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Fortress Brisbane hosts war in Lions Test

THE most eagerly awaited rugby Test on Australian soil since the 2003 World Cup final features the Fortress Factor against the Brisbane factor.

THE fortress factor will collide head-on with the Brisbane factor when the most eagerly awaited rugby Test on Australian soil since the 2003 World Cup final gets underway at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

In the long, slow build-up to the first Test against the British and Irish Lions, much has been made of the Wallabies' formidable record at Suncorp Stadium over the past 16 years. During that time they have played 19 Tests there for only two defeats, both to the All Blacks and both by the same slender margin of four points.

During the course of that extraordinary run, they have put two future World Cup winning sides to the sword - Clive Woodward's England, obliterated 76-0 in 1998, and Jake White's 2006 Springboks, blitzed 49-0. Small wonder the Wallabies come over all misty-eyed when speaking of their love for their "fortress".

But wait. It was at this same venue that the Lions devoured Australia 31-0 back in 1966. Of course, it was known then more humbly as Lang Park.

Brisbane has been a graveyard for the Wallabies whenever they have played the Lions there. It's a history that traces back all the way to 1899 and in that time the Lions have never lost to Australia in the Queensland capital, winning all seven Tests played there.

This might all seem a little backwards-looking but at least this history, good and bad for both teams depending on how it is read, is what Dick Cheney would describe as a "known known". Just about everything else about this fascinating showdown tonight falls into the "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns".

It's impossible, for instance, to debate the form of these two sides because there isn't any. Neither XV has ever played before. The Lions might have had the benefit of six warm-up matches to build for this Test but in none of them did they field tonight's Test XV. The closest they came was against the Waratahs, when 11 of tonight's XV started and while that undoubtedly was the Lions' best performance on tour, it was against a half-strength NSW.

As for this never-before-seen Wallabies XV, they've pursued what former England hooker Brian Moore so quaintly described in his London Daily Telegraph column as "an isolationist policy of which Charles Lindbergh would have been proud". But of course, as Lindbergh, indeed all Americans, ultimately discovered, there comes a day when the war comes to you.

Today is that day for the Australians, who have sat on the sidelines for the past three weeks, doing their best to avoid injury. The tactic worked perfectly, at least up until Thursday when Wycliff Palu had his head gashed during an opposed training session that hinted of a little too much battle readiness, but the real shooting war starts tonight and the Wallabies had better be prepared for a ferocious onslaught.

There is too much talent arrayed on both sides for this Test to safely be distilled down to one or two key players but, even so, much will be riding on how effectively the Lions are able to pressure Wallabies halfback Will Genia and the Australians are able to contain the strongman of the Lions pack, veteran Irish lock Paul O'Connell.

Western Force coach Michael Foley pleaded, "Oh please don't say that!" when it was put to him that the stifling tactics he devised to shut down Genia in the Reds match in Perth last month had surely provided Lions coach Warren Gatland with a blueprint for restricting the Wallabies general.

Yet indications are that's precisely what has happened. Genia has been studying the Lions intently on their tour and so far hasn't been able to spy too many chinks in their defence that he might be able to exploit.

"There hasn't been too much room around the ruck area," Genia noted yesterday. "They've been really strong around the 1-2-3 defensive zone. If that's the case, then there has to be space somewhere else so it's a matter of identifying the right times and the right opportunities when they present themselves.

"So if it's on to run, it's on to run but because it has been so tight around that area it's on early to shift to (O'Connor) or (Lealiifano) or give it early to the forwards to do the hard work."

O'Connell might no longer be the Lions captain, but he is very much at the core of a flinty, confrontational pack and Wallabies skipper James Horwill acknowledged how much the Australians respect him. "He's a big part of their team, a guy they would turn to," Horwill said. "We're certainly very wary of his capabilities."

O'Connell's long-term partner in Irish mischief, centre Brian O'Driscoll, has been playing like a colt but he might just be feeling his 34 years when he lines up tonight and realises he is the only survivor on either side from the 2001 series.

None of the tourists has won a Lions series. And none of the Australians have played the Lions. Suncorp might be replete with history but it's a fresh page the teams are writing on tonight.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/fortress-brisbane-hosts-war-in-lions-test/news-story/bc9aa0f2bec5aad3d4a9434f78a943f2