Reality check for Lions - Gatland
Warren Gatland admitted the British and Irish Lions had been given "a reality check" after they lost their unbeaten Australia tour record.
The Lions went down 14-12 to the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium, and there could be few realistic complaints from a team outgunned up-front for an hour before head coach Gatland summoned reinforcements off the bench. It was the Lions' first defeat against an Australian provincial team since Queensland beat them 42 years ago.
"We didn't have the urgency and intensity that we needed in the first-half. We are disappointed," said Gatland, whose squad had won five games in succession.
"All credit to the Brumbies. They played well, they frustrated us and it was a tough day at the office.
"It's a part of being on tour, regrouping. You have a bit of a knock, you take your disappointment and it is how you respond to it. A lot of us have been through it in the past - you just get back on the horse.
"We have been building nicely, there has been a lot of momentum. Maybe it's sometimes not the worst thing to take a bit of a knock and get a bit of a reality check, and we had that today."
The setback came just four days before the first Test against Australia in Brisbane, although Gatland's likely Test team is currently wrapped in cotton wool ahead of the weekend.
Brumbies centre Tevita Kuridrani struck early for the game's only try, while full-back Jesse Mogg kicked penalties. The Lions, who were always behind, managed two Stuart Hogg penalties and two Owen Farrell strikes.
Lions skipper Rory Best gave a brutally honest assessment of where it had gone wrong, saying: "We came here very confident we could win. We knew it wasn't going to an easy task. We talked about not just matching the physicality but beating their physicality, and we didn't even match it.
"The breakdown, they really smashed us there, and that is very disappointing. The confidence started to go. Our mini units just sort of fell apart, and we lacked that little bit of composure. The disappointing thing for us was that we didn't front up."
