‘That’s ridiculous’ – Australia captain conceded defeat to Lions and left Wallabies legend furious

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Australia rugby union legend David Campese was furious to see his former side end the game early in their 27-19 defeat to the British and Irish Lions.In the first Test of the tour, Andy Farrell‘s men came out on top despite a fightback in the second half from the hosts.The Lions were too strong for Australia at the Suncorp StadiumGettyAnd Campese couldn’t believe that the Wallabies’ captain Harry Wilson decided to kick the ball out after the clock passed 80 minutes.The hosts could have still carried on, but instead, they ended the Test, which infuriated Campese.Before this game, Australia only played one warm-up match against Fiji at the start of July, which also annoyed the country’s all-time top try scorer.Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT after the contest, he said: “I just think the interesting thing is you cannot play an international team when you haven’t played together before and tonight was a great example.“Even at full time, we’re behind and we kick the ball out to just get rid of the game. The Australian teams never used to do that, that’s ridiculous.“The Lions are miles ahead at the moment, and you could just see simple mistakes.“At this level, you need combinations, and we had no combinations of people who’ve played together.”The Lions were far too good for their opponentsGettyThe first Test proved to be tough for Australia as the Lions ripped into the hosts, especially in the first half.A Finn Russell penalty and tries from Tom Curry and Sione Tuipulotu had the Lions 12 points up at half time.That was soon extended to 24-5 when Dan Sheehan went over at the start of the second half, and though Australia came back, Campese wasn’t impressed.He continued: “The Lions should have won this, they should have won by 30 points and they should win the second one by 30 because you’re playing against next week will be a total different team as well. That’s this Kiwi coach of Australia wants to do.”Australia struggled in the first TestGettytalkSPORT’s Alfie Reynolds then spoke to Australia’s Tate McDermott in the middle of Campese’s spot, and he praised the fans and asked for their support next week.But Campese wasn’t having it: “What he said is rubbish. You don’t worry about the crowd. You turn up and play the game.“You don’t worry about the crowd, I’ve never worried about the crowd in my life. You have to just play the game. McDermott is the best number nine in Australia. [Ben] Donaldson is the best number ten. Pick them and let them play.”Australia’s head coach is Joe Schmidt.Schmidt is from New Zealand and has worked within the Kiwis’ set-up in the past as well six years as Ireland boss in which they became a formidable team.However, Campese believes he doesn’t understand Australian rugby union.He continued: “My problem is we’ve got a Kiwi coach who doesn’t understand our history. “We don’t kick the ball out of full time, we run the ball and try things, and we’re not seeing that.“To kick the ball out at the end was very, very weak and very, very sad.”Attention now turns to the second Test next week in Melbourne at the 100,000-capacity MSG, where the Lions can win the series, and the hosts will be looking to level up.