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For 30 minutes, Queensland Reds – and even Australian rugby – fans dared to dream that a colossal boilover was brewing.
Valiantly defending their line against a rampant British and Irish Lions, Suncorp Stadium was quickly sent into raptures as a combination of resilience and off the cuff football orchestrated two of the opening three tries and a shock lead.
Hunter Paisami of the Reds makes a breakCredit: Getty Images
But class and international dominance was always sure to prevail, leaving Reds and Wallabies coach-in-waiting Les Kiss to lament a 52-12 defeat on Wednesday night.
But he believed, despite the lopsided scoreline, some chinks in the Lions’ armour had been exposed ahead of the three Test series beginning on July 19.
“There’s not going to be many [weaknesses], but it’s the consistent, repeatable way you can get on top of them. When they bunch your momentum, you have to find another way to turn them,” Kiss said.
“I thought early when we used our short kicking game, we certainly caused a bit of a headache. But … you just have to have the discipline not to let them get easy ball into your half.”
So how did the leading Reds’ candidates for the Wallabies’ squad to face the Lions fare?
Hunter Paisami
Paisami was arguably Queensland’s best, having been released from the 36-man Wallabies’ unit to take on Fiji for this clash.
A bruising run through the middle generated the territory for the Reds to open the scoring through Jeffery Toomaga-Allen.
Those powerful carries remained a theme of his game, beating five defenders and making two linebreaks for 41 metres. He finished with 10 tackles and was one of only five Reds to force a turnover.
Paisami also produced a deft flick pass to give Lachie Anderson a glimpse of open space late, while the 26-year-old’s kicking game also showed some bright spots with a crossfield punt towards Anderson’s wing almost ending in calamity for the Lions.
Josh Flook
Flook threatened to cap off a frustrating year marred by a severely ruptured hamstring with a Lions’ boilover, after his brilliant pick-up on a Kalani Thomas grubber behind the line gave the Reds a lead few saw coming.
Outside of that, the luckless No.13 was unable to break away against this juggernaut Lions defence, limited to just 11 metres before receiving treatment on his ankle.
He left the field shortly afterwards. However, Kiss confirmed it was nothing sinister, and he has now scored in all three of his outings since re-taking the field.
But with Len Ikitau, Filipo Daugunu and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii outside centre options, he will likely have to bide his time for a fifth Test cap.
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Matt Faessler
Two men who were deeply embedded in the Wallabies’ set up last year both took their greatest strides in proving they had overcome the fitness concerns which plagued their Super Rugby campaigns.
Playing his first game since suffering a torn hamstring in round nine, Faessler never got a chance to exploit his strengths at the rolling maul, but the fact he got through 53 minutes mistake-free will be a compelling sign for Schmidt.
Salakaia-Loto was not included in the first Test squad of the year, having not played since round 13 after sustaining a shoulder concern.
While he conceded a pair of penalties, he was strong in contact – finishing with eight strong tackles without a miss – and has put himself in the frame for a Wallabies’ recall.
Josh Canham
Like Salakaia-Loto, Canham was not ushered into the squad to face Fiji, but he has done his chances of a call-up no harm.
The skill set Canham brings was on show against the Lions before tiring against a giant rival pack, even producing a clearance kick pinned deep on his own line which found touch just shy of halfway.
His frame enabled him to threaten a late pass, and while one was intercepted before being brought back with advantage paid, his eight carries along with a turnover win showed moments of class, although he did miss three tackles (equal-third most in the match).
Seru Uru
He came up with a few costly errors; a moment of madness putting his hand in the scrum giving the Lions easy passage to their first lead, and it may have cost his hopes of a Test shot.
Uru was talismanic at times, leading the contest for total carries (18), but his decision-making on the offload proved costly – often within his own half.
Granted, he missed the back end of the Super Rugby season with a knee issue, and his versatility across the pack could earn him a bench spot after also being called up into the Australia-New Zealand Invitational XV.
But the Lions proved they were unforgiving when mistakes stockpiled.
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