The focus was to win the Test series. Hopes of a 3-0 margin were pushed by Henry Pollock and others jumped on that bandwagon in solidarity with the young Northampton Saints flanker.
I’ve been in enough of those rooms where goals are put up on the whiteboard – win a Six Nations, a Champions Cup, or a Lions series – to know how it really works. There’s usually very little in the way of detail in those early meetings. The “how” always comes later. The first step is about alignment. Then it’s down to execution.
History has consistently shown how difficult it is to win a series, never mind whitewashing a host nation. The first box was ticked the moment Andrea Piardi blew the final whistle in Melbourne. Series won. Job done.
Cue the emotional release. Players slumped to their knees. Hugs. Roars. Tears. You could see the air being let out of a group that had poured everything into the first two Tests. In that context, the Wallabies sensed a shift may have taken place. The Lions had achieved their goal, but there was still one Test to go – an opportunity for the hosts to restore some pride.
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Momentum had flipped. Australia, at home, carrying a chip on their shoulder, had been peppering all week in the lead-up to Sydney. The pre-match noise around rucks, refereeing and the grey area of officiating wasn’t just media filler. It turned out to be fuel.
Come the first whistle last Saturday, the Wallabies had shed their disappointment and found something much more dangerous – belief. When it’s mixed with anger and opportunity, belief is a powerful elixir.
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I had wondered whether the release of pressure on both teams might open the door for something a little looser. A bit of an exhibition feel, where systems might give way to instinct and ambition. The good old-fashioned “give it a crack” rugby.
The Melbourne match had saved the tour. The third Test had the potential to show off what makes Lions rugby so special when it clicks. But the Sydney weather put paid to that notion. Australia were more than happy to roll up their sleeves and get down and dirty.
Torrential rain turned the surface into a bog. A lightning strike threatened to end the match completely, before a long delay allowed it to restart. Australia stuck with what had worked for them a week earlier; a narrow game plan built on power and territory.
This time, though, everything aligned in their favour. The weather suited their structure. Their selection calls paid off. They kept the scoreboard ticking over.
Will Skelton led the charge again, throwing his considerable weight behind everything in a green and gold jumper. Taniela Tupou was right beside him. Nic White, so often a bellwether for the Wallabies, marshalled play perfectly for the conditions.
The opening try was the clearest expression yet of what Joe Schmidt had been trying to achieve all series: suck the defence into the ruck area, then go wide when space appeared. The Lions were compact around the fringes, but suddenly Joseph Suaalii was in space, one-on-one.
It was a proper battle, one that asked real questions of both sides
The subtle in-and-away move to engage Tommy Freeman followed by the slick, seemingly effortless release to Dylan Pietsch, illustrated Suaalii’s talent. Three touches of the ball is not enough for a player that can hurt opposition defences. I can’t remember a Test where Brian O’Driscoll would accept that little input. When the game isn’t coming to them the best players go and find it.
The Lions were second best in most areas for the duration of the match. You could point to a few individual performances that didn’t quite click, but the difference was collective. Mentally, they were just off. And when you’re even slightly off in a Test match, those margins punish you.
Skelton, again, was a tone-setter. Ripping off James Ryan’s scrum cap, sparking a scuffle here and there; he was the emotional lightning rod for his teammates. And while the niggle was there to be seen, it was in the smaller, subtler moments that Australia had the edge.
The bounce of a loose ball, the extra yard of speed to a turnover, the cleaner support line. Those are often good barometers of where a team is at mentally. The Wallabies were sharp. The Lions, less so.
That’s the double-edged sword of a Lions tour. When the chemistry fizzes, when talented individuals click, the product can be something rare and memorable, such as sweeping tries and gritty comebacks. Moments that live forever. But when the cohesion isn’t quite there, it can look a little less special.
In the first Test the tricks and flicks looked effortless. In Melbourne, the mental resilience was world-class. In Sydney, the same structures were there, but the edge wasn’t. And at this level, if you don’t show up 100 per cent mentally, the result becomes a coin toss. This time it didn’t fall their way.
Would the Lions have loved a 3-0? Absolutely. However, the only team to whitewash a series in the professional era was the 2005 All Blacks team which, by most people’s reckoning, was one of the best New Zealand teams of all time.
Few if any teams could have lived with the individual and collective quality of that All Blacks side. They expected to win every match. It was less on the emotional side and more on the pragmatic side, so when the All Blacks sealed the series in the second Test there was no let-up in the final match.
It would have taken something extremely special for this Lions squad to win the series 3-0. Does it take away from the series win? Not in the slightest. In fact, if anything, it adds a layer of texture to the story.
The series was won, yes, but this wasn’t some glorified exhibition tour. It was a proper battle, one that asked real questions of both sides. For Australia, only time will tell if this was the spark they desperately needed, not just to avoid a whitewash, but to re-establish pride in front of their home fans.
The third Test victory doesn’t undo the damage of the first two Tests, but it gives Joe Schmidt and his players a chance to embrace the Rugby Championship in a positive manner. How they kick on or otherwise against New Zealand and South Africa will give a truer indication as to the health of rugby in Australia.
The Lions? Series won. Four years to plan for a trip across the Tasman Sea to the home of the All Blacks.
