British and Irish Lions 21-10 New South Wales Waratahs Andy Farrell questioned watered surface

SYDNEY — The British & Irish Lions have questioned whether the Waratahs deliberately watered the field in Sydney, after they escaped Allianz Stadium with a less-than-flattering 11-point win on Saturday night.

The tourists were expected to hammer a NSW side missing five Wallabies regulars, and boasting a rookie prop with just one Super Rugby game on the bench, but they instead fumbled their way to their third victory on tour.

The Lions had great difficulty in dealing with the Waratahs’ ferocious play at the breakdown, led by No. 7 Charlie Gamble, and shelled plenty of passes they normally would have expected to hold.

Lions coach Andy Farrell put that down to “overplaying”, but also quipped that the hosts may have watered the Allianz Stadium turf in a bid to affect his side’s handling.

“The pitch was very wet, and I was asking [Waratahs assistant coach] Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing,” Farrell told reporters. But I mean that’s good tactics from them, isn’t it, the ball is slippy, the breakdown is ferocious enough, and the line speed was high-octane speed from them.

“And we kept on trying to overplay, at times, certainly around halfway, and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping in the game really.”

Pushed on whether he thought the Waratahs had deliberately altered the state of the surface, Farrell added: “I don’t know. I mean he just left, Catty just left, and we’ve seen that done plenty of times. I don’t know whether the pitch needed watering.”

When it was pointed out that Sydney had been hit with in excess of 70mm of rain earlier the week, even hit by a “bombogenesis” cyclone, Farrell seemed to walk back the allegation.

“No, we know all that. We know all that,” he said. But I’ve been here for two days as well. It’s been glorious. It’s been glorious and the pitch, the pitch was OK. And again, we’re not complaining.”

Told of Farrell’s comments, both Waratahs captain Hugh Sinclair and coach Dan McKellar shrugged off the allegation.

“No, no, no, no, not at all,” McKellar said.

“Did you see the weather on Tuesday, it was a f—ing cyclone,” Sinclair added.

“Andy was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday, but it wasn’t pleasant in Sydney, that’s for sure,” Mckellar continued.

Asked again whether the Waratahs had watered the pitch, McKellar said: “No, I’ve got too much to think about to be worried about water on the pitch.”

The Sydney surface is typically dewy at time this time of year, while the turf itself is poised to be ripped up and replanted, with drainage problems plaguing the three-year-old venue since its reconstruction in 2022.

– As it happened: Error-prone tourists stutter to victory in Sydney
– Three things we learned in Sydney as Lions beat Warahtahs
– Kinghorn ready to roar for Lions after Top 14 triumph
– Lions banter is fun but also an utter embarrassment for Australian rugby