5 Things You Missed - Lions v Australia 1st Test

It was an all-Lions onslaught for the first 10 minutes out in Australia, with the men in red providing an attacking clinic under the lights of the Suncorp Stadium. It took less than one minute of play before Finn Russell added the first points on the board, after Tadhg Beirne's turnover provided the foundations for an early crack at the posts and a three-nil lead.

Russell was then at the centre of the first Lions try of the Test series, with a flash of brilliance to set-up his Scottish teammate. After a drive to the line from James Lowe and Ellis Genge, Russell floated a delightful pass to Sione Tuipulotu to canter free for the try.

The Lions thought they had their second try, yet this time a Scotsman's name would be wiped from the score-board. Huw Jones capitalised upon Lowe's breakaway, yet the centre was adjudged to be held in the tackle before grounding down the ball. The Wallabies would retaliate at the 28th minute, with a try from Max Jorgensen, after the Australian wing won the mid-air battle against Hugo Keenan and skipped free from Russell.

However, the Lions would have the final say of the first half, as back row Tom Curry muscled his way over from close range. After the Wallabies kept out Dan Sheehan and Ellis Genge from a 5m tap-and-go, they could not stop the Sale man from crossing the whitewash at 36 minutes.

The Lions flew out of the gate for the second half, with Tom Curry providing the assist to Dan Sheehan for a try in the corner just three minutes after the interval. Once again, a try was dissallowed by referee Ben O'Keefe, keeping his consitency in ruling out a Wallabies score. Joseph Sua'ali'i crashed into contact and over the try-line, but the solid defensive effort from Bundee Aki and Ben Earl denied the try.

The Wallabies rallied back with two tries from close range, either side of a Marcus Smith penalty for the Lions. Carlo Tizzano muscled his way over for a Wallabies score at the 68th minute, before Smith's sharpshooting kept the score-board out of sight of the men in gold. A nice break from Harry Potter laid the foundations for Tate McDermott to snipe for a late try of his own, yet this would only be a consolation score for the Wallabies

TRIES: 3 (Tuipulotu 9', Curry 36', Sheenan 43')

CONVERSIONS: 2 (Russell 9', Curry 36',)

PENALTIES: 3 (Russell 1', 43', M. Smith 74')

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

TRIES: 1 (Jorgensen 29', Tizzano 68', McDermott 78')

CONVERSIONS: 2 (Donaldson 68', 78')

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

The beauty of live TV was showcased ahead of the opening Test of the British & Irish Lions tour, with Ireland legend Ronan O'Gara in the hot-seat. The pre-match analysis cut across to the pitch-side team of pundits that was headed up by broadcaster Alex Payne, with O'Gara distracted by watching the Lions prepare for the first Test.

Payne, alongside former Lions head coach Warren Gatland and former Lions and Scotland player John Barclay, looked along their pitch side panel to try and grab the attention of O'Gara. It took a bit of doing as the former Munster man was captivated by the occassion pitchside at the Suncorp Stadium, with the gears in his analytical rugby brain turning as he focussed upon his Lions fly half successor Finn Russell's pre-match preparations.

It took Alex Payne to call to O'Gara, "Ronan, we're on TV", before the quartet were all looking down the lenses of the Sky SPorts cameras, to provide the pre-match build ahead of a momentous occasion in Australia.

In the heart of the Lions and Australia players that were battling for on-field supremacy, there was a noteable moment for the referee out in Brisbane.

Ben O'Keefe was part of the match officials for the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa back in 2021, yet the New Zealand referee had to run the whistle behind the closed doors of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was significant moment for the man calling the action, as he was finally able to referee a high-stakes Lions Test match infront of a capacity crowd.

O'Keefe set the tone with a solid addressing of both the Lions and Wallabies players, as Jeremy Williams and Joe McCarthy started off a multi-man scuffle. "You'd had your freebie", O'Keefe said, with the match official happy to let the sense of occassion get tot he players.

There was a lucky escape for the British & irish Lions, with referee Ben O'Keefe admittedly rather lenient to not brandish a card. Pehaps Curry had the 2024 Autumn Nations Series on his mind, as he nailed Max Jorgensen mid-air with a burtal looking hit.

It was Jorgensen who scored in the final seconds of that match against England, with the Wallabies wing also scoring for Australia in this match against the Lions. Curry was lucky to escape the incident with only a penalty awarded to the Wallabies, as he could well have been shown a yellow card for the miss-timed hit.

Curry had an excellent match in Brisbane, as the heartbeat of the Lions defence. The Sale man proved the ciritics just how good he is, after being picked over the likes of Jac Morgan, Josh van der Flier and Henry Pollock.

Question marks were raised around the status of Lions lock Joe McCarthy, as the Ireland and Leinster man was withdrawn from the pitch just three minutes after the re-start of the second half.

McCarthy was shown to be walking rather gingerly off the pitch, with a slight limp to his stride as he departed Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. Ollie Chessum was promptly introduced in his absence, with the Leicester TIgers man re-forming his England engine room partnership with Maro Itoje.

Lions head coach Andy Farrell did not address the injured player after the match, with the post Test discussion focussing upon his pride for his team's opening triumph.

The Lions thought they had their second try in the bag, as Huw Jones trundled through contact to then cross the whitewash. The score came after a stunning first score that saw Finn Russell and Sione Tuipulotu combine in the Lions back-line, yet this time a Scotsman's name would be wiped from the score-board.

Huw Jones capitalised upon Lowe's breakaway along the left wing, yet the Scottish centre was adjudged to be held in the tackle before grounding down the ball. It was a fine defensive recovery from Max Jorgensen, who rushed back to make the decisive tackle after being sent to the deck by Lowe's powerful fend. Referee Ben O'Keefe reviewed the try, and decided to overturn his on-field decision thanks to the subsequent review from the TMO.

O'Keefe would make a similar call in the second half, as he went to the TMO to decide upon the ground of Joseph Sua'ali'i's try. The New Zealand match official even agkowledged the similarity of the scores as he went to use his TMO, with the on-field decison once again overturned. The dual-code footballer had his try scrubbed off, thanks to the impressive defensive efforts of Ben Earl and Bundee Aki to deny the Waratahs man his try in the opening Test of the series.