Second Test:
AUSTRALIA 16 - 15 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
(SERIES LEVEL 1-1)
It was like a mirror image of the First Test as a missed Penalty kick saw the team lose out twice in two games as this time the team to face the heartbreak of a missed kick came from the British &Irish Lions kicker Leigh Halfpenny, as the last kick of the game saw the Wallabies even up the series, as the Hosts beat the Lions 16-15 at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne to set up a decider in Sydney next weekend.
The Lions were missing England prop Alex Corbisiero with a hamstring injury he picked up and along himself on the injury side was Ireland`s Paul O Connell who fractured his arm in the First Test also in Brisbane last weekend.
So in came Marko Vunipola for Corbisiero and Geoff Parling coming in to replace Paul O Connell, as they looked to win the Second test in Melbourne and win the series for the Tourists ,for the first time since 1989 when they last won 2-1 in Australia.
Australia were glad to have Captain James Horwill available for selection , after the Lock was cleared by an Independent board for a “Stamp”, but the decision was later scrapped as the IRB (International Rugby Board) wanted to review the incident themselves as they felt there may have been more to it then seemed.
So Horwill played with a cloud over him as the incident was still in the news up to kick off time among the rugby media.
The teams took to the field as the British & Irish Lions were led out by Captain Sam Warburton as he carried the traditional Stuffed Lion onto the pitch and dropped it on the pitch as the roar from the red shirts in the crowd which was estimated to be 25,000-30,000 of them greeted the Tourists on, in front of a crowd of 53,000 at the Etihad Stadium.
Twelve years ago, the Lions had lost at the same venue back in 2001 going down 35-14 to the Wallabies, as the home side have a record of winning 10 out of 12 Test Matches at this ground.
It was Kurtley Beale who kicked us off as he hoped to shake off the memories of last weekend, as it was his missed kick in the last seconds that saw his Australian side edged out by the Lions 23-21 in Brisbane.
So what would be in store for us in this Second Test Match, It was the Lions that came out firing as they put the heavy hitting on the home side early on, as the Tourists were really up for this Second Test match as they had they went in search for a series victory.
The Lions won an early penalty as Warburton won a penalty at the breakdown for the Lions,which gave Leigh Halfpenny the chance to give the Tourists into an early lead from just inside the Wallabies half. Halfpenny penalty unluckily saw his kick struck the bar and bounced the wrong side which denied them an early lead.
In the opening 9 minutes , the Lions had dominated play and the Wallabies were struggling to get to grips with their Opponents. It was mainly rolling mauls that had the home team in trouble as the Lions ploughed up field and moved up towards the Australian line and had the Aussies forced to conceded another penalty, as this time Halfpenny successfully converted the kick to make it 3-0 to the Lions.
That kick seemed to wake up the Wallabies as they came into the game a bit more now and even more so in the scrimmaging department.
The Lions were conceding penalties or namely Mako Vunipola was, as the Loose head Prop wasn`t binding correctly and so was putting his side under pressure as he gave away penalty after penalty in the scrums.
Eventually the constant sight of the Scrums going down from involving Vunipola struggling to deal with his opposite number, meant that the South African official gave Australia a penalty and let Christian Leali’ifano draw level, as this was his full debut after he lasted just 45 seconds in his original debut in the First Test.
Leali’ifano kicked over to make the score 3-3 after 16 minutes of play and made it a level game now, as Australia were certainly the aggressors in this game now as the Lions had lacked the threat they posed in the opening quarter of the game.
Fans of the Lion’s fans tried their best to get their side going again as they blasted out renditions of "Bread of Heaven" & "Swing low sweet chariots" as the Lions were under the cosh for a while.
Australia were dominating play from now as they had the Lions in trouble and after we witnessed scrum upon scrum collapsing with the two packs,
Referee Joubert then awarded the Wallabies yet another penalty and Leali`ifano stepped up to kick the Penalty over for the first lead in the match as he made it 6-3 for the Green & Gold`s.
From the restart Australia went straight on the attack , as they built up a good passing move from deep in their own half. Will Genia then punted down field deep inside the Lions 22m to which was run back in a good move by Johnny Sexton, the returning Tommy Bowe and Tom Youngs, but the move came to an end when Vunipola who wasn’t covering himself in glory in the game up to this point, knocked on and so a scrum took place.
The following scrum saw Vunipola redeem himself , as he won the Lions back a penalty and Leigh Halfpenny kicked over for the score to make it 6-6 after 26 minutes.
Some more good play in the scrum saw the Lions awarded another penalty and Halfpenny made no mistake, as he kicked over for the Lions to go ahead once again in the tense contest.
Australia was given a penalty almost immediately after ,when the Lions strayed offside from a ruck after the home side had won the line out. After the advantage came to nothing for the Wallabies, play was brought back to where the penalty was given and Joubert gave the home side a penalty, to which Christian Leali`ifano then kept his 100% record up as he kicked over to make it 9-9.
After sides traded high kicks between each other, it was the Lions that had their best attack for some time, when the Aussie backline was being tested as the play was switched to the other side of the field where a Wallabies player tried to pinch the ball from the ruck and in doing so was penalized, which gave the Lions a penalty in the last minute of the first half.
Halfpenny kicked the penalty over just outside the Australian 22m line to give the lead beat to the Lions as they led at the break 12-9.
Lions scrummaging in this test match was far below how they played in the opening test, as they weren`t winning the battles in the pack as the Australians as they had the week before and the home were playing fantastic as a unit in the scrum.
The game was a scrappy one with both sides wanting to try and control the game in there favour, yet it was littered with knock-on`s and nerves getting to the players on both sets of teams.
The Lions were dealt a blow when Prop Adam Jones was forced off with an injury and was replaced with Dan Cole, Jones was one of the best performers on the pitch for the tourists and it seemed to hurt the Lions in the forward line.
We then had the incredible sight of George North running forward and Israel Folau trying to tackle him, but instead was fireman`s carried on North`s shoulders as the Welshman shown his brute strength as he held off along with two more Aussie players, before dumping Folau on his backside and also ended up hurting himself too as he seemed to land on top of his head.
A scrum was given to the Lions and on this occasion the Lions roared back in the pack, as they ploughed the Australians backwards and dismantled them the scrum, only for Joubert to award the Lions a penalty and allowed Halfpenny to step up and kick over for a 15-9 lead.
Australia was now doing what they dreaded, they were chasing the game now and were looking a tad frustrated too. Things for the Lions weren`t getting better on the injury front either, as two of the star players were down hurt with Johnny Sexton and a few yards away Captain Sam Warburton was down, and it didn`t look good. Warburton was helped off the pitch by the medical staff as he had pulled his Hamstring and it meant for all the defending the Lions were doing , the tiredness and injury list was piling up more so now, as With Jones and Warburton down the Lions were getting a reversal of fortunes from their hosts of last week.
British & Irish Lions fans were looking at the clock wanting it to quickly tick over ,while the Wallabies felt time was ticking away too fast.
Australia gained yards and was in terrific position to score as they were right near the line and the Lions needed to hold on and keep them out. Sadly, they couldn`t hold out as play was switched after a slow build up and the home side quickly put a move together , which saw Adam Ashley-Cooper rush over the line for a try and break Lions hearts late in the game , as they took the lead 16-15 with a Leali`ifano kick too converted.
The Lions had a chance with two minutes to go as the Lions kicked for touch from a penalty and knew if they could win their own line out then the Visitors would be in with a great chance to go for a drop goal. However the line out was lost and the Wallabies cleared away from their half.
As the hooter sounded the Lions had the ball deep in their half and needed to keep play alive to have a chance, as it turned out they won a penalty and was played quickly. The Lions dashed up field where they gained another and put them just inside their own half as the Lions had one more chance and gave Leigh Halfpenny the task to kick the penalty which was the most pressurized kick in this series.
As if he succeeded the Lions would be victorious and if he missed it would set up a decider in Sydney next weekend.
Halfpenny took his time and tried to compose himself, the Welshman then struck the ball and just like Beale last weekend the ball missed the posts and was picked up behind the posts by the Wallabies and kicked out of play to give the home side victory and set up a Winner takes all clash next weekend.
Halfpenny looked dejected and was comforted by his team mates as a complete reversal of last weekend match in injuries and last minute drama occured.
This means we go into next weekend all level at 1-1 with the Lions hoping to make history and win a series since 1997, But may well look back and think they may have blown it.
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