Wallabies v British and Irish Lions LIVE updates: Australia fight to avoid a whitewash in the third and final Test
Latest posts
7.20pm
How the Wallabies are lining up
Coach Joe Schmidt has made some interesting changes for this final Test. Dylan Pietsch comes in on the left wing after Harry Potter was ruled out with injury. Rob Valetini hasn't recovered from his calf strain and is replaced by the Exeter bound Tom Hooper.
Dave Porecki was a late casualty after a strong performance at hooker, with Brandon Paenga Amosa coming in on the bench and Billy Pollard starting. Taniela Tupou is back into the Wallabies starting line up after the talismanic Allan Alaalatoa will be out with a shoulder injury for weeks, and possibibly months.
Finally, last, but definitely not least, Nic White is playing his final Test for the Wallabies, starting ahead of Jake Gordon, with Tate McDermott perhaps relieved to be returning to halfback off the bench, not wing where he played so well in Melbourne.
We are back to a traditional 5/3 bench split, with utility Andrew Kellaway joining Ben Donaldson and McDermott.
7.11pm
Who have you got?
7.09pm
Good evening from a sodden Sydney
Good evening, it's Jonathan Drennan and the horrific weather this week has matched the collective mood of Australian Rugby after the last-minute heartbreak in front of 90,000 at the MCG.
I do not need to remind anyone that the series is gone, but the Wallabies will have their own motivations going into this third and final Test.
Ahead of a daunting trip to South Africa for the first instalment of the Rugby Championship, the Wallabies can win something back that is so rare: hope.
If the Wallabies can fight back hugely against the odds and beat the Lions, deprived of their best ball carrier Rob Valetini, it will given them a spirit that provides the perfect platform for tough days and weeks ahead.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt was candid about the group's collective desolation after Melbourne, but they are running out in front of a sold-out Accor Stadium in Sydney and their home fans are desperate for another brave performance.
The Lions are equally desperate to complete a rare Test whitewash over Australia, it would be the first time they've done it here since 1904.
I will be taking you through tonight's action, with Iain Payten on my inside, giving some no look offloads of expertise throughout the game. Payto and I are dressed like trawlermen dealing with this biblical rain. Here we go.
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