2001 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia

The 2001 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia was a series of matches played by the British and Irish Lions rugby union team in Australia.

2001 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia
2001 tour badge
Date8 June  – 14 July
Coach(es)Graham Henry
Tour captain(s) Martin Johnson
Test series winners Australia (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s) Jonny Wilkinson (36)

The Lions squad was captained by Martin Johnson, the first player to lead the Lions on two tours. The head coach was New Zealander Graham Henry. After winning the first of their matches against Australia, the Lions lost the remaining two matches of the test series. This was the first time that Australia defeated the Lions in a series. The tour was noted for tension between the test squad and the midweek squad as well as controversial newspaper columns written by scrum-halves Matt Dawson and Austin Healey, accusing the coaching staff of poor scheduling and training regimes and lack of team spirit.

Squad

Name Position Club Home Nation Notes
Iain BalshawFull-backBath England
Matt PerryFull-backBath England
Ben CohenWingNorthampton England
Dafydd JamesWingLlanelli Wales
Dan LugerWingSaracens England
Jason RobinsonWingSale England
Tyrone HoweWingUlster IrelandInjury replacement for Dan Luger
Mike CattCentreBath England
Will GreenwoodCentreHarlequins England
Rob HendersonCentreWasps Ireland
Brian O'DriscollCentreLeinster Ireland
Mark TaylorCentreSwansea Wales
Scott GibbsCentreSwansea WalesInjury replacement for Mike Catt
Neil JenkinsFly-halfCardiff Wales
Ronan O'GaraFly-halfMunster Ireland
Jonny WilkinsonFly-halfNewcastle England
Matt DawsonScrum-halfNorthampton England
Austin HealeyScrum-halfLeicester England
Rob HowleyScrum-halfCardiff Wales
Andy NicolScrum-halfGlasgow ScotlandInjury replacement for Rob Howley
Jason LeonardPropHarlequins England
Darren MorrisPropSwansea Wales
Tom SmithPropBrive Scotland
Phil VickeryPropGloucester England
Dai YoungPropCardiff Wales
Phil GreeningHookerWasps England
Robin McBrydeHookerLlanelli Wales
Keith WoodHookerHarlequins Ireland
Mark ReganHookerBristol England
Gordon BullochHookerGlasgow ScotlandInjury replacement for Phil Greening;
Dorian WestHookerLeicester EnglandCalled up as back-up after a number of injuries to the squad
Jeremy DavidsonLockCastres Ireland
Danny GrewcockLockSaracens England
Martin Johnson (c)LockLeicester England
Scott MurrayLockSaracens Scotland
Malcolm O'KellyLockSt Mary's College Ireland
Neil BackBack rowLeicester England
Colin CharvisBack rowSwansea Wales
Lawrence DallaglioBack rowWasps England
Richard HillBack rowSaracens England
Scott QuinnellBack rowLlanelli Wales
Simon TaylorBack rowEdinburgh Scotland
Martyn WilliamsBack rowCardiff Wales
Martin CorryBack rowLeicester EnglandInjury replacement for Simon Taylor
David WallaceBack rowMunster IrelandInjury replacement for Lawrence Dallaglio

Results

Date Home team Score Ground Result
8 June Western Australia 10–116 WACA, Perth Win
12 June Queensland Presidents XV 6–83 Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville Win
16 June Queensland Reds 8–42 Ballymore, Brisbane Win
19 June Australia A 28–25 North Power Stadium, Gosford Loss
23 June NSW Waratahs 24–41 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Win
26 June NSW Country 3–46 International Stadium, Coffs Harbour Win
30 June Australia 13–29 The Gabba, Brisbane Win
3 July ACT Brumbies 28–30 Bruce Stadium, Canberra Win
7 July Australia 35–14 Colonial Stadium Loss
14 July Australia 29–23 Stadium Australia Loss

Tests

First

Jason Robinson scored the first try of the match, putting the Lions up 5–0. Andrew Walker successfully kicked a penalty goal for Australia's first points. The Lions scored through Dafydd James, which was converted by Wilkinson. The score at half-time was 12–3.

Brian O'Driscoll scored for the Lions in the second half. Wilkinson converted the try before kicking a penalty goal to make the score 22–3. Scott Quinnell then scored for the Lions, with Wilkinson converting. Walker then scored a try for Australia. The Lions won the first Test.

30 June 2001
19:00
Australia  13–29 British and Irish Lions
Try: Grey
Walker
Pen: Walker
Report Try: Robinson
James
O'Driscoll
Quinnell
Con: Wilkinson (3)
Pen: Wilkinson
The Gabba, Brisbane
Attendance: 37,460

Second

The second test was played at Colonial Stadium in Melbourne. Wilkinson was successful with two penalty goals, giving the Lions a 6–0 lead. Burke then kicked a penalty goal for Australia. Neil Back scored the first try of the match, giving the Lions an 11–3 lead over Australia. Burke kicked another penalty goal to make the score 11–6 to the Lions.

Joe Roff scored a try for Australia in the second half, making the score 11–11. Burke kicked a penalty goal to give Australia the lead. The score became 21–11 when Roff scored his second try. Wilkinson then kicked a penalty goal to make it 21–14. Burke then scored a try for Australia, making it 29–14. Burke kicked another two penalty goals. Australia won the second Test.

7 July 2001
19:00
Australia  35–14 British and Irish Lions
Try: Roff (2)
Burke
Con: Burke
Pen: Burke (6)
Report Try: Back
Pen: Wilkinson (3)
Colonial Stadium, Melbourne
Attendance: 56,605

Third

With the Lions winning the opening test, and Australia coming back to win the second, the third game at Stadium Australia in Sydney was the decider and was refereed by New Zealander Paddy O'Brien. The scoring began in the third minute with a penalty to Australia – Burke was successful with the penalty goal, taking Australia to a 3–0 lead. Wilkinson, who was under an injury cloud leading up to the match, levelled the scores in the fifth minute with a successful penalty goal. Burke then landed another penalty goal for Australia. Four minutes later, Burke kicked another penalty goal, giving Australia a 9–3 lead. Robinson scored the first try of the match, which was converted by Wilkinson, giving the Lions a 10–9 lead. Daniel Herbert scored Australia's first try which was converted by Burke, giving Australia a 16–10 lead. Wilkinson was successful with a penalty goal that made the score 16–13.

The Lions took the lead in the second half, with Wilkinson crossing the line to score a try and then converting it, giving the Lions a 20–16 lead. Herbert scored his second try in the 49th minute, Burke converted, giving Australia a 23–20 lead. Wilkinson kicked a penalty goal, levelling scores at 23–23. Burke was successful with a subsequent penalty goal five minutes after. Burke kicked another in the 76th minute, to make the score 29–23.

14 July 2001
19:00
Australia  29–23 British and Irish Lions
Try: Herbert (2)
Con: Burke (2)
Pen: Burke (5)
Report Try: Robinson
Wilkinson
Con: Wilkinson (2)
Pen: Wilkinson (3)
Stadium Australia, Sydney
Attendance: 84,188

Television coverage

In Australia, Seven Network and Fox Sports jointly televised the British and Irish Lions matches. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, matches were shown on Sky Sports.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.