Lions’ pride bruised as reality bites

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.

Yet the foundation for this famous victory for the Brumbies can be traced directly to the complete systems failure of the Lions set-piece in the opening half.

What this game proved without question was that had the Australians the foresight and bravery to allow more of their squad partake in the earlier provincial games, the Lions unbeaten run could well have ended far sooner than this gripping contest at the Canberra Stadium.