Wretched Lions hand Tahs their first victory

Poor defence cannot win rugby matches and that was the harsh lesson the Lions learned as they started their Super Rugby tour in the worst way possible with a 29-17 defeat to a very average Waratahs side in Sydney yesterday.

It was the Tahs first win of the competition after losing three matches on the bounce, while the Lions were simply awful, suffering their third loss in four starts.

After yesterday’s defeat, the alarm bells will start ringing.

Outscoring the visitors by five tries to two, it was Lions flank Marnus Schoeman who stood out for his side, scoring both Lions tries.

It was his second try in the 64th minute which brought the Lions back within a converted try, as they trailed 24-17.

Despite missing six kicks at goal, it was two futher first half tries by the Tahs through wing James Ramm and hooker Tetera Faulkner which sealed the deal.

Playing catch-up and being too one-dimensional on attack and disorganised in defence, the Lions were their own worst enemy and lacked any real execution and intensity.

Poor awareness on defence saw the hosts hit them with a blitzkrieg of three tries inside the opening 17 minutes which saw them open up a 19-3 lead.

The Lions allowed the home side too much space on attack and paid the price.

The game was hardly three minutes old when Tahs prop Angus Bell stormed over for the first try, followed by an 11th minute score by flank Lachlan Swinton and a third by No 8 Jack Dempsey six minutes later.

The Lions eventually scored their only try of the first half through Schoeman in the 24th minute via a well executed maul drive.

The Tahs scored two of their first half tries against 14 men after lock Ruben Schoeman was shown a yellow card in the ninth minute.