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| Scott Staniforth, who breached the Lions defence for the Australian's single try, can find no way past Matryn Williams this time (© Allsport) |
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19/06/01: The British and Irish Lions lost for the first time on their Australian tour today when they were beaten 28-25 by Australia A in Sydney.
The Lions, unbeaten after three prolific scoring matches, were stopped in their tracks by an enthusiastic second-string Australian team, with flyhalf Manuel Edmonds the star with seven penalties and a conversion.
The tourists' first loss, 11 days and three matches before the opening Test with the world champion Wallabies in Brisbane, came at a price with inside-centre Mike Catt suffering a recurrence of his calf muscle injury just before halftime. His tour hangs now in the balance.
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio, also making his first appearance on tour, was one of a number of Lions to have a forgettable night and was sin-binned late in the game for persistent fouling in the ruck.
The Lions, who fielded a below Test-strength team, did come back at Australia A late in the match but late tries through fullback Matt Perry and winger Jason Robinson were not enough to claw back the deficit.
After dominating the first half, which they led 15-6 thanks to the boot of Edmonds, the match turned Australia A's way 14 minutes into the second half when impressive winger Scott Staniforth scored a slashing try.
Edmonds fired out a superb pass to centre Graeme Bond who cut back inside and then hurled a pass to Staniforth who had a clear run from the quarter-line to score and lead 22-6.
The Lions kept in the match when replacement centre Mark Taylor plunged over out wide after a series of kick-and-run penalties inside the Australian 22.
Matt Dawson, who replaced flyhalf Neil Jenkins, narrowed the gap to 22-13 with a conversion just over 20 minutes left.
Edmonds, however, extended the lead kicking his sixth and seventh penalties goal to build a comfortable 28-13 lead.
The Lions threw everything into the final minutes and Perry crossed wide out after a break by Taylor, but Dawson failed to convert.
The it was Robinson’s turn to cross the line from close range after six teammates handled in a quick-fire exchange of passes.
Dawson hurried his conversion attempt to put the Lions within three points, but Australia A successfully killed off the game in the final seconds.