Waratahs offer Joe Schmidt a sweet vision of surprise victory in Lions series

Adventurous attack. Bone-rattling defence. Mistakes punished and opportunities seized. Get in the enemy’s faces and bring the crowd into the contest from the get-go. A ragtag NSW Waratahs gave Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies a bold blueprint for how to dismantle the British & Irish Lions in the first Test on 19 July.

Ultimately, the Waratahs went down 21-10 as the Lions shrugged off a 14-10 arm wrestle after 54 minutes to squeak one more try and remain undefeated down under. But for Australia’s third-best province, a team rated worst in Super Rugby for tackling and maul metres, to rattle and dominate the Lions as much as they did was a shock.

After rattling up 50-plus points parties against the Western Force and Queensland Reds, the Lions were expected to smash a young side stripped of eight Wallabies for Sunday’s Test against Fiji in Newcastle. Some were predicting a score worse than the 96-19 Super Rugby humiliation by the Crusaders in 2002.

Instead, before a booming crowd of 40,568 – the first Test at this stadium was the Wallabies’ 30-12 trouncing of the 1989 Lions – the men in sky blue went toe-to-toe for almost an hour and exposed key frailties.

Time and again, the Waratahs rushed the Lions attacking lines and forced mistakes. Led by the hard-hitting flanker Charlie Gamble, NSW inflicted plenty of body shots that stopped the Lions dead in their tracks and put every player from one to 15 under pressure. The Lions lost the collisions, faded in their physicality and imploded into chaos ball.

For all their courage and enterprise, NSW squandered several chances to inflict more damage on the scoreboard. Had Andrew Kellaway backed his pace early, Taniela Tupou held on to his intercept and an obstruction not scrubbed their first try, it could have been the greatest upset in the Waratahs’ 143-year history.

Darby Lancaster celebrates after Ethan Dobbins scores NSW’s second try against the Lions. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/PA

Instead, it was one of the bravest, a glorious defeat to rank with their 18-14 victory in 1959, the six-all draw in 1966 and the 14-12 loss in 1971. Yet the bruising nature of this game most closely resembled the blood and thunder of 2001 when five yellow cards were shown and NSW finished the game with 12 players and the Lions 13.

That night, the Waratahs forward Tom Bowman registered the first yellow inside three seconds, barrelling into the Lions captain, Martin Johnson, at the kick-off. Then Duncan McRae saw red for rabbit-punching Ronan O’Gara. NSW lost the fight and the match, going down swinging, 41-24.

On Saturday, they lost the battle but showed their comrades in the national side how to win in Brisbane in a fortnight. After the loss to Argentina and three provincial hit-outs in Australia, the Lions are suddenly riding the razor’s edge between fitness and fatigue, still searching for connections and cohesion.

When you draw on players from four nations, every Lions side is Test strength. But the side Andy Farrell selects for the final midweek game against the ACT Brumbies in Canberra on Wednesday is expected to be the closest to the XV that runs on to Suncorp for the first Test. Rust has been shucked, caution thrown to the wind. Now it’s showtime.

Schmidt will have liked what he saw from Kellaway and Tupou, two Wallabies not picked for the Test and sent to Sydney to build confidence and gather intel. Kellaway marshalled a callow backline into a rush defence that befuddled the tourists. Tupou, despite giving up scrum penalties, showed sublime sleight of hand at the base of the ruck to set up Darby Lancaster’s try in the corner.

The Waratahs defence wraps up Blair Kinghorn. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

There is depth. Winger Max Jorgensen has been picked on Sunday on the strength of his showing against England in November, but if he proves underdone Dylan Pietsch was outstanding for the Force in the opening game of the tour. Similarly, the power and guile of the Reds centre Hunter Paisami’ proved he can counter the Lions’ monster midfield.

For now, Schmidt has picked the best side he can. And with big boppers Rob Valetini and Will Skelton recovering well from calf tweaks that ruled them out of the Fiji Test, he has firepower up front and flyers out back. If the Wallabies can show the guts and grit of the Waratahs and turn it up a notch, they can tame the Lions – and hurt them.