Ben James was inside the Suncorp Stadium for a big Lions occasion that ended with a peculiar feeling
A lone Lions fan tries to get a chorus of Fields of Athenry going as the hooter at Suncorp Stadium rings out.
No one is really interested, as Wallabies fans shuffle towards the exit. The Lions bench stand around, with little in the way of celebration.
The first Test has just been won, but – eight years since the last Lions Test with fans ended in anticlimactic fashion – there was a feeling of flatness in Brisbane as the final whistle sounded. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for an exclusive tour diary from Japan and Australia.
Victory, it seemed, was long assured. Instead, the Wallabies found some semblance of life at the end – leading to a crowd that didn’t quite know what to make of it all.
Four years ago, Cape Town was an eerie host city. Empty without the swathes of red descending on it.
Now, they were back after an eight-year wait. At a bus-stop on Roma St, five minutes from the stadium, one woman commented on the sea of red marching past.
“Every time I see one, I’ll wish them good luck,” she told another passenger-in-waiting. “They must have travelled far.”
God only knows if she has a voice left. On Caxton Street, the famous piece of road adorned with bars and pubs that winds down to Suncorp, you couldn’t move for Lions supporters.
Green and gold was drowning in red. It was a similar story on the concourses. Behind the one set of posts, it was quite simply red.
Some were wearing Jac Morgan masks, with one woman behind the paper face of the Wales captain pretending to cry as the camera found her in the stands.
Whether behind Morgan masks or not, in the context of the Lions, Wales was stepping into the unknown here in Brisbane. After more than a century, there was no Welshman in the Test team.
On the sidelines, the golden generation of Welsh pundits was in ready supply. Dan Biggar and Ken Owens flitted from conversation to conversation pre-match, with their former coach Warren Gatland also around.
The trio converge at one point for a brief conversation. Further afield around the ground, the likes of Shane Williams and Jamie Roberts are to be found.
Even arriving in the press box, I’m greeted by a member of the Australian press pack with the line: “Here’s the Welshman”.
Out in the lifts down to the other level of press box, a staff member can’t hide the excitement that has been building for 12 years. “People are arriving, it’s happening,” he shouts – albeit with a swear word in there that he immediately apologises for.
In another lift, a woman with some accreditation around her neck explains that she’s “lost a Lion”. There’s no time for a follow-up question.
Off the pitch, there’s snapchat filters on the big screen, a reference to the CEO caught red-handed at a Coldplay gig that doesn’t land and a male voice choir in the crowd. Just your standard pre-match fare.
One man decked out in a Welsh flag and presumably something else underneath, simply known as Roger, is asked when he arrived in Australia.
After the biggest “um” recorded to man, he comes up with an answer. “I don’t know,” he says. “Was it last night?”
On the pitch, there’s a Welshman in the mix. Jac Morgan does his bit in the warm-up, holding tackle bags, offering advice, just helping out. Soon though, his work is done – with one final word of encouragement to the man chosen to wear the seven jersey, Tom Curry.
As he goes to cool down with team-mates, the Wales back-row is called back from the pitch as the pre-match light show is about to start.
The atmosphere builds as the stadium announcer runs through the teams. Local boy Tom Lynagh gets a huge roar, as does opposite number Finn Russell.
Wallabies right wing Max Jorgensen is introduced as ‘rugby royalty’, as the noise rises in the ground. The culmination of eight years of waiting for the proper Lions Test experience.
And then, as everyone expected deep down, one-way traffic for 40 minutes. Far from clinical dominance, but dominance nonetheless from the tourists.
Striding around, arms swinging lackadaisically, Russell is pulling the strings. Prop Tadhg Furlong gives the fly-half the bullet with a hastily-flung pass which Russell turns into a score with a floated assist to Sione Tuipulotu.
The Irish prop isn’t one for shows of emotion, turning around immediately to walk back to halfway – his face and body language a blank canvas.
It was a similar scene with the Lions’ second score, ultimately chalked off by the TMO. Business as usual for the side expected to win.
Then, ‘rugby royalty’ struck. From nothing, Jorgensen crossed after pinching a box-kick from Hugo Keenan. Walking back, Keenan and James Lowe looked united in disbelief.
An Australian fan hit the press box with his hand in celebration. From nothing, the Wallabies had found something. The Lions, like Georgian assistant referee Nika Amashukeli as he caught a stray ball to the face, had been blindsided somewhat.
It was only temporarily, though. By half-time, the Lions were leading by 12 points.
Unhappy with how the half had ended, after Russell kept a penalty infield and then walked off the field of play nonchalantly, the whole Australia team marched back onto the pitch – ready for the lineout after the hooter had gone.
15 Wallabies on the pitch, with the Lions halfway back to the sheds. At that point, you sensed it was their best opportunity.
Not long after the restart, another Lions score. The slightest hint of emotion from Furlong, with a small hand gesture to Sione Tuipulotu.
“Come on Wallabies fans, let’s hear you,” called the stadium announcer, almost in desperation. He kept going as the match went on, trying his hardest to inject some life into the home support.
In the end, two tries in the final 13 minutes just about did that. Not enough for a comeback, but another hit of hope at least. Two sides out on the pitch in the immediate aftermath, neither exactly jubilant in those initial moments.
Soon, the result washes over the Lions. Morgan is all smiles as Jamie George gives him a hug.
As they walk around the pitch, he works overtime – waving to the various pockets of travelling Welsh fans that he sees. It’s almost a full-time job.
As Huw Jones takes his daughter for a stroll on the far side of the pitch, Morgan embraces Welsh team doctor Geoff Davies, before returning to offering thumbs up to Welsh fans in the crowd.
Henry Pollock, complete with BIL, strides over – granting Morgan and Jamie Osborne a quick peck for the cuddly lion.
In the Lions’ eyes, there’s three parts to this job. After all the waiting, part one is complete.
