They were a patched-together side thrown together in a week, had one of their best players pedantically disqualified by their rivals and were written off as $21 outsiders by bookies. They had a player sin-binned, lost another two to concussions and went 20-80 on 50-50s from the ref.
But somehow, despite all the incredible odds, the First Nations and Pasifika Invitational came within a whisker of beating the British and Irish Lions at Marvel Stadium in a 24-19 win for the visitors.
Jack Debreczeni of the First Nations & Pasifika in action.Credit: Getty Images
In a game most pundits thought would be a cricket score win to the Lions - and an ugly one at that - the inspiring FNP side pushed the might of Britain and Ireland to the edge of a history-making upset.
After going down 14-0 while down a man in the bin in the opening 15 minutes, the FNP side rallied to make it 14-all at halftime. The Lions pushed away again with two more tries in the second half, but the hosts refused to quit and scored in the last ten minutes to get within five points.
But, despite some late chances to score and win, that’s where the score stayed. The Lions managed to keep their chances of going undefeated alive, but only by the skin of their teeth.
It was a mighty, mighty effort by the Kurtley Beale-led, Toutai Kefu-coached side.
Motivated by the chance to represent their respective cultures, and fired up after the Lions denied Pete Samu the ability to play because he didn’t play Super Rugby, the FNP side played with edge and physicality that rattled their rivals.
Players like Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Taniela Tupou and Brandon Paenga-Amosa showed they should still into Joe Schmidt’s immediate plans, and Charlie Gamble and Triston Reilly should be on his radar too. Both were strong.
In front of a 30,420 crowd, the Lions only just crept home in what was their tightest win on tour so far.
“Unbelievably proud,” Kefu said post-game. “We talked before the game, all week actually, about a performance that you could be proud of when you walked away and look back. We never actually talked about the result.
“It was just a performance that we were proud of. That’s what we talked about and I thought they delivered on that tonight.”
Lions coach Andy Farrell said the FNP side had applied enough pressure to push the visitors off their gameplan, and they were relieved to get the win.
“I suppose first and foremost it is 100 per cent congratulations for what was a great performance for First Nations & Pasifika side, it showed exactly what it meant to them,” Farrell said.
Rob Leota (blonde hair) of the First Nations & Pasifika celebrates after scoring a try.Credit: Getty Images
“They obviously talked a lot about how much they were enjoying their time together and they showed they were a really tough nut to crack especially when we went 14 points up. For them to stay in the fight like they did and put it to us for large parts of the game, they deserve a huge pat on the back.”
The scores were level at 14-all at halftime after an incredible first half that saw the FNP side rally from 14-0 down in the opening minutes.
Winger Triston Reilly was given yellow carded for a seemingly reasonable cover tackle on Darcy Graham, and the Lions took advantage of the extra man.
The first try to Jamie Osborne came in the 7th minute when Owen Farrell chipped in behind the line from a scrum, and with no Andy Muirhead up in the line making the numbers.
The second try went to Graham three minutes later, when a long ball to the gap on the wing was exploited.
But just as it looked like it would be the walkover many expected, the hosts didn’t go away. Reilly came back on and almost instantly made good, intercepting a pass and racing away to score.
It lifted the FNP side, who began throwing massive shots and pressuring the Lions. The visitors got more and more rattled, and when Taniela Tupou and the FNP scrum began to get dominance, penalties and field position led to another try, this time to flanker Seru Uru via a short charge at the line.
The FNP were up and about, and almost scored a third on the stroke of halftime when Jack Debreczeni took an intercept, but didn’t have the legs to make it to the line.
The second half saw the FNP side concede territory with a poor Kalani Thomas pass in attack allowed the Lions to pressure the line, and they eventually scored with a second try to Osborne, after getting outside the FNP rush defence. That made it 19-14.
The Lions almost scored again in the 50th minute from a loose ball that was grubbered ahead, but the TMO found a knock-on in the lead up.
The FNP side kept fighting but they eventually conceded again in the 63rd minute after a shocking kick by Andy Muirhead cannoned into his own player, and led to the Lions building pressure and eventually finding an extra man in Duhan van de Merwe on the left wing.
Rob Leota scored in the 70th minute to bring the FNP side to within a converted try of an upset. But the Lions had just enough to get home.
“It’s been a real special week for everyone involved. You know, to be able to represent your family name, your culture, it’s a really special experience,” Beale said.
“And to be able to kind of come together in a short amount of time and share stories about where you come from.
“We all kind of found that we all kind of come from similar backgrounds and I think that was really a powerful moment and allowed us to connect and I think that kind of showed in the performance tonight. We just kind of threw everything at it.”
