Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh recalls win over British & Irish Lions that cost players six figure bonus

The 2001 Lions team arrived to play Australia A with more swagger than usual – and a monster payday in their sights. Until Phil Waugh’s team made it a very expensive night for their rivals.

It was the day Australia’s rugby boss and his cohorts cost the British & Irish Lions $130,000 each.

Phil Waugh, now chief executive of Rugby Australia, was captaining Australia A against the Lions in 2001, when the teams met in Gosford in June.

“Up until that point the Lions had been undefeated, and there was a lot of speculation around the win bonus that they had in their contracts,” Waugh said.

“If they went through the tour undefeated they got a big lump sum payment, there was rumours of maybe £50,000. It was a large number.”

Based on the exchange rate at that time in June 2001, it equated to $133,000 for each player in the 37-strong squad.

The British & Irish Lions players in 2001 had a bonus in their sights – before they met Australia A. Picture: Dave Rogers/ALLSPORT

The Lions had easily accounted for Western Australia (116-10), Queensland Presidents XV (83-6) and Queensland Reds (42-8).

So when they lined up against Australia A, there was a swaggering confidence among the tourists.

“And I remember we came together, and actually Eddie Jones was the coach of that Australia A team and I was captain, and then we had a great win,” Waugh recalled of the shock 28-25 win that ended any hopes of a major payday for the Lions.

“For the last five minutes of the game, of course a few of the guys were quite chirpy about the fact it was a very expensive night for the Lions.”

The Lions went on to lose the Test series 2-1, their only series loss in Australia.

Scott Staniforth dives over for try during Australia A’s shock win over the British and Irish Lions in 2001. Picture: Phil Hillyard

While Waugh didn’t get to play in any of the Tests, his history with the Lions stretches way back to 1989 when he was a ball boy during the series.

“It’s no secret that I’m a lover of the game of rugby and started at Narrabri Tigers when I was four years old and played right through to 2011, and I grew up wanting to be an Australian player and part of that journey was ball boying for Warringah Rats,” Waugh said.

“I used to do that from fifth grade through to first grade. You go back to a lot of the photos of the Warringah teams through those grades, through those years, you’ll probably see a little blonde ball boy on the side, and in a lot of ways I think ball boying was a great way to be educated around the game because you’re just watching so much rugby and Warringah is one of the great rugby clubs in world rugby.

“So I was very fortunate to do that and then I drafted a letter and sent it off to the co-ordinator of the ball boys for the Test matches in 1989. I would have been nine.

“And so I had the opportunity to ball boy what was the first ever rugby Test at the old Sydney Football Stadium and the first Test against the British & Irish Lions which Australia won.

Wallaby great Phil Waugh (L) was a ball boy in 1989 when British Lions team toured Australia to play the Wallabies. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“And I still recall that great experience with my brother, ball boying, but the whole build up to that Test as a ball boy and then going into the sheds after the Wallabies won, with the players, they’re still sort of very fond memories of that time.”

Twelve years later, Waugh would not only captain Australia A to that incredible victory, but then also play for NSW against the Lions four days later in what would become one of the most infamous games in history.

“It was a Saturday before the first Test, the last hit out the Lions had so they put out their best Test team, and that game and it was a pretty brutal battle,” Waugh said.

“Tom Bowman got a yellow card off the kick-off, Duncan McRae infamously took a liking to Ronan O’Gara and got red carded, and then I think there was a bit of an all-in scuffle at the end of the game with about eight minutes to go.

Referee Scott Young sends off Waratahs fullback Duncan McRae for punching Ronan O'Gara. Picture: Nick Wilson/ALLSPORT

“I remember referee Stuart Dickinson came to Scott Young and said ‘Two yellow cards to two red players and two yellow cards to two Waratahs players’ and Scott Young said, ‘Are you serious?’ And Stuart Dickinson said, ‘Yeah, I’m serious’.

“So we finished with 12 players on the field and they finished with 13 players on the field but it was a very, very physical game and I recall (Lions backrower) Neil Back got injured in that game and couldn’t play the first Test, and there were a few sore and battered bodies after that Waratahs game.

“Everyone still thinks it’s a bit of a conspiracy that we went out to physically take it to the Lions, but it was actually just a really passionate Waratahs team and we pushed them hard that night.”

Ronan O'Gara leaves the field bleeding after an assault by Duncan McRae. Picture: Dave Rogers /Allsport

“One of my biggest focuses as CEO has been around connecting the community with our professional teams and our national teams, and we’ve made good progress in that space but there’s no better way to connect than travel around the country playing against the British & Irish Lions with our provincial teams and ultimately the Test matches, so it’s a huge opportunity,” Waugh said.

Waugh (R) in his current role of Rugby Australia CEO, alongside current Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and incoming head coach Les Kiss. Picture: Getty

“Clearly there’s the performance on the field which a lot of people see, but then the amount of work that my team have been doing to deliver the nine games on the tour and ensure that this is more than just the rugby on the field, but it’s actually a real celebration of rugby and camaraderie and the community that comes with rugby – and it’s been planning again similar to the selections of teams, there’s been an enormous amount of planning for over 12 months to deliver this tour.

“Then you break it up into on-field performance and what it would mean to perform well on the field in terms of reconnecting with those that have somewhat lost a bit of confidence in rugby – so the on-field elements are really important – and then the stability, financially, for rugby in Australia with the commercial benefits we get off the Lions series.

“The planning’s gone into place, it’s very much now around the execution of on-field and execution of off-field to maximise the benefits.”