Lions tour, third Test: Wallabies 22 British & Irish Lions 12
There are good reasons why three-nil series wins are so difficult to achieve and this storm-interrupted third Test was further evidence as to why this is so. For all their lofty ambitions from the outset of completing a clean sweep, after last week’s epic second Test comeback and ensuing celebrations, although unflinchingly brave to the end, emotionally the Lions couldn’t scale those heights again.
Quite simply, as was also the case for the Lions’ consolation third Test win in South Africa in 2009, the motivation to exact some measure of revenge and salvage one win from the series contributed to the Wallabies being the hungrier side.
By contrast, despite Andy Farrell’s pre-tour designs on a 3-0 series win, this match looked a bigger ask for his players psychologically.
“I hope not. I hope not,” he repeated. “Otherwise, we are not being true to ourselves in everything we talked about this week. I certainly hope not. Subconsciously I guess I will never know the answer to that question.”
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Hindsight is 20-20, but as one wondered might be the case, Joe Schmidt’s rejuggling, although partially enforced, helped to give the Wallabies fresh energy, with the recalled Nic White, in his last Test, try-scoring winger Dylan Pietsch, Tom Hooper and prop Taniela Tupou, all looking particularly fired up.
By contrast, Farrell had sought to make a statement of intent in making only two changes to the starting XV by promoting James Ryan and Blair Kinghorn, while recalling Ben Earl to a rejigged bench. Farrell sounded equally unsure if his players were a little jaded.
“I don’t know. Everything is in hindsight, isn’t it? We built the week up pretty good I thought. There are a few days off there. Training application on Tuesday and Wednesday was pretty good, as was yesterday. It’s just the story of the game that got away from us in the end. I wouldn’t have thought it was just one game to many. Who am I to know? These lads have been playing for how many months. They were certainly up for the game, but the best team won.”
During the 38-minute suspension of play early in the second half of Saturday’s third Test, television camera access to the dressingroom showed two different-looking backdrops. Whereas Joe Schmidt and the Wallabies’ players appeared to be more focused and preparing for a resumption, some of the Lions players were on their phones or chatting and joking, or lounging on branded bean bags, whereupon the Lions’ performance manager David Nucifora threw a towel over the camera.
The Lions are contractually obliged to provide camera access to the host broadcasters, Stan, for 15 minutes before the game, 15 minutes at half-time, and 60 seconds post-match, so technically Nucifora was in his rights. But it was certainly in keeping with these Lions’ accessibility, which has been very much on their terms.
In any case, it couldn’t mask the impression that the Wallabies were better prepared for the possibility of a storm-related interruption to proceedings in the open and exposed Accor Stadium.
Those in rows one to 18 were advised to seek the sanctuary of the concourse, and some fans drenched to the bone and shivering sought the sanctuary or home or a hotel room a bar back in Sydney to watch the rest of the game, while four Lions fans opted for a costly pitch invasion amid a singsong.
Meantime, it transpired that Schmidt had warned his players prematch that the match could be suspended.
“Joe said it to us before that it could happen and we had a plan in place for it,” revealed captain Harry Wilson. “That helped.”
The Wallabies were also much quicker back on to the pitch and warmed up for longer than the Lions, and immediately resumed on the offensive before going on to extend their 8-0 lead into a 22-12 win.
“I’m not sure what they [the Lions] did, but I know what we did,” said Schmidt.
“We had been warned that there might be a bit of lightning, so we had a plan and with that plan we made sure that guys kept moving. We had different guys rotating on and off the bikes, we’d a couple of bikes.
“We’d four balls in the changing room so guys could throw them around, so that guys could stay connected. The rest of the time, it was just trying to get us organised for the restart.
“We knew we had a penalty to touch and a plan, until it didn’t work. The players stayed dialled in very well.”
Farrell reacted indignantly to the theory that the Wallabies were better ready for the resumption. “That’s completely utter rubbish. Utter rubbish.”
Describing how they used the time, Farrell said: “You don’t know until you know and when you do know you have to agree the warm-up time allocated is going to be acceptable to both teams. We agreed on 10 minutes for the warm-up and through our advice from our experts in that field we only made the call to come out five minutes before and stay out there so that we would be ready to go.”
It also didn’t help the Lions’ cause that in tandem with the suspension, James Ryan had been stretchered off in becoming their third player to fail an HIA after Maro Itoje and Tommy Freenman. Dan Sheehan and the deserving player of the series, Tadhg Beirne, assumed the captaincy in turn while the net effect of the constant rejuggling meant that only Sheehan (back as a replacement for the yellow carded Ronan Kelleher), Finn Russell, Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan finished the game in the positions they’d started.
Against a well-primed Australian side, this was all just too big an ask.
Scoring sequence – 8 mins: Pietsch try 5-0; 34: Lynagh pen 8-0; Half-time 8-0; 55: Jorgensen try, Donaldson con 15-0; 62: Morgan try, Russell con 15-7; 71: McDermott try, Donaldson con 22-7; 80: Stuart try 22-12
AUSTRALIA: Tom Wright (Brumbies); Max Jorgensen (Force), Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (Waratahs) Len Ikitau (Brumbies); Dylan Pietsch (Waratahs); Tom Lynagh (Reds), Nic White (Force); James Slipper (Brumbies), Billy Pollard (Brumbies), Taniela Tupou (Waratahs), Nick Frost (Brumbies), Will Skelton (La Rochelle), Tom Hooper (Brumbies), Fraser McReight (Reds), Harry Wilson (Reds, capt).
Replacements: Ben Donaldson (Force) for Lynagh (34 mins), Angus Bell (Waratahs) for Slipper (58), Tate McDermott (Reds) for (59), Zane Nonggorr (Reds) for (61), Jeremy Williams (Force) for Skelton (64), Brandon Paenga-Amosa (Force) for Pollard (73), Langi Gleeson (Waratahs) for (78).
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: Hugo Keenan (Leinster/Ireland); Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland); Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster/Ireland), Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland); Maro Itoje (Saracens/England, capt), James Ryan (Leinster/Ireland); Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland).
Replacements: Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England) for Itoje (28 mins), Owen Farrell (Saracens/England) for Freeman (38), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales) for Ryan, Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England) for Porter (both 43), Rónan Kelleher (Leinster/Ireland) for Sheehan, Will Stuart (Bath/England) for Furlong (both 58), Ben Earl (Saracens/England) for Conan (63), Sheehan for Curry (69-79), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England) for (72).
Yellow card: Kelleher (69-79 mins).
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
