British and Irish Lions clincher over Australia the best test of season: Phil Gifford

NZ Herald

7 hours ago

Tick them off. A huge crowd? How does 90,307 sound? Some brilliant old-school attacking rugby from both teams? Yes. Telecast in 130 countries, it was a game to debunk the idea that rugby has lost its appeal to all but an increasingly shrinking group of aged diehards.
And to round it off, there was a refereeing controversy that will run for as long as Wallabies fans can still watch television replays and hear the cries of disbelief from commentator Morgan Turinui.
Good on you, Sir Clive
After losing the first test in Brisbane 27-19, the Australian team copped it from all quarters.
Their own media and public were bitterly disappointed, and before the second test, there was a cutting comment from former Lions and England coach Sir Clive Woodward. He suggested the Wallabies were 'boys playing against men'.
Few would have dreamed the same Aussie players were about to rock the Lions.
Suddenly, the September test with South Africa at Eden Park is not the only major All Blacks showdown Auckland fans should look forward to this year.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt carried the brunt of criticism after Brisbane, which was a harsh call considering the relatively average performance of Australian sides in Super Rugby.
Given the likeable almost ego-free person Schmidt is, it was a pleasure to watch his team respond with such an outstanding performance.
The Wallabies revival started in the forwards, with a scrum that was potent and lineouts that operated with impressive expertise.
Add in the physicality of giant lock Will Skelton and captain Harry Wilson, and the base was rock solid.
Rob Valetini was as dynamic as he has been all season for the Brumbies. He may well be the best blindside flanker currently playing test rugby.
When even Schmidt is outraged
Schmidt is virtually the anti-Eddie Jones when it comes to stoking controversy. But the Kiwi obviously felt so strongly about a decision in the 77th minute by Italian referee Andrea Piardi and his assistants, he didn't hold back after the game.
The officials had taken no action about what Schmidt felt was head-to-neck contact between replacement Lions flanker Jac Morgan and Aussie forward Carlo Tizzano.
Had Morgan been penalised, there would not have been time for Lions wing Hugo Keenan to score the 80th-minute match and series-winning try.
Because it was Schmidt who made the comment Australia had been let down by the referee, you have to take it seriously.
But having watched the chain of events involving Morgan and Tizzano numerous times, it does feel like a hairline decision that could have gone either way.
A more picky referee or TMO might have called a penalty. It was Australia's bad luck that nobody in the officiating team in Melbourne was in a nit-picking mood.
Man of the match
As impressive as so many of the men in gold jerseys in front of him were, my man of the match was Australian halfback Jake Gordon.
The 32-year-old veteran and Waratahs captain has a flinty edge to him that's matched by his ability to read the game.
Typical of his vision was his try in the 29th minute, when he dummied past bewildered defenders to give his team an 18-5 lead (with Tom Lynagh's conversion) which looked like the basis for a victory.
The match-up between Gordon and All Black Cam Roigard will be fascinating when they face off in the Rugby Championship.
Jake Gordon of Australia dives to score a try during the second test between the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions. Photo / Photosport
A brilliant idea still working
It's one of sport's ironies that despite rugby being an upper-class sport in England from its earliest days, tours by combined British Isles teams began in 1888, with a privately funded trip to Australia and New Zealand that had no official connection to fiercely amateur rugby unions in Britain.
Over the centuries, the Lions have become one of the most successful and profitable inventions in sport, to the point where every player on the Australian tour will receive a payout of $210,000.
Like most good ideas, the concept of having the best players from four international rugby sides combine to tour the other side of the world seems obvious once it has succeeded.
The Lions are powerful enough to be a yardstick for any international team.
They also give rugby fans in the Southern Hemisphere the chance to watch superstars from the Six Nations, whose home countries tour Downunder so rarely.
Phil Gifford is a Contributing Sports Writer for NZME. He is one of the most-respected voices in New Zealand sports journalism.