Victorious Lions stand on the verge of all-time greatness

Irish Examiner

4 days ago

It was the vastly experienced Ian McGeechan who best summed it up. In 1997 the master coach told his squad that, should they return home as winning British & Irish Lions, they would have a lifelong bond; that when two old teammates passed each other in the street, 30 years on, words would be superfluous. A simple look would be enough to bring their shared memories flooding back.
Be special for the rest of your lives, Geech urged his players. And, 28 years later, it is now the turn of the boys of 2025. To say the series-clinching 29-26 victory against Australia in Melbourne on Saturday was a remarkable occasion is to undersell it. Watched by more than 90,000 supporters – a record for any Lions Test – it ranked up there with the most gripping Tests of the modern era.
And when Maro Itoje and co hobble stiffly into the pub in July 2055 for their 30th anniversary reunion, they will still be counting their blessings. The raucous post‑match singing in the dressing sheds, sitting out together in the middle of the MCG pitch after the crowd had gone, the unbeatable satisfaction of knowing their collective mission was finally accomplished. What a second Test it was, everyone will agree. And what a simply magnificent backdrop.
At which point someone will turn to Jac Morgan, quietly sipping his beer in the corner, and say: 'Just as well they didn't ping you for that clear-out, Jaco! What would have happened if we'd lost?' No one will ever know the answer but the episode perfectly summed up the paper-thin margins in top‑level contact sport.
Because let's pretend, momentarily, that Morgan had been penalised for piling into the Wallabies replacement Carlo Tizzano. Hugo Keenan's subsequent dramatic late try would have been ruled out, the series would have been tied at 1-1 with one to play and the initiative would have been with Australia. The Wallabies might have had to resurrect a few weary bodies for the final Test in Sydney but, equally, so would the dismayed Lions.
Either way, the series would have been turned on its head. And while Joe Schmidt's anger after the game was understandable to some degree, given the stakes, the main takeaway from the game had little to do with the Italian referee Andrea Piardi or his fellow officials. The inconvenient truth is that rugby's lawbook contains so many grey areas that every close-run contest is, to some extent, a lottery.
By the absolute letter of the law it may well be that Morgan technically transgressed. But had the clear-out occurred at any other stage of the game it is quite possible the incident would not even have been flagged up. If a referee scrutinised minutely every single offence at every single breakdown, games would last indefinitely. And that's before Tizzano's slightly theatrical reaction, aimed clearly at influencing Piardi, is factored into the equation.
There is, of course, a highly pertinent precedent here. Remember the final moments of the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand when Sam Warburton talked the referee Romain Poite into not awarding a last-minute penalty for an accidental offside and the series was controversially shared? Then, as now, rugby can ill afford its highest-profile, most exciting games to be remembered primarily for hairline refereeing decisions. If something is not clear and obvious, play on.
On that basis, it is not at all controversial to conclude that Piardi got the big call right and that Schmidt should not have criticised him. Equally, though, Schmidt was right to observe that players are in an increasingly unenviable position, trapped between their coaches' demands that they make a significant physical impact and the consequences of even a marginal miscalculation.
There is one instant possible solution: adopt rugby league's 'captain's challenge' rule that allows a captain to query an on-field decision. While the Wallabies' captain, Harry Wilson, would have been unsuccessful in this instance because the officials ultimately did not believe a penalty against Morgan was merited, he would have been potentially able to flag it up.
But enough already. The recovery from 23-5 down on Saturday was the biggest comeback in Lions' history. Complete a 3-0 clean sweep and it will be the first time the touring side have won every Test of a multigame series in 98 years. In the shape of the magnificent Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Beirne and Itoje they have top-class performers who would have graced the best Lions teams of any era. Collectively, too, their competitive spirit and heart cannot be faulted.
And in their match-winner Keenan, once a member of Blackrock College's U14C team, they also have conclusive proof that you should never give up on your sporting dreams. Andy Farrell said: 'If you're a child watching that back home, do you want to be a British and Irish Lion? One hundred per cent.'
As with McGeechan before him, Farrell now ranks alongside the most exalted Lion kings of all time, with two series triumphs against Australia in his swag. Win again on Saturday and, regardless of their close call at the MCG, the 2025 vintage will be the toast of Britain and Ireland.
Guardian