Lions survive second-half stumble to draw first blood

One hopes for an Australian fightback to come in this series, but this felt like a first Test of potentially portentous omens.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

On a night where Suncorp Stadium was the beating red heart of British and Irish rugby, the Lions powered into a 1-0 series lead with a performance again comprised of too many fits and starts – but still too good for an understrength, underweight and seemingly underprepared Australia.

A second-half rally gave the Wallabies a thick varnish of respectability and hope to take to Melbourne, but they never looked much like beating the Lions for the first time in Brisbane. For long periods before the interval, the tourists looked to be lining up something resembling romp or rout, a few too many handling errors and ditsy decision-making capping their scoring ambitions somewhat, but an eventual eight-point margin still felt like a misrepresentation of the early supremacy they had shown.

Will Australia be better for another game in their legs? Most certainly, but it was they who looked the more disparate of the two outfits. Injured forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton, who all hope will be ready to rumble at the MCG next week, left great gaping holes in a pack that looked outmatched for the first hour, while Tom Lynagh – on his first international start – was tidy at times but lost at others with Australia sorely lacking in shape or structure. One hopes that the hosts can take heart from their second-half showing and be better next week, but having left plenty out there, the Lions will expect to improve, too, with a shot to seal the series set up. “To get off to a winning start is huge,” head coach Andy Farrell beamed afterwards, though acknowledging that there needs to be more to come from his side. “We’re delighted. Obviously, that puts the pressure on for next week and it keeps us in the tour certainly up until the last game, that is guaranteed.