'Glorious Lions needed this battle to reveal another side of themselves'

BBC News

2 days ago

At last. Drama, intrigue, aggravation, edge. A Test match that will live on long after the rest of this 2025 tour is forgotten.A brilliant performance from the Wallabies, who so many thought had nothing left to offer. A fightback from the Lions that showed that their grit is every bit as strong as the class they showed in pockets along the way.Quite simply, wow!"Wow!" at the searing aggression that the Wallabies showed in establishing a 23-5 lead that shook the ground under our feet in front of a 90,000-strong crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground."Wow!" at the way the Lions picked themselves off the floor - and, boy, were they on the floor - with those salvation tries at the end of the first half from Tom Curry and Huw Jones. It had been a stunning first half, a six-try epic that gave you a crick in your neck such was the flow from one end to the other.Where were these Wallabies last week? Well, they did not have Rob Valetini last week, nor they did not have Will Skelton. Both were belligerent, taking the fight to the Lions, forcing the tourists on to the back foot, making them concede yard upon yard and penalty upon penalty.The misery for Australia was that Valetini, having been injured for weeks, could only deliver 40 breathless minutes and more disappointment came in the loss early in the second half of the towering Skelton.The Lions, though.On this tour we have waited and waited for them to be tested, waited and waited for them to see the whites of an opponent's eyes.Finally, it happened. When they had backs to the wall, they came out swinging.
From 23-5 down, they won the rest of the game 24-3, the mark of worthy champions. We have bemoaned the lack of drama on this trip, but it was all saved up for the MCG, layers and layers of it, even to the last breath.Trailing 26-24 late on, the Lions piled forward. Every Lions supporter must have been expecting a drop goal or a milked penalty, a three-pointer to win the series.But where was Finn Russell? Not in the pocket. Russell does not do drop goals. Never has. Where was Owen Farrell? On the pitch, but not in position to be the hero.They went for the try and Hugo Keenan got it. Of course there was the heartstopper of the television match official and the examination of Jac Morgan's clearout earlier in the move. Nothing in it. Correct decision, try. Victory. Glory.And so the overview must be written, but not in a way we thought we would be writing it. We were poised to talk about another straightforward Lions win and another letdown from the Wallabies.They have now become only the second Lions squad in 28 years to go 2-0 up in a series, and only the third in 51 years.Had the Wallabies not turned up as they did, there was a danger of us never finding out what these Lions were truly made of. Without a test of their soul and their spirit, how could we know? Without having to drive through adversity, how could we judge their mental strength?
'Context amid the Lions euphoria'
Even now, there is a bit of an issue there. Australia, fortunate to be considered the world's sixth-best team, played above themselves in Melbourne. They found something, but only after a desperately passive first Test and a monstering by their rugby public.Who are the real Wallabies? It is still hard to know, but they were outstanding here and have something to build on in the near future. They will all kick themselves that they let the first Test pass them by.The fact is that the Wallabies have now lost nine of their past 13 games. Context here amid the Lions euphoria. Compare where Australia are right now to where South Africa were four years ago (world champions) when the Lions played them or where New Zealand were (world champions) on the 2017 tour or even where Australia were in 2013 (world number three and soon-to-be World Cup finalists) when the Lions previously visited these parts.South Africa were world champions when the Lions went there in 2009, New Zealand were world number one in 2005 and Australia were world champions in 2001 when they beat the Lions in a deciding Test.
'You would bet the house on 3-0 to the Lions now'
Australia have much work to do. The Lions? It is all about revelling in the biggest victory many of them have ever achieved - and then going on to Sydney to make it 3-0.A few among their number talked about 3-0 before they ever made it 1-0. They talked about being remembered as one of the greatest Lions sides. They will not be, of course, but they have done the job and deserve to be saluted.A shot at winning three Tests in a row for the first time since 1974? You would bet the house on them now.We got the bearpit battle that we have longed to see for a month and the Lions victory will be remembered more fondly because of it. Two processions would not have put them in the pantheon. They showed their worth here.The tour overall has had none of the controversy and edge of so many that have gone before - and it has been relatively flat because of it. The MCG changed that somewhat.The tour was just too nice until Skelton and Valetini started noising up the Lions and bringing their enormous physicality to proceedings. In the recent past we have had verbal wars of attrition, allegations of refereeing incompetence, accusations of foul play and internal insurrection.
This time it has been a month of players and coaches tickling each other's tummies. The arrival of Farrell was as edgy as it got. So, no repeat of Warren Gatland and Rassie Erasmus tearing strips off each other in 2021, no war of words like Gatland and Steve Hansen going at it in 2017, no citing like James Horwill, the Wallabies' captain, in 2013 or Bakkies Botha and Schalk Burger in 2009.No outrage. No 'speargate' like the incident that took out Brian O'Driscoll in 2005, no newspaper columns like those of Matt Dawson and Austin Healey that electrified things in 2001, no disgrace like the stamp from an Mpumlanga bruiser that ended the tour of the great Doddie Weir in 1997.We do not want half of that stuff, of course, but when it comes it changes the mood, it engages and enrages people, it gets folk out of their comfort zone, it makes things more unpredictable and more exciting, it gives the tour talking points and a beating heart. We got a glimpse at the MCG. A beautiful glimpse.No verbal grenades have been thrown at Andy Farrell's boys up until Saturday. The Australian public have been polite in a way that the Kiwis and the South Africans would never be. Schmidt and Farrell, old pals from their days together with Ireland, have not said a word out of place. More the fudge than the grudge.There was a passion and a thunder in that gargantuan crowd, though. A stirring which became an explosion as James Slipper, Jake Gordon and Tom Wright hit the Lions with three tries in mere minutes and put them on their backsides.The Lions got off the canvas and won. Steel when they needed it, nerve at the end. It was deeply impressive.
'Thrilling and coronary-inducing - exactly as it should be'
With the series now done and the prospect of a 3-0 clean sweep on the cards in Sydney on Saturday, the debate about Australia's place on the Lions' rota may reignite if the Lions do go on and make it three.Should they be dropped? Should carrots be dangled in front of the French clubs to see if they want to join the rota, maybe as a replacement for Australia or even in addition to Australia?The poor state of Wallaby rugby, Saturday's emotional response apart, is only one section of this. The other part is commerce. Follow the money, as they say. The cities and stadiums in Australia are extraordinary in scale and number and the fans love coming here. As ever, the red army has travelled in force.The Lions played in front of just over 90,000 at the MCG on Saturday, the biggest crowd they have ever performed in front of. The second-biggest was in 1955 in Johannesburg. The third and fourth biggest were in Sydney in 2001 and 2013.Lions fans - and ex-pats - get behind a Lions tour of Australia and it does not seem to bother them unduly that they are watching a succession of easy wins. It is not like Australia have suddenly become average. They were average when Lions fans hoovered up travel packages at huge expense. They were coming, regardless of the competitiveness of the contests.The 2017 tour of New Zealand had an average crowd of 34,327 across 10 games. The last (normal, as in no Covid) tour of South Africa was in 2009 and it had an average crowd of 34,793. Even before the masses descended on the MCG, this tour was averaging 40,364 per game.Put it another way - when a great New Zealand team took the Lions to the cleaners in 2005, the combined attendance for the first two Tests was less than the total number at the MCG. Australia has the stadium capacity to go larger and make more revenue than any other tour. As long as that is the case, the Lions will always come here. It's the economy, stupid.And it is 2-0 to the Lions, as we expected in one sense, but not at all what we expected in another.Thrilling and coronary-inducing - exactly as it should be.