It was difficult not to have a degree of sympathy for the Australians on Saturday night.

Hard to believe I’m here more than a week already with return visits to Sydney and Canberra already fading into the background. Sydney has grown on me over the years and is now one of my favourite cities in the world.

WARREN GATLAND knew in advance of yesterday’s meeting with the ACT Brumbies that he was dicing with death with a back line he was forced to cobble together over the last few days.

More than a few questions asked by the Waratahs on Saturday here in Sydney, the majority answered emphatically by the tourists — but at what cost?

Finally the ARU have shown a bit of leadership and common sense.

At last a game to savour, at least until the rain made handling conditions very difficult in the second half at the Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

After two false dawns in terms of competitive opposition, the Lions tourists should finally get a taste of what Australian rugby has to offer at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane this morning.

This morning’s game against the Western Force in Perth will offer the British and Irish Lions management a far greater barometer of what to expect over the next few weeks than the testing but ultimately one-sided game against the Barbarians in Hong Kong last Saturday.

“Hopefully going forward, if we’re going to take the Lions seriously, we need to make sure there is enough preparation to make a fist of it”.

The perfect end to an accomplished reign.