Lions head coach Warren Gatland felt his side were hard done by at the breakdown last Saturday

by Paul Cook in Brisbane –

It was an area that was always going to be targeted by Australia, especially given the success the ACT Brumbies had enjoyed the previous Tuesday in Canberra, but British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland was far from happy with the breakdown work of both his side and of referee Chris Pollock in Saturday’s blockbuster first test.

The Wallabies threw numbers into the contact area and stifled the ability for the Lions to generate quick ball, the majority of which was down to fine work from the likes of Michael Hooper (before his conversion to centre), Kane Douglas and in particular, debutant Ben Mowen, who gave Lions’ scrum-half Mike Phillips a torrid time at the base of the ruck. But a penalty count of 13-8 against the tourists left Gatland bemused and he was happy to point out some of the ‘questionable’ decisions he felt cost his side further progress.

“Yes” was his unequivocal answer when asked specifically at the post match press conference if the Lions had been crucified at the breakdown by Pollock. “I thought it was tough,” he admitted “he’s penalised Mako Vunipola for coming in from the side and he’s made the tackle at the end. He’s spoken to Brian O’Driscoll after penalising him for an incident when he’s clearly on his feet early in the first half and Brian told me he was afraid to go into the breakdown and compete after that because he felt there was a yellow card situation.

Lions captain Sam Warburton was having a running conversation with referee Chris Pollock about his side’s inability to get clean ball

“We’ve had a couple of chances ourselves in the first half where we’ve created some stuff and he’s [Pollock] said advantage over when we’re in goal kicking range and I also felt when we made that break and we were given a penalty right on their line – is that not a yellow card situation? When you look at those situations you think that there were a few chances that were missed out on but the breakdown was hotly contested by both teams.”

His captain Sam Warburton took a more refined approach to the question but admitted that the breakdown had formed part of a running conversation with Pollock during the match. “[We’re] just trying to clear the bodies out of the way really. It seems to be a common theme when we come down South and it’s always quite a frustrating area for both teams I imagine but we were just trying to get some cleaner ball with our nine (Phillips) getting disrupted. I can appreciate it’s very difficult for the referee, there’s a million and one things to look at, at the breakdown but as long as it’s consistent then we’re happy.”

Kiwi Chris Pollock forms part of a team of three referees that will share officiating duties at all three tests, his cohorts being South African Craig Joubert and Frenchman Roman Poite, who ran the line in Brisbane. Joubert is the man in the middle for this Saturday’s second test in Melbourne and Gatland hopes that the experience gained in that first test of the nuances and style of approach to the contact area, from both sides, will lead to a more even adjudication.

“I just think sometimes when referee’s come to this level from Super Rugby or provincial rugby there’s a huge step up in intensity and in having to make decisions and the two guys on the sideline would have learned a lot from being involved in watching and I think both teams would have learned a lot about themselves too,” he said.

“They (the Wallabies) probably got a little bit quicker ball than us just in terms of looking at the stats but we felt that because there were a few penalties against us, players get a little bit edgy in terms of competing quite so hard at the breakdown when it gets like that,” he explained. “I’m sure we’ll have an opportunity next week with Joubert in charge to be able to get some ball on the front foot, some quality ball and just be able to clear some of the defenders that are hanging around the back of the ruck that were causing a bit of a nuisance. We need to be a fair bit stronger on that.”