LONG READ ‘As things stand, the Lions are a flawed entity. They need to polish up their act’

The show has been round the provinces and is set for its glitzy under-the-Brisbane-lights premiere next week, but after a final audition in Canberra the reviewers are not yet convinced that it will be all right on the night.

“Bang Average **” read one review.  “Not a patch on State of Origin **” said another less-than-impressed local.  There was some support, however, for theatrical director, Andy Farrell. “A few slips but shows signs of coming together ***”, while the most gushing suggests that the production will be a hit. “Finn Russell, Garry Ringrose, Ollie Chessum, Dan Sheehan – what’s not to like? ****”

You pays your money – and many thousands of red-clad supporters have done just that – and you take your pick. But even the most upbeat and bullish of them will have fingers crossed after this latest outing. At least the Lions don’t have to concern themselves with flogging tickets to make sure that the trip is a commercial success as all seats were pretty much accounted for long before the tourists arrived in Australia.

And yet there is a worrying, slightly hollow feeling in the pit of many stomachs after yet another curate’s egg of a performance – good in parts, scratchy and underwhelming in others – that these Lions are not yet on top of their game.

There was plenty of critical slack cut in the early days, but this was pretty much Farrell’s gun XV on show, his match-day 23 come to that, with only one or two head-scratchers to sort out before the first Test – notably at openside flanker and full-back.

Once again, the Lions had the better of play but still never looked convincing or dominant or assured, which probably reflects their own internal state of mind.

Whoever gets the nod there, though, will not really bring an X-factor point of difference, much as the Lions are in need of that. They certainly need someone – Jac Morgan, Josh van der Flier or Tom Curry (who had another below-par display by his own admittedly high standards) – to solve their issues at the breakdown. If they don’t get their act together there, then it is Goodnight Irene as far as their chances in the series go. The Brumbies, who were missing a wedge of Test players, make merry mischief in the loose, much as the Waratahs’ Charlie Gamble did last week.

Once again, the Lions had the better of play but still never looked convincing or dominant or assured, and that probably reflects their own internal state of mind. They know that they ought to be better, but that superiority is only present out there on the field of play in fits and starts.

There were some gorgeous tries here when it all clicked, with Finn the Maestro in charge of the mood music – God forbid that he should get injured as Wallaby fly-half, Noah Lolesio, has, for the Lions will be doomed if that sad eventuality were to come to pass – but there were also periods when balls were dropped, sequences splintered or tries were fluffed through not getting the ball down over the line properly.

James Lowe has many fine attributes, as he showed with his work-rate and well-shaped, well-executed try, but if he fluffs his lines in a Test match as he did when deemed not to have scored midway through the first half, then it could easily cost the Lions victory.

Harsh? Perhaps, as the refereeing was of a suitably ho-hum standard as well, but those are invariably the margins. A Jonny Wilkinson intercept pass in Melbourne in 2001, a Ronan O’Gara skewed clearance eight years later in Pretoria. Simple actions, big consequences. As things stand, the Lions are a flawed entity. They need to polish up their act, remove the blemishes, stop fiddling and fretting and start being measured and authoritative. There has yet to be a full-bore rousing display, a performance that gets the juices flowing, that stirs the soul and gets the punters on their feet.

That is the core of the problem, this feeling of unsettledness that it ought to have come together by now, this alliance of the best-of-the-best in the home unions, but it hasn’t.

There is so much goodwill for the Lions, and that unfettered Sea of Red backing will flood Brisbane next week, that much will be forgiven as long as there is a sense of blazing commitment to the cause allied to blue riband skill levels under pressure. There have been glimpses of all that, here, too, in the elan that lay behind Ringrose’s try for example, but nothing that has really been sustained from first whistle to last. That is the core of the problem, this feeling of unsettledness that it ought to have come together by now, this alliance of the best-of-the-best in the home unions, but it hasn’t.

So much for the downbeat reviews. It is possible to see the glass half-full as the Lions pop into Adelaide for the final dress rehearsal, albeit without their star turns, and focus on the benefit that is sure to accrue from having a clear week to prepare in Brisbane. No more early starts, no more bags to pack and unpack, no more trying to rest weary bodies by cramming into an airplane seat for a couple of hours. And, in the Wallabies, there is a beatable opponent. You fancy that if it were South Africa in opposition, the odds would be markedly against them.

But it is Joe Schmidt’s unproven Wallabies in the stocks, ready to be praised or pelted as the audience sees fit. The former Ireland head coach will have plenty of tactical scribbles in his notebook, primarily at the breakdown, at the re-starts and under the high ball. The Wallabies may have tumbled down the rankings but in each of those three areas, they may well have the knuckle on the Lions.

What the Lions can offer, though, is an emerging tight scrummage that will bring stability at worst and a decisive edge at best, decisively so if Tadhg Furlong’s fitness continues to grow to enable him to pack down in a front row with an in-form Ellis Genge and the all-consuming talent that is Dan Sheehan. Maro Itoje and Joe McCarthy may not have soared to great heights against the Brumbies but their levels were good enough, while try-scoring Chessum gave just the sort of engaged performance needed in that No.6 slot. Jack Conan at No.8 but who alongside? If Morgan fires on Saturday against the combined Aussie/Kiwi XV, snaffles ball and effects turnovers, then the shirt should be his.

Until that curtain goes up, all sorts of possibilities are in play. That is the time to give the statement performance. We can but hope.

Kinghorn’s knee injury has muddied the waters at the rear. Your heart bleeds for him, as it does for Marcus Smith, who has been messed about by coaches seeing him as a hybrid player. Smith is not a full-back. Ringrose rose to the occasion and his familiarity with Bundee Aki should see the Ireland centre pairing prevail.

It has been a hectic 10-day period with fixtures aplenty and constant movement. It is the nature of the business, for fan and pundit alike, to highlight failings and to mull over permutations. Yet the real business is yet to come.

All the reservations and misgivings will float into the ether once the series kicks off at the Suncorp. Until that curtain goes up, all sorts of possibilities are in play. That is the time to give the statement performance. We can but hope.