Brutal Aussies show no regrets

The writing had been on the wall long before McRae's piston-like right fist went to work on the defenceless O'Gara. Bowman was in such a rush to put it there in bruising capital letters that, straight from the kick-off, he took a running jump at Danny Grewcock instead of at the ball.

By the time the Wallaby hit-man had been sent to the sin-bin in the fastest time ever recorded - or ever likely to be - the Lions had got the message in all its cynical, premeditated clarity.

Grewcock, rubbing his jaw gingerly, said: 'An elbow in your face within the first five seconds of the match gives you the impression that they are out to get you. Perhaps he didn't realise that the ball was somewhere else.'

One red card and four more yellows - two for each side - reflected the fitful violence of a night when all the gory detail could be found on O'Gara's battered face.

An area a millimetre or so beneath the Irishman's left eye was reduced to angry crimson blotches by the pummelling from McRae, described by one Lion, Austin Healey, as a coward.

Ironically, McRae had won sympathy throughout England last winter when Martin Johnson's knee collided with his ribs in a Leicester-Saracens game, resulting in a five -week ban for the Lions skipper.

Far from apologising - least of all in person to O'Gara - New South Wales congratulated themselves on a job well done.

They had lost the match 41-24 but accomplished their mission, ambushing the tourists in a way which inflicted the maximum amount of pain by whatever means at their disposal.

It was a rugby version of the Bodyline bowling employed by Douglas Jardine's England on the adjacent cricket ground during the 1932-33 tour.

There was no doubt that the Waratahs were pleased with what they saw as a softening-up process for Saturday's first Test in Brisbane. New South Wales captain Phil Waugh (no relation to the cricketing twins) said: 'We really gave it to them. A lot of Lions will have sore bodies and I hope the Wallabies give them a real thrashing.'

While he was speaking, Johnson's troops were licking their wounds in the privacy of the dressing-room as their Irish manager delved into history to dredge up an inspirational example of how the Lions had suffered an even worse assault in New Zealand 30 years ago and bounced back to beat the All Blacks.

Understandably angry at what he had seen, Lenihan cited the 'Game of Shame' against Canterbury in Christchurch in which the Lions prop Sandy Carmichael's cheekbone was broken in five places.

Lenihan said: 'The 1971 Lions lost both props in that match and responded by winning the Test series. On Saturday, our fellows showed tremendous discipline in very difficult circumstances.

'What they experienced will galvanise the squad and draw us even closer together for the Tests. When you are put in situations like we were in on Saturday night you do one of two things. You either stand up to be counted or you go home.'

The cheap shots were not confined to the pitch. Up in the commentary box, former Wallaby hooker Phil Kearns blasted touch judge Stuart Dickinson for advising Queensland referee Scott Young to give McRae the red card.

Anything less would have made an even bigger mockery of what passes for rugby justice but it didn't stop Kearns saying accusingly: 'Stuart Dickinson, you've had a shocker!' Had McRae not gone, there would have been blue murder instead of two more fights, separate, simultaneous scraps involving Grewcock and Phil Vickery which left 13 Lions playing 12 locals.

It provoked such a farce that the Waratahs made 11 substitutions. Amid the confusion, at one time they ended up, albeit briefly, with one player more than they were entitled to.

On a night of dirty tricks, one more was hardly surprising.