SYDNEY – The British & Irish Lions have expressed doubts about whether the Waratahs deliberately watered the field in Sydney, after achieving an 11-point victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
It was expected that the tourists would easily overcome a New South Wales team that lacked five regular Wallabies players and featured a rookie in the forwards with only one Super Rugby match under his belt. However, the Lions stumbled on their way to their third win of the tour.
The Lions struggled to deal with the Waratahs’ fierce play at the breakdown, led by number 7, Charlie Gamble, and missed many passes they would normally have expected to complete.
When asked if he thought the Waratahs had deliberately altered the state of the surface, Farrell added: “I don’t know. I mean, Catt has just left, and we’ve seen that many times. I don’t know if the field needed to be watered.” When it was pointed out that Sydney had been hit by more than 70mm of rain earlier in the week, even by a “bombogenesis” cyclone, Farrell seemed to retract the accusation. “No, we know all that. We know all that,” he said. “But I’ve also been here for two days. It’s been glorious. It’s been glorious and the field, the field was fine. And again, we’re not complaining.” Upon being informed of Farrell’s comments, both Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar downplayed the accusation.“The field was very wet, and I asked [the Waratahs coach] Mike Catt after the match and he was laughing. But I think that’s a good tactic on his part, isn’t it?”, said Farrell.
Andy Farrell
“Did you see the weather on Tuesday? It was a damn cyclone,” added Sinclair. “Andy was probably sunbathing in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn’t pleasant in Sydney, that’s for sure,” Mckellar continued. When asked again if the Waratahs had watered the field, McKellar said: “No, I have too many things to think about to worry about the water on the field.” The surface of Sydney is usually wet at this time of year, while the turf itself is about to be ripped up and replanted due to the drainage problems that have plagued the three-year-old stadium since its reconstruction in 2022.“No, no, no, no, not at all,” McKellar said.
Dan McKellar
