{"id":9452,"date":"2025-07-20T22:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/9452\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T22:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:49:15","slug":"british-irish-lions-defeat-wallabies-in-first-test-uk-view-reaction-video-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/9452\/","title":{"rendered":"British & Irish Lions defeat Wallabies in first Test, UK View, reaction, video, highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British media has ripped into the \u201ctoothless\u201d and \u201cun-Australian\u201d Wallabies following Saturday\u2019s loss to the Lions in the series opener in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

The British & Irish Lions took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after sealing a 27-19 victory over Australia<\/a> in front of 52,229 fans at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

The dogged Wallabies showed fight in the second half by closing the deficit after the Lions raced towards a 24-5 lead, but the tourists never looked in serious trouble.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s as disappointed as I\u2019ve been in a Wallabies team in quite a while,\u201d former Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar said on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey looked really clunky tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Former Ireland representative Ronan O\u2019Gara continued: \u201cThe greatest mystery for me was the eight points between the teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a gulf in class between the teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lions strike 1st in Wallabies series | 02:13<\/p>\n

Former World Cup winning coach Clive Woodward criticised Wallabies captain Harry Wilson for his decision to kick the ball dead to end the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalk about a losing mentality,\u201d Woodward wrote in the Daily Mail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it is the last play of the game so why not have a mentality to try and score as this could be the situation in seven days\u2019 time, only closer? Why not rehearse this scenario? Why would any player, especially the captain, want to end the game? That in so many ways reflects the current state of Australian rugby which is clearly not in a great position.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cA Lions Test series should be close and full of jeopardy. I\u2019ve got my concerns whether that is going to be the case this time … it does raise questions over Australian rugby as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Telegraph<\/a> reporter Will Greenwood wrote: \u201cMake no mistake, this was a battering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lions kept Australia at arm\u2019s length throughout the whole match … it was like a boxing match where one fighter knew they had it wrapped up after six rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia were simply destroyed on the gainline. Smashed.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘FREAKISH’ effort produces Wallabies 1st | 00:44<\/p>\n

BBC<\/a> rugby union correspondent Chris Jones declared that \u201cit did not feel like a Lions Test match\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLions games are normally on a knife edge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wallabies were undercooked but it was only in the second half that Australia looked near a top side because for large periods it was a complete and utter mismatch.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hope it ignites next weekend in Melbourne and the Wallabies improve, because the Lions will certainly feel they can be a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most damning assessment came from The Telegraph\u2019s<\/a> Oliver Brown, who called the Australians \u201ctepid, toothless\u201d and \u201ca pale imitation of the great Wallabies sides\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sound here in Brisbane was not of rage or rancour, merely one of bleak, sullen resignation,\u201d Brown penned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a 12-year wait for their players to collide with the British and Irish Lions once more, (Australian fans) had dared to expect some snarl and defiance befitting the occasion. But instead they witnessed a glaring mismatch.<\/p>\n

\u201cLarge swathes of this game their performance was, quite simply, un-Australian, bereft of ferocity or any apparent belief they could win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second Test between Australia and the British & Irish Lions gets underway at the MCG on Saturday at 8pm AEST.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The British media has ripped into the \u201ctoothless\u201d and \u201cun-Australian\u201d Wallabies following Saturday\u2019s loss to the Lions in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-9452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}