couple of times our national team plays we should beat everyone. Every time.
So going into the tour, my confidence for a win in the three test series was about 3 out of 10.
Game 1: British and Irish Lions v Barbarians, Hong Kong, June 1
I watched this with a friend from Canberra and some friends from Melbourne in a bar in Surry Hills. The Victorians clearly had only polite interest in the game and preferred to wallow in the loss their AFL team had sustained that night against the Swans. At one stage the Canberran, who should have known better, explained to them that the Barbarians were a Maori representative team. It was a perfect moment to sum up the state of Australian rugby. The majority of those present didn't care, and the one guy who lived in a town which has some rugby presence didn't know anything anyway.
I didn't like this game. After having my hopes for beating the Lions destroyed by my friend in Queensland the last thing I wanted to see was the Lions scoring try after try against a bunch of has-beens to get their eye in. That is exactly what happened, and the Lions ran out winners by a score I don't care to repeat.
Hard to gather much from a game like that, but the signs were not good. Confidence down to 2 out of 10.
Game 2: Western Force v BIL, Paterson's Stadium, Perth, June 5
Sometimes as fans it's obvious who's going to win a game. Clearly the Force coach Michael Foley also knew he wasn't going to win this match, and so instead of at least making a game of it and testing out the tourists he put up the white flag the day before by saving his first team for the utterly meaningless Super 15 clash four days later with the Waratahs.
The Force made less of an impact by playing rugby (losing 69-17) than they did in accusing Irish prop Cian Healy of biting Force scrumhalf Brett Sheehan. Replays indicated it was likely that Sheehan forgot that thrusting his own forearm into Healy's mouth at the breakdown did not constitute a bight, and Healy was let off (although he sustained an ankle injury, and as luck would have it unable to take further part in the tour).
The winner of the subsequent Super 15 game will be forgotten soon enough, seeing as both sides are of varying levels of hopelessness and not within reach of the finals. But well done anyway Foley, the Force will get another crack at the Lions in 2025. Oh, and you lost to the Waratahs after all that anyway. Shame.
Confidence confirmed at 2 out of 10.
Game 3: Queensland Reds v BIL, Lang Park, Brisbane, June 8
As a Brumbies fan its hard to begrudge Queensland's success in the last few years, having been built on quality rugby and a culture of playing for the good of the team. They have great supporters and games at Suncorp are a great occasion. In all these ways, they are the opposite of the NSW Waratahs.
Being the first game the Lions had to play a team resembling a professional outfit, this game had some anticipation from both sides. Even though Queensland had several players on national duty, there were still plenty of ex-Wallabies left in the side, including fly-half Quade Cooper.
I've seen Quade win the Super 15 title with Queensland with his amazing runs and passes. He can be one of the greatest playmakers in the game at times. I've also seen him soil his pants and kick the ball out on the full under zero pressure, pass the ball to no-one in particular and at times he looks as likely to lay a tackle as I am.
In the end he showed both sides of his play and the Reds produced a strong result, losing 22-12 in a match which showed that the Lions could perhaps be beaten, and earned the respect that the Force gave up by effectively forfeiting their game. There was hope. Confidence up to 3.5 out of 10.
Game 4: Combined Country XV v BIL, Hunter Stadium, Newcastle, June 11
I must admit, I paid little attention to this game. Did the ARU organise this game to try to make up for last year's Test in Newcastle? Possibly the worst rugby game in history, played in the driving rain, and one that we LOST TO SCOTLAND? Well I dare say they still have some making up to do - even my kiwi friend in Newcastle wouldn't go to the rugby again after that.
Anyway where were we? Right, Newcastle. The Lions beat the assortment of tradesmen, medical students and removalists 64-0, although the British punters still somehow manage to write about it like it was a loss. According to every report I've found on the match, Leigh Halfpenny actually missed a kick at goal for the first time of the tour.
Game 5: NSW Waratahs v BIL, Sydney Football Stadium, June 15
If there is a sports team, professional or otherwise, as worthy of contempt as the Waratahs I don't want to know them. They are a team that insists they are the heart and soul of Australian rugby, and yet anyone who has been to a game of theirs knows they have neither heart nor soul. In the 18 seasons of Super Rugby they have achieved fleeting moments of dubious relevance, all the while happily providing a destination for players who want to get treated like rock stars and play like spoilt children who are only playing because their dad said they had to. Still, as I heard one past player say before this game "For Australian rugby to be successful we need the Waratahs to do well". No wonder the Wallabies are so awful.
As someone who lives in Sydney (even if only for just over a year), I can honestly say I've only ever met two people who claimed to be Waratahs fans, and one of them was a poor misguided bloke from Tasmania.
The night of this game I was spared actually going because of a family dinner in Coogee. As the taxi drove past the throngs of fans heading to the SFS, there was only one guy wearing any NSW baby blue clothing. Thousands and thousands of people in red, a few people in neutral, and one guy in blue. Great supporters.
To the Waratahs' credit they played a full-strength Lions team, essentially their side for the first test the following week. Still, they got hammered 47-17 and the Lions were setting their sights on backing up Brian O'Driscoll's call for an undefeated trip.
Confidence at 3 out of 10.
Game 6: ACT Brumbies v BIL, Canberra Stadium, June 18
OK full disclosure, I'm a big Brumbies fan, so this section will go on. Feel free to skip.
A few things went our way for this game. Being four days from the first test match the Lions sent out a largely second string Lions team, with one player flown in from Japan just for the game. Their captain and hooker, Irishman Rory Best, had a shocker.
On the other hand, the Brumbies were without no less than 12 of their best players to injury and Wallabies camp, needing to fill bench spots with some blokes from local amateur rugby. Oh and they're still the Lions, with four Test playing nations to choose from, and this particular team had a combined 580 Test appearances between them. The Brumbies only had two guys who had played Test rugby; Clyde Rathbone who last played for Australia 4 years ago, Peter Kimlin who played two games a couple of years ago.
So, expecting to lose, the game became more about the atmosphere and the occasion than the game itself. Dad and I decided to try out a bar in Canberra's inner north before the game, and were immediately swarmed by fans in red giving out a bit of friendly banter, and revealing a lack of confidence for the game. Of course, I thought we were some chance, but I played it down because it's always wise to encourage the underdog status, and at the end of the day an under-strength club side should always lose against an under-strength British and Irish Lions team.
After a few beers, the shuttle that was to take us to Canberra Stadium arrived, and the driver managed to turn the 10 minute drive into a full hour by going the wrong way and getting stuck in traffic. We eventually arrived just in time to miss seeing the Brumbies score a try as Tevita Kuridani grabbed one defender and evaded a second defender by throwing the first one at him, but at the time we were just astounded to have arrived to a 5-0 lead.
Now with the visions of an unlikely win somehow in front of me, suddenly a game I'd only come to for interest's sake became all I wanted in the world. I can get really annoying during games like this. The game petered out into penalties and dad pointing out the live scores of the soccer World Cup qualifier, and I kept trying to come up with a polite way of telling him I didn't care as I willed the minutes to go by. Like I said, I get annoying.
Finally, the game was over, the Brumbies had won for the first provincial win over the Lions since 1997. I think I hugged the guy behind me, and as we headed to the buses to head back to the pub, our friends from earlier graciously greeted us with cheers and hugs all round.
Beers ensued. Confidence up to 4.5 out of 10.
Game 7: First Test, Australia v BIL, Lang Park, Brisbane, June 22
Being a Wallabies fan is a tough job. Disappointment is an occupational hazard, and you get outdone by foreign fans at the best of times, let alone against a team like the Lions, which has a following which is unparalleled. Unlike All Black fans, who seem to have a chip on their shoulder and usually give you at best thinly-veiled abuse, the Lions fans just enjoy the game and hope you do too.
Which is lucky, because turning up to the Light Brigade pub in Sydney's inner east, and needing to queue at 7pm to get in, I found one other guy in yellow. Chants were already starting for the Lions, and it was me, that guy at the back and a guy in a Deftones t-shirt who didn't realise a game was on supporting the Wallabies.
I found my group of Lions fans, and they asked where the Wallabies fans were. I told them they had all three of us here with them, and they laughed and carried on regardless. When a kiwi finds out how little regard rugby has in Australia, you see the disappointment that their continuing triumphs over here don't actually upset us that much. These guys just saw their advantage and chanted more loudly, but they seemed to also feel a bit sorry for me.
This was a cracking game, with two great tries each. Following more missed kicks from the Wallabies than you'd think possible, the game was decided in the Lions' favour 23-21 when Kurtley Beale missed another kick, this time after the siren. Or more accurately, as Lions coach Warren Gatland helpfully pointed out later, it was decided by Beale's choice of footwear. As the pub's lightning rod for the Lions fans sentiments I was approached by several who claimed, generously, that we should have won, which I appreciated.
Game 8: Melbourne Rebels v BIL, AAMI Park, Melbourne, June 25
Not expecting much from the game I headed up to the local to watch over a quiet beer. Unsurprisingly, it was a little calmer than Saturday night and I watched with a bloke from Bath who had just arrived with his daughter and was about to join the tour. He pointed out that he'd opened the papers expecting to find major coverage of the tour, only to find pages and pages on NRL and AFL, with a little bit on the Lions further in.
I told him if he was surprised about the coverage here in Sydney he should wait until he gets to Melbourne.
The Rebels were completely outclassed 35-0 by the Lions, who rubbed salt into the Wallabies wounds at the same time by having their 3rd string kicker land conversions from all over the park. Maybe kicking could be something we need to work on?
Game 9: Second Test, Australia v BIL, Docklands Stadium, Melbourne, June 29
Back at the Light Brigade, there had been a major boost in the number of Wallabies fans, up to 5 or 6 from the previous week's 3. A couple of times courageous but ultimately lame chants of Woll-Uh-Beeees! Woll-Uh-Beees! went up but they died very quick, red-faced deaths.
As well as the Wallaby fans were some friends up from Melbourne, who had no idea that this was happening in their city, but were at least impressed by the carrying on of the Lions fans. Unfortunately the game was not a great advertisement for rugby in the sport's Australian frontiers, with a series of penalties and scrums followed by a late try giving the Wallabies the win, 16-15. The only moment of interest was when George North overcame an Israel Folau tackle by just lifting him up and running with him on his back.
Once again, the Lions fans came around to tell me we deserved the win, which was clearly not true but they seemed to believe it so I didn't take it as patronising. I even found the second Waratahs fan I'd ever met.
The game may not have been entertaining but the result was exactly what the tour needed, and set up a great week looking forward to the decider in Sydney. My confidence for the series win was about as high as confidence ever gets with the Wallabies - around a 6 out of 10.
Game 10: Third Test, Australia v BIL, Olympic Stadium, Sydney, July 6
When tickets became available for this game I was in a meeting at work, stupidly thinking that I'd be able to jump on and grab some afterwards. Wrong. With every rugby fan from the old countries trying to get to the game, the only option I had was when I got offered a pair of tickets for several hundred dollars each. There's not much that would make me think about spending that kind of money for, but for this game I thought about it. A lot. In the end though I decided to hold off and watch with some friends in Canberra's Kingston Hotel.
While this made the crowd more Wallaby-friendly, there was only one Lion fan, and the atmosphere was pretty lame, with most people watching either Geelong-Hawthorn in the AFL or some NRL game.
There's no worse loss in sports than the one which brings you back to reality. I didn't necessarily think we'd win this game, but I thought we'd at least make it competitive. Not much could have gone worse in the first half. Genia started by knocking on with the first play, allowing the Lions to score a try within two minutes. George Smith took a head knock and came off. Ben Alexander was given a yellow card. Israel Folau went off injured. At one point we managed to get down 19-3.
After clawing back the massive deficit in the first half and getting within 3 points early in the second half, everything fell apart. Again. The Lions scored 3 more tries to crush the Wallabies 41-16, and like many times before it was a little bit embarrassing to be wearing yellow and to have thought we were a chance. I approached the sole Lions fan with 10 minutes left, shook his hand and congratulated him.
Looking back, the first test and Beale's slip ultimately decided the series, but the Lions would have been robbed had that happened. As the television previews to the upcoming Ashes series discuss how we need to get one back on the "Poms" after they beat us at rugby, I figure we didn't deserve it as fans either. At least until we know who it is we are actually playing.
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