Review - Barbarians 8 - 59 British & Irish Lions

You have to question the validity and importance of game where all the build up chat has avoided any in depth rugby-related discussion and instead focused almost entirely on the fact that conditions at the ground will be bearing a close resemblance to a gorilla’s underarms after a 45 minute spin class.  Yes, Hong Kong was the venue for the first game of the British and Irish Lions’ 2013 Tour to Australia, and of course the tour organisers had forgotten to acknowledge the fact that temperatures regularly exceed 30 degrees and 80% humidity at this time of year...and Saturday was a particularly pleasant day, with the mercury hitting 35 and the humidity hitting a rather uncomfortable 95%.  I should imagine the sides were unsure whether they should be running or swimming through the air as they ran out onto the pitch.

Of course, all this discomfort was made up for by the fact that the Lions were back.  Their first game in Asia, their first match at all for 4 years, and a side containing just 4 starters with previous Lions experience.  Pain and discomfort can take a backseat when you pull on the famous red jersey – especially when you’re playing the famous black-and-white ones as well.  The Barbarians were stuffed to the brim with stars – Joe Rocokoko, Sergio Parisse, Schalk Brits and Nick Evans to name just a few.  Although there may have been some doubt about how useful this game was going to be, as the already-sweating players entered the field of play there could be no question of the talent on display.

If the temperatures were sweltering, the game didn’t exactly start at boiling point.  With a half-full stadium (or half-empty, depending which side of the fence you sit) the atmosphere around the stadium was somewhat muted, and it wasn’t until fullback Stuart Hogg decided to hurtle headfirst into Casey Lualala that the crowd really woke up, with the Munster centre’s hit sending shockwaves through the stuffy air.  Luckily for the Lions, a penalty came swiftly afterwards and Owen Farrell slotted the first points of the 2013 tour with a well struck kick.  With the scoreboard moving, surely everything would settle now for the Tourists?

Not quite.  Farrell then seemed to get rattled by the occasion and a couple of scuffed kicks – including a charge down by Nick Evans – was proof that the youngster was struggling to get his confidence back after a difficult end to the season.  His Saracens’ team mate, Schalk Brits, then sportingly decided to knock some sense into his mate by planting a cracking left hook on the fly-half’s face whilst the Englishman was holding him into a ruck.  All credit to Farrell, he took the hit pretty well and only half retaliated with a shove to Brits’ face, but that was still enough for the media to jump on the “Farrell’s a red-mist-viewing psycho” bandwagon.  Try getting lamped in the face at point blank range and not reacting and I’ll show you a player who’s going to spend the rest of the game getting dominated.  Referee Steve Walsh, showing a surprising degree of common sense, gave just a yellow card to Brits, citing the ‘nature of the game’ as the reason for not showing him a red.

Despite the 1-man advantage, the Lions were still not looking cohesive and couldn’t make the extra man count – with Maitland going close from a beautiful Jonathan Davies chip that was well covered by Dimitri Yachvilli and Stuart Hogg failing to hang onto the slippy ball after picking some glorious lines from fullback.  Indeed, after Farrell missed a penalty, Elliot Daly levelled the scores with a booming 50 metre effort and although they hadn’t looked like scoring, their defensive effort – led by Martin Castrogiovanni – was keeping them in the hunt.

But eventually the class of the Lions told.   Mike Phillips was held up short of the line by the wonderful Castro before Paul O’Connell through the least convincing dummy of all time and hurled himself over the middle of the ruck to score.  Farrell added the conversion, and 5 minutes later he was slotting another after Phillips dummied and eased past Sergio Parisse, allowing the Welshman to power over the line despite the close attentions of Joe Rokocoko.  Farrell then added another 3 points after a scrum penalty, with the sweat off the front row protagonists in each scrum threatening to waterlog the pitch at this point.  It made the halftime score 23 – 3 to the Lions, but with an utterly dominant scrum, it was difficult to see any way back for the Baabaas.

The restart may have offered a pleasant opportunity to cool things down, but it was the men in red who were on fire from the restart.  A tap down from the lineout gave Phillips space, and this time young Sam Jones fell for the Welshman’s dummy, meaning the huge scrum half had time to gloat at club colleague Joe Rocokoko before dotting down for his second.  Farrell hit another conversion, but he could have had a try 8 minutes later after a sweeping Lions counter attack.  Hogg and Cuthbert combined well on the right to free the ball up for Maitland on the opposite side, and his perfect chip was gathered by Tipuric, who offloaded to Farrell.  If the Englishman had put his head down and gone for it he may have made the line, but instead his attempted basketball pass back to Maitland was batted down and the Barbarians cleared their lines.

If that was one chance for a spectacular try missed, the crowd didn’t have to wait long for the real deal – and it came from the Barbarians in a moment of magic worth waiting for.  Joe Rocokoko received the ball in space and then bamboozled Faletau with a mesmeric sidestep to give Kahn Fotuali’i an easy run in for the score.  Nick Evans missed the conversions, but the crowd had loved every second of it.

It was only a brief respite though as the Lions went back to business, with Jonathan Davies touching down on a loose ball after good defensive pressure on Evans from Jamie Roberts, before the big Welsh centre helped set up another with a smart inside ball to allow Cuthbert to breeze past Jim Hamilton for another score.  Johnny Sexton, on for Farrell, could only convert the first, but the floodgates were well and truly opened.

On 70 minutes, Cuthbert strolled in for his second following a smart break from substitute Conor Murray, taking advantage of a fringe defence that had been as watertight as a sieve all evening.  There was still time for a rolling maul to crash over the line from a well-worked lineout, with Dan Lydiate being the man to emerge with the ball, before Alun Wynn Jones popped up on the wing to finish off a move involving slick hands from the backs – Sexton in particular.  It left the final score as Barbarians 8 – 59 Lions.

The wisdom of playing a game in temperatures resembling some form of unpleasant spa treatment may be debated, as will how much can be taken from an easy win against a team that effectively gave up after 60 minutes.  But this was a decent performance, and markers have been laid down by several players.  Now the real fun begins – who’s going to raise the bar again?

 

Barbarians Player Ratings

Jared Payne – 5 – Pretty anonymous all around really for the Ulster man, barring one kick chase in the first half.
Joe Rocokoko – 8 – The best of the Baabaas by some distance.  A physics defying sidestep and 2 superb try saving tackles showed the big Kiwi’s class
Elliot Daly – 6 – Had no real opportunities to shine with the ball in hand but at least looked sharp on the odd occasion he did see the pill.  Solid in defence.
Casey Lualala – 6 – One thunderous hit on Hogg early on was his biggest contribution, but it was one heck of a good way to get the game going
Takudzwa Ngwenya – 5 – What a shame his pack couldn’t get him in any ball.  One good turnover was his best contribution – no chance to demonstrate his explosive speed.
Nick Evans – 5 – Was consistently on the back foot or defending – neither of which plays to the great Kiwi’s strengths
Dimitri Yachvilli – 6 – A couple of dodgy kicks but one superb piece of defensive pressure prevented a certain try for Maitland.
Paul James – 4 – Obliterated in the scrum by his fellow countryman, Adam Jones, and his contribution was pretty negligible.
Schalk Brits – 5 – Lineout was decent but moronically got himself yellow carded with a left hook on Sarries’ teammate, Farrell.  Would have seen red on any other day.
Martin Castrogiovanni – 6 – Had a difficult time in the scrum but was dynamite in defence, hurling himself into contact at every opportunity
Dean Mumm – 6 – Probably the most notable Barbarians forward, certainly when it came to carries.  The Wallaby was fired up but was all fighting a losing cause
Marco Wentzel – 5 – Solid as ever in the lineout but couldn’t provide the necessary grunt to resist the unstoppable Lions pack
Samu Manoa – 4 – Missed a couple of key tackles which is a big fall from grace from the man who was single-handedly obliterating Saracens a few weeks ago.
Sam Jones – 5 – Utterly outclassed at the breakdown but he kept fighting and working his socks off, despite playing in a retreating pack
Sergio Parisse – 5 – Was noticeable only through a couple of rare missed tackles...you know things aren’t quite right with Barbarians when the Italian legend has a bad day at the office

Subs Used

Leonardo Ghiraldini – 6 – Impressively mobile as ever in the loose but the lineout did wobble a little when he arrived.
Duncan Jones – 5 – The scrum didn’t really improve with his arrival unfortunately, but by that point the Barbarians’ resolve had crumbled
Andrea Lo Cicero – No time to make an impact.
Jim Hamilton – 5 – Surprisingly, the introduction of Big Jim did little to improve the Barbarians’ physicality but he could hardly be expected to change things on his own
Imanol Harinordoquy – 5 – The back row was getting bossed long before the introduction of the Biarritz stalwart
Kahn Fotuali’i – 7 – Scored a well taken try which was about the only opportunity the Baabaas had.  Can’t ask for much more than that.
James Hook – No time to make an impact.
Mike Tindall – 5 – Anonymous when he came on but in fairness he saw no ball whatsoever.

 

Lions Player Ratings

Stuart Hogg – 6 – Looked sharp but couldn’t quite find the open spaces and his hands let him down once or twice in the first half.

Alex Cuthbert – 8 – Some good predatory finishing from the big Welshman in a good showing.  Would have liked to have seen him involved off his wing more though.
Jonathan Davies – 7 – A strong display from the Scarlets man, banishing his passing demons with a delightful flick in the first half and carrying well throughout
Jamie Roberts – 8 – The big man made some good yardage with some thunderous charges in the midfield – a strong statement from the Welshman
Sean Maitland – 6 – Didn’t quite get the open spaces he would have wanted to show off his pace but came a whisker away from scoring early on
Owen Farrell – 6 – Not great but not as bad as some people would like to believe.  A couple of scuffed kicks and a poor pass aside, the Englishman was fairly solid without being spectacular.
Mike Phillips – 8 – Got the man of the match award but I actually thought his distribution and kicking was pretty average – may well have been down to the greasy ball though, and you can’t argue with 2 tries.
Mako Vunipola – 7 – A powerful scrummaging display would have allayed some concerns after his last outing in a Saracens shirt, but the heat probably stopped in from being as destructive as usual on the carry
Richard Hibbard – 7 – Mobile and committed, he didn’t have too much impact with the ball in hand but the lineout was solid by and large
Adam Jones – 7 – Utterly dominant in the set piece but once again I do wander if he should be offering more around the park
Richie Gray – 7 – A good showing after a difficult year for the Scotsman.  Will be glad to have got 80 minutes under his belt and to have caught the eye with some decent carries too.
Paul O’Connell – 8 – A fine showing from the skipper.  Dived over for a try following arguably the most obvious dummy of all time, but led from the front throughout.
Dan Lydiate – 6 – He looked rusty to me.  A couple of dropped balls and bad passes early on seemed to shake his confidence but he grew into the game and ended with a try.
Justin Tipuric – 9 – A really impressive showing from the Ospreys openside – forcing a couple of turnovers and his support play was top notch.  Man of the match.
Toby Faletau – 7 – Not at his most conspicuous but always there to pick up a metre or 2 when required – a real workhorse.

Subs Used

Tom Youngs – 6 – Recovered well from an early wobble in the lineout to contribute fully to a dominant forward display, adding some thrust with his carries.

Cian Healy – 7 – Maintained the scrummaging dominance and showed his power with the ball in hand on a couple of occasions as well
Matt Stevens – 6 – Nearly gave him man of the match for not giving any penalties away, but in all seriousness a decent showing from the big guy
Alun Wyn Jones – 7 – An impressive statement from the Welshman.  Looked fired up during his time on the pitch and ended with a try as well.
Jamie Heaslip – 6 – Solid performance from the Irishman, picking up where Faletau left off.  Will need to show more urgency when he starts though.
Conor Murray – 7 – A nice little cameo from the scrumhalf.  Set up a try with a sharp break around the fringes and generally looked lively.
Jonathan Sexton – 7 – Didn’t have too long to impress but the Lions just looked slicker with him on the pitch.
George North – Not enough time for an impact.