Aussies believe they have momentum

The way Paul O’Connell shook his hand after the Lions’ first-Test victory in Brisbane on Saturday night, Australia prop Ben Alexander did not imagine the Irishman had just fractured an arm.

The Wallabies had lost the series opener and the following day, as head coach Robbie Deans was counting up the casualties from an incredibly high-intensity Test match at Suncorp Stadium there was worse news to come as he learned captain James Horwill had been cited for alleged stamping on the head of Lions lock Alun Wyn Jones.

Less than 24 hours later and the momentum had swung back in Australia’s favour, Horwill cleared and free to play in this Saturday’s second Test while the talismanic O’Connell was out of the tour, his arm indeed fractured.

Alexander, though, sensed there was more at play than those two events to have shifted the pendulum back towards his team after a heartbreaking 23-21 defeat.

“The momentum we gain is how we came out of the game, feeling there are areas where we thought we can attack,” said the tighthead, who is set to win his 50th cap in Melbourne this Saturday.

“Regardless of all the other stuff, it was us coming out of the game thinking we should have won: that’s enough momentum to carry us through to the next game.

“We should have won the game, we didn’t and there are areas to fix, but that confidence I feel gives us as a group momentum. It may not be seen that way on the outside with all the peripheral stuff: (Horwill) getting cited.

“But losing O’Connell is a massive blow. He’s a player that this country has humongous respect for. Our physio said, ‘He’s just broken his arm’, before the last few scrums. But he got up and we thought, ‘Oh maybe not’.

“He got up and he packed those last few scrums with a busted arm. He didn’t wince, he shook hands after the game and you thought, ‘Okay, maybe he doesn’t have a busted arm’.

“They are going to miss that hardness the Europeans see week in and week out when he plays for Munster and Ireland. He’s one of the greatest players I’ve ever played against and he’s a big loss to the Lions.”