Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair has hit back at pre-match predictions of a blowout, saying his side used dismissive media coverage as motivation in their gutsy 21–10 loss to the British & Irish Lions at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Despite being written off by bookmakers and headlines suggesting the Lions would cruise past the Waratahs by 50 or more, Sinclair’s understrength side delivered one of their most spirited performances of the year and for a time threatened an upset that would have gone down in tour folklore.
Sinclair was playing in his last professional rugby match and was proud to sign off his career by putting the Lions through the ringer in Sydney.
“It would have been good to win it, to be fair,” the No.8 said after the match. “Proud of the boys, proud of the effort they put in to keep the Lions to 20-odd points.”
In a performance full of grit and defiance, the Tahs—backed by a lively home crowd—held the Lions to just two tries across 80 minutes and refused to back down from the physical challenge.
“We had some opportunities to get some [points], but just proud of the effort that they put in,” Sinclair added. “It was fun and a good way to bow out.”
The flanker revealed that the squad had taken notice of media coverage in the build-up, including suggestions the scoreline could rival their infamous 96-19 Super Rugby defeat to the Crusaders back in 2002.
“There’s been a fair bit of media coverage about ‘Lions win by 50’. I saw something that it was going to be worse than the Tahs losing 96–19 to the Crusaders. It gets you fired up.”
In a pointed message to those quick to write off Australian rugby, Sinclair called for more credit to be given when local sides front up against top international opposition.
“It’d be nice to get a little bit of positivity around Aussie rugby. I know we’ve been struggling a bit but we had a crack tonight.
“They’re just 23 blokes as well, so why can’t we put a bit of pressure on them and make a game of it. Hopefully the Test series is a cracker.”
