Leigh Halfpenny – 8
He is human. A missed kick on the stroke of half time, but apart from that he was once again flawless off the tee and quietly efficient in every other facet of the game.
Alex Cuthbert – 7
Limited contribution in first half. Dropped one high ball, but more assured defensively when marshaled by O’Driscoll. Took his try superbly off a set move made for Tommy Bowe.
Brian O’Driscoll – 8
Frustrated by Chris Pollock’s odd interpretation of the breakdown early on, it was typical of him to lead the charge back into the game. Held nothing in reserve and popped up everywhere in defence. Didn’t miss one of his 11 tackles.
Jonathan Davies – 6
Understandably, not as impressive as his outings in his favoured outside centre role, but carried effectively and allowed his midfield partner freedom to go and influence the game.
George North – 9Magic.
We’ll forgive a little taunt towards Will Genia, because he showed why so much hope began to rest on his shoulders as the tour wore on towards this point. Until he broke three tackles en route to a spectacular score the tourists looked like a side struggling to come up with an idea of how to breach the golden wall. His one-man counter-attack changed the face of the game and the series.
Jonathan Sexton – 8
Difficult to be too critical of him for buying a sensational Folau dummy. His highlight was the execution of Cuthbert score, exploiting the space where Michael Hooper was filling in as a centre. But his all-round contribution was the touchpaper for almost everything good about the Lions attack.
Mike Phillips – 6
Not often overshadowed by his opposite number, but completely burnt off by Will Genia’s genius for the opening try and struggled to dominate the game’s tempo in the manner he is used to.
Alex Corbisiero – 6
An early scrum penalty promised a set-piece dominance that never really materialised as the Wallabies earned a level of parity at the coalface.
Tom Youngs – 8
Kept his darts simple and got them right. Justified his selection as a bolter, but his lack of international experience perhaps showed in the manner he waned as the game wore on. No reason to change the starting front row next weekend.
Adam Jones – 7
Made several carries in the build-up to Australia’s opening score – a sequence which should have given the Lions a 3-0 lead – to no avail.
Alun Wyn Jones – 7
Terrific work at the breakdown in the opening 40 and worked well in tandem with O’Connell, a partnership that should endure throughout the series.
Paul O’Connell – 8
Lasted the pace impressively in a game far removed to the grappling style that would suit him best, gave the pack the grunt that should have laid the platform for a more convincing win.
Tom Croft – 7
Struggled with injury in the lead-up and was certainly less effective than his usual self as he had to focus on some of the more basic elements of his job rather than stretching his legs in space.
Sam Warburton – 7
Some timely interventions in the contact zone, but still looked like a captain-in-waiting rather than the man in possession of the role. Must grow in confidence from this result, however fortunate it was in the end.
Jamie Heaslip – 8
The most effective of the Lions back-row, but on his watch the tourists passed up a golden opportunity to wrap the game up with a scrum in front of the posts.
Replacements:
Mako Vunipola (on for Corbisiero after 52 mins) - 3
Supposed to add a carrying threat off the bench, but made little impact and weakened the scrum.
Dan Cole (on for Jones after 52 mins) – 4
Like his England front row partner, uncharacteristically contributed to a weakened scrum which handed the hosts opportunities to win a game that should have been over.
Ben Youngs (on for Phillips after 62 min) – 4
His introduction was needed with Phillips looking flat, but the impetus was tailing out of the Lions as a collective foot was taken off the pedal and he struggled as a result.
Richard Hibbard, Geoff Parling, Dan Lydiate, Owen Farrell, Sean Maitland – not on long enough to be rated.
I’ve said it before and ill say it now. O’Driscoll is still the best all round centre in the world. He is just amazing.
And knows the international rules better than a provincial partisan ref who let the Australians off again and again.
Rewatch the game (im doing so right now) but without your red tinted glasses, The Lions were frequently offside rushing up in defence, so while BOD may have had a call or two go against him early on his team were extraordinarily fortunate in other areas
Maybe Alan but you can’t argue with the refs lack of consistency. He pinged bod twice, fair enough, but he warned the ozzies twice inside their own 22 for same offence and awarded no penalty. That’s just frustrating…
Totally agree conor as I frequently tell my 8 year old daughter he is GOD
That ref was a load of pollocks! Next week might suit them better though with Craig Joubert
Some of his decisions were very fishy…… ;-)
Unquestionably!
@Alan, the ref was poor and for me ruined a great game.
Halfpenny was a 9 if not a 10 rating. Without his kicking display it was a draw match if not a loss.
Ur I wanted ti watch a game as ref as today was watch rugby league
The Irish 4 all had really good games lion bench added nothing
Further more he should be captain. Must be hard being so with such a legend if the game in the same room as well as POC the very embodiment ” when the shit hits the fan” No going back now
Joubert is even worse
Twas a win, need to improve!!
I’d love to see SOB and Tipuric in for the 2nd test.
Very generous rating for Warburton IMO. On more than one occasion Sexton looked to POC for guidance rather than Warburton and BOD gave the team talk at the end. Captain? Nah!!
BOD gave the talk because Warburton was being interviewed. Exact same thing happened for wallabies with Horwill.
You’re spot on Sarah, Warburton looked laboured with the captain’s armband when surrounded with the likes of BOD and POC – we saw no big ball carries or huge tackles from him that you’d almost expect from a leader, but with Gatland at the helm I can’t see him losing the armband nevermind his starting spot.
Warburton had an absolute stinker of a game. Didnt deserve his place in the team to begin with. Croft was awful aswell.Tipuric and o brien should have played.
@ sarah agree, the cameras started to show the lions on the pitch after the game in a circle and one man in the middle doing the talking, it wasnt warburton but the one and only DRICKO, the cameras cut away fairly sharp and you could also see sexton during the game looking for direction from him, war should never have been captain in the first place, he is in the shade when it comes to international stature when he shares a pitch with oconnell and dricko
All de Irish lads that played put their hands up for next week. Conor Murray should replace Phillips after that showing. Referee was appalling… quick as bolt wen bod got near the ball… having a lie down wen wallabies infringed at every breakdown. A game lost by the Wallabies more so than a Lions win…..
I don’t like Pollack as a ref. super rugby players are more acustomed to his ways but he contradicted himself with some decisions.
it was a much better performance by the ozzies than I was expecting esp with all their injuries during the game.
Henry, you are so right, it was a game lost by the Wallabies rather than won by the Lions.
The super rugby style of reffing is much better in the north they wait a bit to see if theres a release or not when plaers go down in super rugby its straight away and there is frequent advantages too. I agree he was inconsistent in terms of players going off their feet other then that he was pretty good
I’d agree with most of them but generous towards Cuthbert, Croft and Warburton.
Bowe and Roberts will add a lot to the Lions as only Sexton and O’Driscoll were creative forces off Lions ball. North was great on the counter and ball should be passed out to him more instead of kicking the ball back to players like Beale.
The Lions bench was poor but it was poorly selected in the first place. Youngs was good but then again Phillips had a bad day at the office.
Roberts and bowe creative?????????????????????????????????????????
Yea
They are both very creative
Roberts game is based around smashing it up the middle and as we saw vs waratahs he doesn’t have much of a slight of hand. Bowe is a finisher he has class ability to score from nothing but is not very creative
So he is great at creating tries..
Very lucky but it’s a win if halpenny was Australian they would of won at a canter
If my Auntie had a set of balls she would be my Uncle
A great win by the Leinster and British Lions. Well done.
You’re a tool.
Chris don’t rise to a troll. They love when people write back and argue with them. Ignore it and it will go away.
when did Paul O’Connell evey play for Lenister?
Theresa at the Heineken cup final in edinbrough I ask Paulie to sign for Leinster, he said no, I also asked Richie Gray, their loss I guess
can’t wait to see Leinster without sexton!
Muppet
Can’t wait to see Munster without. O Gara and Howlet. How piss poor will they be then.
You Munster lads are so insecure. Only a bit of fun boys, settle down.
Green tinted ratings. All Irish players given an 8
Because the 4 Irish played well. Jog on, lad.
Heaslip was impressive
Your very generous with ur ratings average performance all round against an aussie team that lost 4 or their backline during game had a flanker playing in the centre for last 20 mins missed 14 pts in kicks & dominated the scrum in 2nd half . gatlands tactic very consertative & 1 dimensional all brawn no brain , joe schmidt badly missed in coaching set up , injurys could help aussies by forcing deans pick his best player – cooper ,beale from start
conor, I have to agree with you. we should of beaten them well with all the changes the ozzies were forced to make.
I didn’t like the way the ref judged the breakdown but both teams would of been aware of this prior to the game.
next week will be interesting.
I’d agree with most! I didn’t think Tom croft was overly good! Philips was poor at scrum half! if bowe and Roberts can get back it will add another dimension!
A lucky win but a good one considering it was a poor performance. I would make 5 changes for next week, injuries allowing. SOB and Tipuric for Croft and Warburton, Murray for Phillips, Bowe instead of Cuthbert and Roberts/Tualagi instead of Davies.
Warburton hasn’t been consistent for a few years. The Aussies were shocked and delighted with O’Briens absence according to the press down under. And Philips hasn’t played well since the Ba Bas game.
Or eh…..4 changes I should say.
Its 5 changes fool
Ranking done by a paddy by any chance? Irish lads were good but not that good! Sexton great! Go the lions!
How does heaslip get the blame for a ball that shoots out at the flankers feet?
Any else think that Zebo, earls Bowe McFadden Kearney would have fielded those kicks?
I thought heaslip was excellent today.
i cant stand heaslip but ill give him credit, savage work rate today all over the pitch deserves to play next sat
Great win. Cant wait to take the aussies in the ashes next.
Long live the queen!
Think u need to take a detour.
What’s the problem Mick?
Wrong website, no one care about the ashes.
Unless their they’re English, Australian or from Dublin 4.
Nobody cares? You care enough to respond mick.
We are all from the British isles here mick. Why don’t you lighten up we’ve just beaten the Wallabies.
Brisbane is british tonight!
BTW its Michael, not MICK. Im not feeding u anymore troll.
You’re no craic, Mick ;)
Enjoy the weekend pal.
im not from the british isles, im from ireland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, i support the lions and brisbane isnt british tonight as im sure there are as many welsh, irish and scots there as brits
BOD gave away 2 penalties and had one knock on. He could with a different referee cost us two of the tries for obstruction. He is also old enough to stop gobbing off to the referee. That’s the captain’s job.
I think you’ find that the knock on wasn’t his, the pass was forward and about a foot over his head. Only a muppet referee would give those penalties. For the first two, the video clearly showed that he was on his feet and legally contesting the ball
The third, yes he was on the deck having secured a loose Aussie ball but he was clearly controlling rather than not releasing, both arms were outstretched, when Mowen dived across straight to ground on the wrong side. Should have been a Lions penalty.
Lions should of totally been aware of the way Pollack refs games. In Super Rugby, he always sides with the attacking team in the breakdowns.
BOD’s early 2 penalties would of been awarded to him in Northern Hemisphere rugby.
I blame the IRB for this, there should only ever be one interpretation of a rule……the correct one!!!!!
Which is super rugby
Ben,
The law states that a player must be on his feet AND SUPPORTING HIS OWN BODY WEIGHT. Thats why BOD was pinged. I have a pic I will post below this comment
Apols-thought I could
Post a pic somewhere
Warburton is not captain of that team only on paper. Everyone looked to o’connell and o’driscoll for all the big decisions today and they done all the talking and motivating. Lions would have been in big trouble if the Aussies had a decent kicker of the ball but still a great game this morning.
Does anyone know if there will be highlights on free to air TV later?
are you not allowed to post legitimate links to help others watch what they want?
google STREAMHUNTER
O’d is finished his name wasn’t mentioned in the second half and he was b’s an no. 7 for 35 mins! Cummon Irish rugby fans and speak some truth. It’s all bs out if ye. No honesty about firm here.
I’ll be honest so. You haven’t a clue what you’re talking about
Speak the truth? Your a clown
Are u drunk? I have no idea what you are trying to say…. :-/
Are you even speaking English??
Philip, you were obviously watching the Cricket AM on SS2 to say something like that!
Too much trolling here, BOD and Heaslip were very good today. AWJones went through some amount of work as well. Croft and Cuthbert should warm the bench and BYoungs will drop down to make way for Murray. Not overly impressed by Sexton today. Maybe he could’ve done more to isolate Hooper other than Cuthberts try he never really looked to be in trouble. Glad of the win, the hard work starts from here really
Tom Youngs was immense
http://Www.wiZiwig.com for coverage of games
Thats what I watched it on, its a great site for all sports
The Irish contingent all rated an 8 , very impressive but the game was lost by the Aussies rather than won by lions , there kicking was very poor , roll on next 2 tests
Here is a novelty idea, instead of all the whinging of about how hard done by everyone thinks the lions were. How about you celebrate the fact they won? Because you might not get another chance on this tour. Hopefully ;-)
Corbisiero getting the same score as Phillips… w. t. f. ?
Some serious pro-Irish marking going on. Sexton, Heaslip, BOD, POC…. all 8???
Cc stay out of donkey ford’s.
Very generous with the ratings. Warburton and Heaslip were particularly disappointing. Tupuric and Faletau should start the next day with O`Brien coming off the bench.
It’s amazing how jealous the British get when the Irish show them how it’s done. We have some of the best clubs in Europe here. And even with 6 times the population and probably 6 times the budget Britain we can still keep up with you (even beat you in some cases)
eh, stop talking thru your bum, I think you will find that Britain has at least 12 times the population of us!……….idiot!!!!
Can’t agree with the ratings for the Irish players. BOD seems to be struggling with an injury. Heaslip was anonymous. Sexton solid ,POC the best of them.
So all the Leinster players were poor and the other Irish man was good, can you not just forget the provincial stuff for a few weeks.
No provincial bias, I leave that to the expert.
Only played well in fits and starts and had a bit of luck with the poor kicking from the Aussies
Sexton, Heasily, O’Driscoll, Youngs and North the pick of the bunch for me and the lineouts functioned very well on our throws but surprised they didn’t contest the Aussie throw ins more.
Philips will be lucky to keep his place next week, and I thought Warburtons captaincy was very hesitant. On several occasions Bod and Poc seemed to take over, particularly on issuing instructions to Sexton.
Bowe and O’Brien in for Cuthbert and Warburton or Croft.
Maybe Youngs or Murray for Philips
The bench should look a bit stronger next week …. It was poor enough today
@ mark, at the end of the game the lions were in a circle talking and it was dricko in the centre giving the talk and agree sexton was getting directions from both him and paulie today
Warburton (s)could be benched for next week. Not enough creativity in display and Lions lucky to win. Hopefully better next week. SOB might get a chance……
Compare these ratings to what the uk independent gave. Odriscoll – 5 sexton – 6 etc. all the Irish lads got panned. Unbelievable. They played great.
I see the Daily Mail had Heaslip at 6 out of 10.Biased!!!