Australia's 'why' prevented Lions series whitewash

RTÉ News​

17 hours ago

The Lions were outplayed in the final Test match of the series in extremely wet and almost unplayable conditions.
Australia were impressive and fully deserved their 22-12 victory, but if you think that they were a controversial penalty away from winning the series, then you don't understand sport.
As soon as the Lions overturned the Wallabies in dramatic fashion at the dying moments of the second Test, the whole psychology of the tour changed.
Yes, the Lions aimed for a series whitewash and would love to have beaten Joe Schmidt's men with a clean sweep, but the difference between 'wanting to' and 'needing to' are very different in a sporting context.
On paper, the British and Irish Lions were superior to Australia when it comes to technical and tactical ability.
In the majority of positions across the pitch, you'd have chosen the Lions player over his direct opponent.
You could argue for a handful of Australian players to make that Lions team.
Will Skelton (below), Harry Wilson, Tom Wright, Nick Frost and flashes of Len Ikitau and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii were probably the standout performers for the Aussies and not all of those would be a certainty if they were on the other side.
It shows that psychology determines the outcome far more than technical or tactical ability.
The best team on paper doesn't always win the game.
The circumstances surrounding any event will change the dynamics of how the match unfolds.
For a start, the Wallabies were talked down for a number of months.
The rugby population in Australia was highly insulted by some of the narrative around their nation, and when you consider how the second Test ended for the team, there were highly motivating factors for them to get a final Test win against the Lions.
They're going into the biggest contest of their season with the Rugby Championship looming and with the potential embarrassment of a whitewash on the cards they were bound to react.
On the other side, the Lions came off the back of winning the series early and by the sounds of it, they celebrated well into Sunday afternoon.
No matter who you are, alcohol hinders recovery and makes for a slow start to your week.
It can be the difference between a fully prepared team and one that has left a question mark or two within the group.
Andy Farrell (above) usually has his teams very well prepared, so I'm sure he would have planned the week precisely, but it's still a factor to consider.
The Lions are also at the end of a very long season.
It's a privilege to be on the tour and players have spoken so complimentary about how the tour has gone, how well they have bonded and the environment that was built.
However, it's still a long season and their holidays were pending.
A whitewash in a series is a luxury item.
Yes, it would have created history, but it was a nice-to-have and not a must-have.
It's very hard to bring a team's focus back if things start to slip slightly.
I don't know exactly how they felt, sometimes players think they still want it, but upon reflection they realise that their 'why' wasn't strong enough.
Australia had a stronger 'why' on Saturday.
Despite the lightning strikes and torrential downpours, they played for their retiring scrum-half Nic White, who put everything on the line for his team-mates.
Skelton clearly took something personally because he was involved in every scuffle.
The home side not only managed the conditions better but turned up with greater intensity in defence.
It wasn't technical, they just turned up for each other and got some vital turnovers.
I know the argument will be that these are professionals and they get paid to be on tour, and to care about their careers.
I'm sure they cared a lot about the game on Saturday.
Yet, the more you get challenged with a confrontational Aussie side and uncontrollable issues like a lightning storm just after half-time, the more that doubt can creep in.
Farrell was faced with a choice, to trust the group that had won the series, or to make some changes to freshen things up.
For the most part he stuck with the old reliable.
In hindsight, a good way of avoiding that complacency may have been to change a few of the 50/50 calls that he was faced with.
And in one sense he did.
James Lowe was dropped for Blair Kinghorn, James Ryan came in for Ollie Chessum and his centre partnership, Bundee Aki and Huw Jones, wasn't the one he would have chosen with a full deck.
Tom Curry had an unbelievable series and Farrell will feel vindicated, he also didn't have a poor game on Saturday.
However, that's an example of another position he might have changed.
The England man is waiting on wrist surgery at the end of a long season of punishing his body.
Considering how close the selection calls were, Farrell could have started Jac Morgan or Josh van rer Flier, with the other on the bench.
With the forecasted rain and wet conditions, Owen Farrell should have been considered at inside-centre as well.
It would have given the Lions another expert game-manager and an extra kicking option alongside Finn Russell.
Owen Farrell played the second half, but the feeling of the game is different at that stage and the Lions were already up against it.
If the Lions changed too many players and lacked cohesion, that would have been cited as the reason for losing.
They changed a couple of players, but maybe a few more would have been the right balance.
Regardless of a few bodies, it still goes back to Australia winning a few marginal moments, and sometimes a team will turn up in those moments because something in the back of their mind makes them want it a half a percent more than their opposite number.
Dylan Pietsch had some iconic moments for Australia in defence.
He smashed Tommy Freeman leading to a Ikitau jackal penalty.
In better conditions, Pietsch wouldn't be able to gamble on Freeman not getting the pass away and maybe the England flyer would have passed or found an offload.
Pietsch read it perfectly, setting up a momentum shift, frustrating the Lions.
He was involved in a choke tackle on Aki in midfield alongside Fraeser McReight. It was another momentum stopper which lifted Australia.
Ikitau forced a knock on from Aki on the Lions line which gave possession back to Australia, leading to the penalty to go 8-0 up.
Another individual battle that Australia won.
Ikitau showed up for Australia and maybe his 'why' was trying to make up for Hugo Keenan beating him in a 1-1 at the dying moments of the second Test.
Frost came into his own, snaffling a handful of Lions lineouts and winning a breakdown penalty because he was there faster than the tourists.
Tadhg Beirne was one of the exceptions to the rule.
He has played an enormous amount of minutes this season, finishing nearly every game he has started.
He was barking at Lions players for not working hard enough and won the Tom Richards medal for player of the series.
The Lions obviously cared about each other, the travelling supporters and the history of the jersey.
It just seemed that Australia went a step further, and their 'why' was too strong to whitewash them in a fascinating and competitive series.