If the British and Irish Lions needed to flush any complacency out of their system after Saturday's first Test win against the Wallabies, this will have done it.
Mid-week games, particularly between Test matches, can often come with a health warning, but this was as sluggish and clunky as Andy Farrell’s side have looked on tour, holding off a scratch side 24-19 in front of a subdued 30,420 at Marvel Stadium.
If this was one final opportunity to put a hand up for Test selection, there were a handful who did. The problem for Andy Farrell is that most of those were making a case for a place in the Wallabies squad.
Taniela Tupou and Darcy Swain, in particular, caused the Lions tremendous discomfort in the opening half, as the First Nations and Pasifika XV survived a dreadful start to draw level 14-14 by half time, and rallied late on to give themselves a shot at winning the game.
Blair Kinghorn returned from injury, although he had some moments to forget, throwing two intercept passes in the first half, the first of which was returned by Triston Reilly for a try, and the second of which was lucky not to find the same fate.
Likewise, Garry Ringrose (above) returned from concussion and was one of the better performers in red, although it wouldn't have been Farrell’s plan for him to play 63 minutes, coming on early for the injured Darcy Graham.
Graham had scored the second Lions try, either side of a brace for Leinster's Jamie Osborne, who looked assured on his Lions debut, particularly in the early trappings of the game alongside Owen Farrell in the centre.
Osborne’s second try made it 19-14, and it looked like the Lions would pull away when Duhan van der Merwe crossed for his fifth on tour just after the hour, but a spirited First Nations and Pasifika side fought back with a Rob Leota try on 70 minutes, before ultimately coming up short of a major upset.
It was a fast and loose game from the start and the Lions should have scored inside two minutes when Farrell, Smith and Kinghorn combined well to get the ball wide to Graham, but the winger strayed into touch before passing back inside to Duhan van der Merwe.
A minute later Graham was at the centre of things again. Smith had started well, and he broke the line before offloading to Osborne and, after they moved the ball wide, Graham was met with a crunching tackle by the home winger Reilly (below), one which landed on the head of the Lion, earning a yellow card and sparking the first scuffle of the game.
The tourists made the First Nations and Pasifika pay for that lack of discipline, and three minutes later Osborne marked a dream start in a Lions shirt, latching on to Farrell’s delicate chip in behind the defence to score, as Smith converted to make it 7-0.
It looked like they were in for an easy night, with gaps all over the home defence. Josh van der Flier burst straight through a wide-open space almost straight from the restart, and while the First Nations did scramble back to make the tackle, they coughed up a penalty from which the Lions extended their lead.
It was a beautiful set-piece strike; Farrell and scrum-half Ben White swapped passes, before Smith flung a wide pass out to Graham’s wing and, with the defence sucked in, he had the gas to get to the corner, from where Smith made it 14-0.
Both tries came while Reilly was in the bin, but when he returned from that yellow card, the hosts looked a different team, and on 22 minutes he knocked over the first domino of a disastrous five minutes for the Lions.
It was error compounded by error. Kinghorn threw a careless pass inside his own 22 which Reilly pounced on to run in under the posts, as Beale’s conversion made it 14-7.
It was to get worse; From the restart, Smith sent his kick out on the full, before a scrum penalty against the Lions saw them pinned back further again, while Irishman James Ryan then infringed with an early tackle.
To make matters worse, the Ireland international didn't retreat the required 10 metres, and when Uru burrowed over to score his side’s second try, Ryan was promptly shown the yellow card.
It didn’t help that Graham’s ankle injury caused a shift in the Lions’ backline, with Ringrose in the centre and Osborne now out on the wing, but composure was sorely lacking as Andy Farrell’s side grew desperate.
Pollock got tangled up in a tussle with Uru, with the Queensland Reds flanker getting the better of him moments later, winning a jackal penalty.
The Lions needed half-time to come as soon as possible, and the first 40 minutes nearly ended with another intercept try, Kinghorn again picked off by replacement Jack Debreczeni, who would have made it to the line had he not lost his footing, much to the relief of the Lions.
Kinghorn, to his credit, started the second half brightly, and it was his quick reactions and wide pass to Osborne (below) which put the Irish international in for his second try, almost a carbon copy of Graham’s score in the opening half.
On 50 minutes it looked like Van der Flier was in for the fourth try of the night when he crashed over off an inside pass from Smith, but on review the try was chalked off as Ringrose had knocked the ball on, having chased down White’s hacked kick up the pitch.
A run-in for Van der Merwe in the left corner looked to have put the game to bed with a quarter of an hour to play, but Fin Smith’s second missed conversion left just 10 points between the sides.
When the First Nations’ defence pinned Ringrose into touch inside his own 22, it set the hosts up for a big attacking opportunity, finished by Leota to set up a nervy finale at 24-19.
But the Lions survived to maintain their unbeaten run on Australian soil, albeit in a game they will want to forget quickly.
Scorers:
First Nations and Pasifika: Tries: Triston Reilly, Seru Uru, Rob Leota
Cons: Kurtley Beale (2)
British and Irish Lions: Tries: Jamie Osborne (2), Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe
Cons: Fin Smith (2)
First Nations and Pasifika XV: Andy Muirhead; Filipo Daugunu, Lalakai Foketi, David Feliuai, Triston Reilly; Kurtley Beale, Kalani Thomas; Lington Ieli, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Taniela Tupou; Darcy Swain, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto; Seru Uru, Charlie Gamble, Tuaina Taii Tualima.
Replacements: Richie Asiata (for Paenga-Amosa, 45), Marley Pearce (for Ieli, 54), Mesake Doge (for Tupou, 44), Mesake Vocevoce (for Taii Tualima, 67), Rob Leota (for Uru, 51), Harrison Goddard (for Thomas, 51), Jack Debreczeni (for Daufunu, 10), Jarrah McLeod (for Feliuai, 40).
British and Irish Lions: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Jamie Osborne, Owen Farrell, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, Jamie George, Finlay Bealham; James Ryan, Scott Cummings; Jac Morgan, Josh van der Flier, Henry Pollock.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman (for George, 73), Rory Sutherland (for Schoeman, 73), Thomas Clarkson (for Bealham, 50), Gregor Brown (for Ryan, 54), Ben Earl (for Morgan, 50), Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith (for Fin Smith, 66 [for Marcus Smith, 72, HIA]), Garry Ringrose (for Graham, 17)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
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