Lightning disrupts Lions as strike causes play to be suspended
It's been raining for most of the week leading up to the final test as the Lions head into it as series winner after Hugo Keenan's winning try in Melbourne last Saturday. That rain continued into Saturday night in Sydney and as the test got underway the heavens opened.
It lead to some amazing shots as the pitch began to resemble more of a swimming pool than a rugby field in the first half as a Dylan Pietsch try gave the Wallabies a 8-0 lead heading into the break. Bundee Aki. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
It was a stop-start first half with plenty of lineouts and scrums as the wet ball worked against the chance of any exciting rugby to be played. It became a physical arm wrestle which suited the Wallabies' big men like Will Skelton perfectly.
Andy Farrell also had to deal with multiple injuries as captain Maro Itoje and Tommy Freeman both failed first half Head Injury Assessments and were forced off. The weather didn't look like holding off in the second half and it lead to the worst result for fans as a lightning strike within a 10km radius of the stadium forced the players off the pitch. Maro Itoje getting tackled. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
As was seen last month in England's test against USA, World Rugby protocol is that if there's a lightning strike in the are of the stadium then then play is suspended for 30 minutes and if there's another strike then the clock is resets to 30 minutes once again.
The fans kept themselves entertained with some invading the pitch while the players tried to stay warm in the dressing rooms. Fortunately for everyone involved the players returned to the pitch 30 minutes after going off and warmed up for 10 minutes before play resumed.
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Pic: Steve Christo/Sportsfile A Dylan Pietsch try on seven minutes and Tom Lynagh penalty six minutes before the break for an 8-0 half-time lead does not read as a daunting challenge for Farrell's men but in the conditions it represented a mountain to climb and they only just about reached base camp. When the Lions were guilty of overplaying on the halfway line and 20-year-old wing Max Jorgensen snaffled the loose ball, the conversion of his try made it 15-0 and there was no way back. A Jac Morgan try on 62 minutes represented the Lions' first points of the evening and Finn Russell's conversion gave hope to sizeable contingent in the 80,312 crowd but a yellow card for repeated team offences to Ronan Kelleher killed any possibility of a fightback and the Wallabies killed it off in the hooker's absence courtesy of Tate McDermott try. A late try from fellow replacement front rower Will Stuart was mere consolation. The win was thoroughly deserved and Wallabies pride has been restored, the perceived lack of respect shown to them re-earned and an Australian sporting nation in danger of losing interest re-energised two years out from a home World Cup, at least as far as Schmidt was concerned. 'Yeah, the crowds have been absolutely awesome. Suncorp was full, tonight was full, 90-plus thousand in the MCG. That's the nature of the Lions, that wasn't all us, that's the sea of red and the nature of Lions tours. Read More Ireland to compete in inaugural Rugby Nations Championship in Australia in 2026 'So we knew that wasn't all for us but we just started to see more and more yellow as the tour went on and even this morning a lot of the players, because you're not playing until eight o'clock at night, it's actually quite a long day, a lot of the players were meeting up with friends and family and you just saw a lot of gold, a lot of gold scarves, gold jerseys and people who were supporting us. 'I believe it does give the players a little bit of a lift and it makes them a little bit accountable as well, they feel like we're getting the support, we've got to make sure we keep earning it. 'I don't know what the stats are or the TV numbers are or anything else but what I do know is how hard these players work and if people want to come and support a team that are prepared to work hard then this is a good team, particularly as a national team, globally it's a big tournament coming up in two years' time and the more support we can earn, the better we can grow and progress as a team over the next year and beyond, I just think the more support we can probably attract to the game.' Schmidt will hand over the Wallabies' reins to Queensland boss and his former Ireland assistant Les Kiss before the World Cup in order to devote time to family back in New Zealand and his son Luke's ongoing battle with severe epilepsy. 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For so long out in the open as the Lions' stated objective, the tourists desire for a clean sweep eluded them at Accor Stadium and prompted a pertinent question that the head coach struggled to answer on Saturday night, whether it was psychologically impossible for his players not to rest on their laurels having taken the series at 2-0 and give it one last push for greatness. 'I hope not. I hope not. Otherwise we are not being true to ourselves in everything we talked about this week. I certainly hope not,' Farrell said, before adding: 'Subconsciously I guess I will never know the answer to that question.'
