Lions Tour - British and Irish Lions 12-14 Brumbies Review

Warren Gatland saw his first Lions defeat as the Brumbies made the most of a weakened Lions side, winning by two points on a lovely day in Canberra.

Team Line Ups

Brumbies: Mogg, Speight, Kuridrani, A. Smith, Rathbone, Toomua, Prior, R. Smith, Siliva, Sio, Power, Carter, Fardy, Faingaa, Kimlin

Lions: Kearney, Wade, Barritt, Twelvetrees, Williams, Hogg, B. Youngs, Grant, Best, Stevens, Evans, Gray, O'Brien, Tipuric, Faletau

After a positive first few minutes for the Lions, Kuridrani strode past Wade to get the first points on the board, the Brumbies did fail though to convert so the score remained at 5-0.

The Lions were not at the level they had been playing at in previous games, that was very clear on this occasion, multiple penalties were conceded before the Brumbies did take advantage of one to take themselves 8 points clear, Jesse Mogg, after missing his first attempt earlier on, made no mistake in his second attempt giving the Lions some work to do. 

Just as people thought the Brumbies were going to get into half time without conceding Hogg sent a penalty through the posts to get the Lions off the mark.

Half Time score - Lions 3-8 Brumbies

The second half rang the same elements as the first as the Lions continued to give away unnecessary penalties and Jesse Mogg converted for a second time to open the gap back up to eight points, and it didn't stop there, a seventh penalty conceded by the Lions was once again converted by Mogg making the score 14-3 and ringing changes in Gatland's ears.

Hogg sent a penalty through the posts to reduce the deficit back to 8 points, four changes followed in an attempt to keep up the winning run the Lions were on prior to this match, although the challenge was going to be a tough one to turn around with the Brumbies now defending their lead. 

However another penalty was rewarded and Hogg again converted to make it 14-9, game on for the Lions and suddenly and influx of pressure added tension to the game. 

Owen Farrell's introduction gave him the chance to convert another penalty to close the gap to two points, and he had no problems in doing so. With just under 10 minutes remaining it became a dog fight, both teams scrapping desperate to get the win, but the Brumbies managed to hold out for the win and give the Lions their first defeat of the tour.

So the Lions go into their first test against Australia on Saturday on the back of a defeat to the better team on the day but Warren Gatland's side will have to thoroughly improve on Saturday if they are to take anything from the first test in Brisbane.

Final Score - British and Irish Lions 12-14 Brumbies