'My mother was kayaking on the river, fair play to her'

YOU KNOW TADHG Furlong is enjoying himself when he starts throwing 20-metre passes off his left hand.

The Lions were cruising early on in Brisbane, 10-0 up after the opening quarter when Furlong pulled out one of his long-distance specials.

“It was that kind of game,” was Furlong’s take on this moment.

Furlong played a key role in the Lions building a 12-point lead early in the second half as he showed all of his enduring class for Andy Farrell’s side.

The Ireland tighthead prop’s place in the starting XV was questioned in some quarters after he endured a frustrating season ahead of this tour, with hamstring and calf injuries preventing him from getting any rhythm into his game.

However, when it came to picking his Lions team for the first Test, Farrell said he had faith that Furlong and a few others would deliver. The question is where that faith comes from when others are questioning the likes of Furlong, who is still only 32.

“Because you see it time and time again,” said Farrell.

“When it really matters, big-game players, that’s what they do, they turn up, they trust themselves to be able to perform on the big stage.

“It’s not an easy thing to do. I suppose it comes with a little bit of experience and they deliver it again.”

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Furlong played 58 minutes for the Lions, with his handling skills to the fore. The Wexford man played slick passes twice in the build-up to Sione Tuipulotu’s opening try and had a few other nice touches.

Furlong showed his ballast in close quarters with four carries and six tackles, but more notably at the ruck. He was among the Lions’ top five players for ruck arrivals and he moved lots of Australian bodies with aggression.

“It was important because they have very good players over the ball,” said Furlong of the Lions’ efforts in that area. “It’s very hard to attack without decent ruck speed, so it’s very important.”

Furlong described the scrum as “tricky” and “messy,” but on the whole, he was a happy man after his seventh consecutive Test start for the Lions.

“I love rugby,” said Furlong. “I genuinely do.

“It’s never a chore for me to train or to play.

Tadhg Furlong was a standout for the Lions. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“Ironically, the lack of training on this tour is great for my body because you come to the game fresh.

“Previously, I would have had a lot of overload injuries. It’s nice to play rugby and get match fit by playing rugby, two games a week.”

He was proud to have had his mother and aunt in Brisbane for the first Test, with his mum, Margaret, presenting him with his Test jersey at an emotional ceremony at Brisbane’s Botanic Garden on Thursday evening.

With his father, James, having passed away in late 2023, it was particularly meaningful for Furlong to have his mother watching on in person.

“To be fair to her, it’s not easy to be here,” said Furlong. “Any time she’d have travelled previously was with my father but she’s great, she’s out and about.

“She was kayaking on the river this morning, she sent me a picture out on the river, fair play to her.”

The Lions tour rolls on to Melbourne today, with the squad flying south from Brisbane into cooler conditions.

And the job is far from done for Farrell, Furlong, and co.

Though they enjoyed the winning feeling last night at Suncorp Stadium, they’re already honing in on how they’ll try to win the second Test at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Furlong compared the feeling of going again next weekend to the old Heineken Cup double headers. As with those old back-to-back battles, the beaten team will be fighting for their lives.

“Look, there’s two sides to the coin,” said Furlong. “Obviously, there’s us not getting complacent, learning the lessons.

“We have a midweek game again, it’ll be great to see the boys go out and see who puts their hands up. We can do the Tuesday-Saturday, we know that, so if lads go well there then we know they will be in contention.

“The other side of that is that we know what it means to the Aussies, the desperation is all on the line for them next weekend.”

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