“How many of them want to go to Canberra?"
With that classic Laurie Fisher nugget, the 2013 ACT Brumbies had all they needed to cause one of the biggest upsets in British & Irish Lions history.
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The Brumbies became the first Australian provisional side to defeat the Lions since 1971 when they upset a stacked team 14-12 in Canberra on June 18.
The ACT side, coached by Jake White, had come off a Grand Final defeat to the Chiefs, and their dominance was reflected in the ten players they had selected for the Wallabies.
It meant a host of players missed the contest, with captain and number eight Peter Kimlin one of the few to return from the Wallabies camp for the encounter.
“I think that 2013 squad had the luxury of the year before…it was a pretty big turnover of senior members, so I think at the start of the year, there was probably only about 3 or 4 guys playing Wallabies. So we had a really strong nucleus of young guys and really dominant in the way that we wanted to play and good processes in place,” Kimlin said.
“Personally, I just came back the day before the games, and there wasn't much pressure on myself or much of the team. We didn't change much about the way we wanted to play, so it was actually surprising there wasn't much pressure on the guys.”
Fisher was the forwards coach of the Brumbies at the time, in-between several retirement attempts in his own words.
With the first Test just four days away, many fans made the decision to bypass Canberra and go straight to Suncorp Stadium.
Fisher, now the Wallabies assistant coach, took notice.
“I remember the Lions were a little disjointed and I said to the boys they have 20 or 30 thousand supporters…every other game is red, red, red but you get to Canberra and it’s only the hearty souls,” he recalled.
“All the rest, they've gone to Bondi Beach or they've gone to Byron Bay. They're having the mid-week holiday. I said to the boys, that's the Lions for you. They don't want to come to Canberra and watch their team. They'll catch them on the weekend.
“I just thought that gave us a little lift.”
It delivered the lift almost instantly as Tevita Kuridrani crashed over for the opener in the fourth minute.
The Lions kept in reach via Stuart Hogg and Owen Farrell’s boots, but Jesse Mogg continued to answer back as the Brumbies’ set-piece stood up.
“They had a weakened team against us. We picked a strong lineout with Fards [Scott Fardy] and Peter Kimlin in the back row, Leon Power and Sam Carter. They were four tall guys over six feet four. We felt we could put some real pressure on Rory Best and their lineout. He had a bad night. When a senior player like that has a bad night, it just goes through the team,” Fisher notes.
"I felt they were under the pump. We felt we could go hard at them on the floor and be competitive at every breakdown. Like underdogs do, you just fight for everything.
“We just tried to establish a mentality around why we can win and an understanding of how we can win. As it turned out, the cards fell our way.”
Lock Carter was on the bench in the dying moments as the hosts held out the Lions for a famous victory.
“It was one of those nights where everything went our way, and when the whistle blew, we couldn't really believe what had happened, so it was an amazing night really,” he explained.
“It was a little bit of a shock. I think I came off about 65 or 68 minutes and I put the coat on and it was a freezing night in Canberra and then when the whistle blew, I think we had to hang on towards the end, and then when the boys kicked it out it was just everyone on the field, everyone celebrating and then it was a really good night for us.”
Brumbies legend Stephen Larkham is tasked with backing up these heroics as he prepares the team for Wednesday’s clash in Canberra.
Larkham understands the unique atmosphere of Lions tours better than nearly everyone, imparting his own wisdom on the group.
“None of these guys have played in front of, you know, even half this size of crowd so I can't wait for the atmosphere,” he said. “I think the atmosphere will be amazing and my understanding is that there's going to be an equal amount of British Irish Lions and Brumby supporters.
“So from all around the region, people coming in and supporting us, which they have been over the last couple of years. But GIO Stadium is an amazing atmosphere, so hopefully we get to experience that in full and we get a really good performance out there.”
