{"id":275850,"date":"2025-07-19T22:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T22:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/275850\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T22:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T22:36:12","slug":"david-campese-what-should-really-worry-lions-after-win-over-wallabies-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/275850\/","title":{"rendered":"David Campese: What should ‘really worry’ Lions after win over Wallabies : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his latest column, Wallabies legend David Campese reflects on the first Test between the British & Irish Lions and Australia and is far from happy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lions flattered<\/p>\n

Well, the first Test came and went, and for me, I wondered how the Lions<\/a> managed to play so poorly in the second half.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest, they were playing a weak Wallaby side with zero half-back control and still lost the second half 14-10, something that should really worry Andy Farrell and his coaches.<\/p>\n

Once Tom Curry went off, Australia<\/a> had so much space in which to work. I know that the Welsh were up in arms about Tom Curry\u2019s selection over Jac Morgan, but when you see just how much physical pressure he exerts onto the half-backs and midfield, you realise precisely what a brilliant player he is. He\u2019s one of those guys that makes backs do things they don\u2019t want to do, simply because they don\u2019t want to go down his channel and get melted, something he did all day. He and Tadhg Beirne were the best players on the park, although I did think that the Aussie back-row gave close to as good as they got.<\/p>\n

The problem is Test footy is all about combinations. Look at the Lions \u2013 Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones have played a lot of Tests together. They know their games inside out and that continuity and familiarity is what Test teams are built on. Look at Ireland with Leinster, France with Toulouse and in our day, the Randwick club influence for Australia \u2013 teams within teams that simply know each others\u2019 games.<\/p>\n

Australia v British and Irish Lions: Five takeaways as Andy Farrell\u2019s side \u2018sparkle\u2019 in the first half but returning Wallabies could \u2018ignite\u2019 series<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Lynagh and Jake Gordon played as if they\u2019d met for the first time in the car park before kick off. Their kicking work was woeful \u2013 too short, too long and in no way effective. Contrast that with the superb Jamison Gibson-Park\u2019s box kicking and Russell\u2019s passing and you can see the advantage the Lions had in that area.<\/p>\n

However, to their credit, as the Lions tired and lost the Curry influence, so Harry Wilson and Fraser McReight, alongside impact from Carlo Tizzano, kept trucking. For some reason the Lions looked leg weary and started to fall off collisions you\u2019d expect them to dominate.<\/p>\n

Moving forward<\/p>\n

The Wallabies had a chance in this Test, but unfortunately two things happened; the selection was poor and players that influence games were injured.<\/p>\n

In simple terms, both of these things can be changed up for the second Test. I implore Joe Schmidt to pick combinations that know each others\u2019 games. Ben Donaldson and Tate McDermott must be the men to control the backline \u2013 let them play the Wallaby way \u2013 heads up, fast and attacking. You can\u2019t play phase pods against a defence like the Lions \u2013 you\u2019re simply asking to be picked off and turned over. So play that broken field game we saw in the last 20 minutes and give it a crack.<\/p>\n

British and Irish Lions player ratings: Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne \u2018vindicate\u2019 Andy Farrell\u2019s selections but \u2018wasteful\u2019 wingers disappoint<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Alongside Donaldson and McDermott, any team in the world would welcome Will Skelton, Bobby Valetini and Taniela Tupou back. They\u2019re three world class operators and all massively physical. Use them to get on the board and build score pressure. The Lions conceded 12 penalties under pressure and when you\u2019ve men of that size running at you in waves around the corner off nine, things happen.<\/p>\n

Skelton will scare any opponent; he\u2019ll distract, annoy, and disrupt. He\u2019ll push the letter of the law in the way other world class locks like RG Snyman and Eben Etzebeth do \u2013 intimidation is his staple diet and he\u2019s bloody good at it. Wind the Lions up, irritate them and get them focusing on things other than their jobs \u2013 that\u2019s his stock in trade and that\u2019s precisely what the Wallabies need to push the Lions over the disciplinary edge.<\/p>\n

For the Lions, I want to see more. The bench futtered and stuttered and I expect to see changes there. Even I, as a running back, know the importance of clean lineout. Ronan Kelleher had a shocker in Brisbane and I fully expect to see the ageless Jamie George shore that area up.<\/p>\n

Wallabies player ratings: Son of Australia legend has a \u2018mare\u2019 and Joseph Suaalii \u2018silenced\u2019 as Joe Schmidt\u2019s bench gives the scoreboard respectability<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

I would want to maintain physical intensity and for me, that\u2019s a 6-2 and get players like Henry Pollock in \u2013 someone that can change the tempo and direction of the game. The Lions really lacked that in the second half and I think they\u2019ll rethink their second Test strategy.<\/p>\n

Above all, I want to see more from both sides. Australia shot themselves in the foot with poor selection for this game and if that changes, it\u2019ll be closer. For the Lions, 80 minutes is how long the game lasts and they have to change up the dynamic of that last 30 that completely ruined the excellence of the 50 that went before.<\/p>\n

Bring it on and let\u2019s hope for an Aussie win!<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Australia v British and Irish Lions: Winners and losers as Andy Farrell deserves \u2018immense credit\u2019 but Wallabies \u2018shambles\u2019 provides selection dilemma<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his latest column, Wallabies legend David Campese reflects on the first Test between the British & Irish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[186,5313,126,225,90462,12,4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-275850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-british-and-irish-lions","10":"tag-features","11":"tag-home-page","12":"tag-internationals","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-rugby","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114882293506637679","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}