Tame Lions suffer first Tour defeat

Brumbies 14 British & Irish Lions 12
Warren Gatland's hopes of his British & Irish Lions going unbeaten for 10 games in 2013 came to crashing halt at the Canberra Stadium on Tuesday as the ACT Brumbies scored a famous victory in the Australian capital.
The Brumbies had come closest of the provincial sides to beating the 2001 Lions when an Austin Healey try after the hooter save the tourists blushes but there was to be no great escape 12 years on as a fifth-minute try from Tevita Kurandrani and three penalties from full-back Jesse Mogg were enough to beat a disjointed and ragged Lions' second string five days ahead of the opening Test against Australia.
World Cup-winning coach Jake White had promised the Brumbies would be playing the direct, territorial rugby that has made them Australia's best side in Super XV rugby this season, third in the overall standings and into the finals for the first time in almost a decade.
The South African was true to his word and that should have suited a Lions side with a strong pack and new, untested backline featuring debutants Christian Wade, Brad Barritt and Billy Twelvetrees plus Wales Test retiree Shane Williams, all of whom joined up with Warren Gatland's squad in the last four days.
And as the Lions were still finding their feet at Canberra Stadium they were caught cold by the Brumbies, a Ben Youngs box kick straight down the throat of openside Colby Faingaa, who moved the ball wide at speed, Tevita Kurandrani the recipient of a long pass out to the left wing. The Brumbies centre caused confusion in the Lions defence, sending Wade sprawling as he powered to the line for the opening try after just five minutes.
Scrum-half Ian Prior missed the conversion but the Lions did not come close to mounting a response until the 20th minute when some rare pressure in the home 22 forced Brumbies captain Peter Kimlin into collapsing a maul, only for fly-half Stuart Hogg to hit an upright with the penalty attempt.
Opportunities were rare for either side as defences on both sides got the measure of the respective attacks and Prior wasted two rare chance when missing penalties in the opening half, both from long-range.
The Lions lineout was once again an area for concern as captain Rory Best failed to get on the same page as both his pack and referee Jerome Garces, penalised twice for crooked throwing while Kimlin stole another.
The Brumbies finally took advantage a minute before half-time when the Lions left hands in the ruck and full-back Jesse Mogg took over the kicking duties, slotting the penalty to increase the lead to 8-0, the largest margin the tourists have trailed by on this tour.
Nor for long. From the restart the men in red exerted sustained pressure for the first time in the game and won a penalty after the hooter went as the Brumbies went off their feet in a ruck, Hogg making no mistake this time to end the half with the Lions trailing 8-3.
The break did the Lions lineout no favours as an hopes of an early platform disappeared with another botched effort to the delight of the home crowd, who were wamred further by the concession of a penalty five minutes into the second half, Mogg bisecting the posts to restore an eight-point lead.
The Lions were looking ragged, unable to get any go-forward ball and beginning to make errors around the park and even at scrum-time when the Brumbies got a great shove against the head, forcing No.8 Toby Faletau to scramble and in the process turn the ball over.
It got worse when prop Ryan Grant was penalised for dangerous play when wrestling opposing loosehead Ruan Smith to the ground by the neck, Mogg applying the punishment with another three points to make it 14-3.
Hogg clawed those points back with a penalty for the Lions two minutes later in the 56th but then missed another opportunity when the Lions, having introduced a new front row of Alex Corbisiero, Richard Hibbard and Dan Cole, reaped instant dividends at the scrum, only for the fly-half to again hit the uprights.
That marked the end of Hogg, called ashore on the hour with scrum-half Ben Youngs and lock Ian Evans, Owen Farrell and Conor Murray the new half-backs and Geoff Parling into the second row.
Farrell made an instant impact, narrowing the gap to five points with his first penalty of the game in the 63rd.
At 14-9 the Lions were back in the game but there was no sign of the Brumbies fading as the Queensland Reds and Waratahs had in previous tour games. If anything they were getting stronger as the finish line neared, happy to play aerial ping-pong with the boot to keep the Lions from mounting a serious assault on their line.
The tourists were equally happy to accept gift-wrapped points, though, and when the Brumbies went off their feet again at a ruck, Farrell struck once more to narrow the gap to two points at 14-12 with eight minutes remaining.
Newly invigorated by Gatland's bench-clearing, the Lions sniffed victory and from the base of the ruck, Murray sought out his Munster team-mate Simon Zebo who made a rare line-break to take his team into the opposition 22. The forwards took over, mauling and then adopting the pick and go to get to within five metres of the line, only to go off their feet and let the Brumbies off the hook. It was to prove the Lions' last chance of snatching a victory they would have scarcely deserved and the home supporters in the 21,655 crowd had every right to celebrate a famous victory.
ACT BRUMBIES: J Mogg; H Speight, T Kuridrani, A Smith (R Coleman, 75), C Rathbone (Z Holmes, 72); M Toomua (M Swanepoel, 75), I Prior; R Smith, S Siliva (J Mann-Rea, 56), S Sio; L Power (E Oosthuizen, 75), S Carter (J Smiler, 67); S Fardy, C Faingaa, P Kimlin – captain.
Replacements not used: C Cocca, M Swanepoel.
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: R Kearney; C Wade, B Barritt, B Twelvetrees, S Williams (S Zebo, 69); S Hogg (O Farrell, 60), B Youngs (C Murray, 60); R Grant (A Corbisiero, 56), R Best – captain (R Hibbard, 56), M Stevens (D Cole, 56); I Evans (G Parling, 60), R Gray; S O’Brien (D Lydiate, 56), J Tipuric, T Faletau.
REFEREE: Jerome Garces (France)