British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell praised loose forwards Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry after their dominant performances in a hard-fought 27-19 win over the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Curry was controversially picked ahead of Wales flanker Jac Morgan, but Farrell said both he and Beirne had delivered under pressure to help the Lions take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
“They were immense, absolutely immense. They are big-game players, so I think they’ll be delighted with how they responded to their selection.”
RECAP: Lions draw first blood in Brisbane
Farrell said he was pleased with the way his side outmuscled Australia in the first half, but was disappointed they allowed the hosts back into the match after the interval.
“Both teams would have been targeting this match so I’m delighted to come away with the victory,” Farrell said.
The match 23 had been picked to dominate the Australians physically, said Farrell, which was how the match panned out, particularly in the first half.
“We started well physically and that played into the momentum of how we played the first half,” he said. “But I have no doubt in the second half Australia would have been pretty pleased with their physicality as well.”
SCHMIDT: Wallabies showed real character
The Lions are now assured of going to the third Test in Sydney with the series still alive, no matter what happens next Saturday in Melbourne.
And Farrell said the Wallabies had shown enough to be a real threat in the second Test.
“We know what’s coming. We saw what happened in the second half and how much more there is [from the Wallabies].
“So we roll on to the second game knowing full well what happened in 2013,” he said. Twelve years ago the Wallabies also lost the opening Test but levelled the series in the second.
“When an Australian team becomes desperate it becomes difficult to handle so we expect a different game next week.
“But having said that, we expect more of ourselves as well.”
© Agence France-Presse
