After 16 years of waiting, the British & Irish Lions finally celebrate another series victory
Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Paul Cook in Sydney –

After sixteen years of heartache, the British & Irish Lions have finally broken their series drought – and in fine style – with a comprehensive 41-16 defeat of Australia in the deciding test here in Sydney.

A game that was predicted to go to the wire in the same fashion of it’s two heavyweight predecessors was broken open in the first half by a lightning start from the tourists. They led 19-3 by the 25th minute but the Wallabies rallied and a try from James O’Connor on the stroke of half-time followed by two Christian LeaIi’ifano penalties in the opening five minutes after the break made it a 3pt ball game.

But just as the hosts appeared to have hauled their way back from the abyss, the Lions kicked again, three tries in a dazzling 12 minutes spell breaking Wallaby hearts and leaving the hordes of travelling supporters dancing with joy at a first series win since 1997.

The damage was done up front, the Lions turning around their scrum deficiencies from last week to the point where they curried favour from referee Roman Poite at almost every engagement, the Frenchman issuing constant warnings to Wallaby captain James Horwill.

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With the platform that had been painfully absent in Melbourne re-established, the Lions beefed up midfield could make headway, allowing the backline to function but it was the forwards that head coach Warren Gatland praised first and foremost afterwards. “The scrummaging was excellent, I thought Alex Corbisiero was magnificent,” said Gatland. “We’ve played some great rugby on this tour and we were able to put it together tonight, particularly in that second half. The boys kept their composure and finished really strongly so they deserve a lot of credit those players. They’ve done themselves proud and they’ve done that jersey proud.”

Gatland had been on the end of some scathing criticism during the week after his decision to drop the iconic Brian O’Driscoll for the finale and while the manner of the result goes a long way towards justifying the decision, he certainly wasn’t taking much satisfaction from it just yet. “It’s been a tough 72 hours for me personally. It was vitriolic in terms of the criticism but people are entitled to their opinions and sometimes you’ve got to make tough calls. I haven’t taken a lot of pleasure out of tonight in terms of feeling vindicated, maybe I will in a week or two but that’s what this job is, you’ve got to make some tough decisions.”

His counterpart Robbie Deans conceded that the Lions had dominated up front and was disappointed his side didn’t rise to the occasion. “They used their set-piece to great advantage,” he said. “They created a lot of momentum and then just kept going back to it to punish us and it worked for them. On what was a very important occasion we came up well short and that’s the disappointing thing, we’re a better side than what they put out there tonight.”

Such a damaging result is bound to fuel calls for his departure and Deans admitted his situation was out of his hands now. “You don’t presume anything in this industry, those decisions are made by others, who knows?” he said.

The game couldn’t have started with any more drama. Hesitation from the kick-off saw a knock on which gifted the Lions an early attacking platform. They took it with both hands when Mike Phillips tapped and ran, an early signal of intent from the tourists and their adventure paid dividends moments later when a succession of surges ended with Alex Corbisiero twisting near the line to dive over.

Leigh Halfpenny shook off last week’s last minute disappointment with an easy conversion and backed that up with a penalty in the 6th minute but the Wallabies incurred a greater deficit in between both kicks as a nasty head clash left returning legend George Smith down and out. Or so it seemed.

With the gold contingent in the crowd holding their breath, the 111 test capped flanker rose with a significant wobble and was led from the field but in a miraculous recovery to the astonishment of all present he was back in the fray within five minutes.

The agony and the ecstasy: Contrasting fortunes at the final whistle – Photo: seiserphotography.com

During his absence, Christian Leali’ifano had provided the first positive moment of the night for the Wallabies with a penalty but it proved to be scant resistance as the Lions maintained the rage and punished the Wallabies at every scrum to earn Poite’s approval and a succession of penalties.

Corbisiero was giving Ben Alexander a torrid time and Poite had already warned Wallaby captain James Horwill on a number of occasions before his patience finally snapped in the 24th minute. Alexander went to the bin, Halfpenny stroked over his third kick as a result of the Wallabies indiscretions and the Lions led 19-3.

Australia’s night got worse when starman Israel Folau went off just before the half hour with a hamstring pull but you can never discount the Wallabies until the final whistle and with the match seemingly slipping from their fingers and with a man down, they dug deep and clawed their way back into contention.

Folau made way for Jesse Mogg and the Brumbies flyer gave us a glimpse of what might have been had he played a greater role in the series, with a trademark burst from his own half that needed a desperate tap tackle from Geoff Parling to prevent him going all the way. It got the hosts on the front foot and helped to earn them the field position with which they concocted a vital score.

George Smith’s stellar test career didn’t get the send of it deserved on a dramatic night at ANZ Stadium

James O’Connor may not have lit up the stage in his rookie flyhalf position but he illustrated the talents he does possess with the line in sight, quick feet, power and determination seeing him through a wall of red shirts to find the line and leave momentum with the Wallabies going into the break.

When Leali’ifano subsequently slotted two penalties in the first five minutes of the second half to make it 19-16, all bets were off as the Wallabies started to look the goods with ball in hand and the record 83,702 crowd at ANZ Stadium sensed a famous comeback.

However, the Lions regrouped to re-establish their grip on the game and it was the pack again who opened the door, another scrum penalty allowing Halfpenny to add three more points, before Jonny Sexton turned the screw with try number two.

A relatively unsung hero this tour, Sexton orchestrated the try himself, reshuffling his backline from a scrum feed to send decoy runners in different directions and create a gap for Jonathan Davies to exploit and offload to the supporting Sexton for the line. It was a simple but well executed play and the Wallabies never recovered.

Having gone in to the game with a 6-2 forwards split bench and with Mogg having entered the fray so early in the piece, the Wallabies only had halfback Nick Phipps left to try and change proceedings and it was failing legs and fading hearts combined to allow Halfpenny to return a clearing kick with interest as he darted through traffic, drew the last man and put George North away into the corner.

The Sea of Red were still dancing in the aisles when replacement scrumhalf Conor Murray popped a short ball off to a rampaging Jamie Roberts, who streaked away untouched and added some gloss to an already established victory.

The Sea of Red were still dancing in the aisles when replacement scrumhalf Conor Murray popped a short ball of to a rampaging Jamie Roberts, who streaked away untouched and added some gloss to an already established victory.

The end of a brutal, brilliant, mesmeric series in which both teams played a leading role and one in which Australia can take great credit for their dogmatic resistance under duress in Brisbane and their dramatic and determined fight back in Melbourne, but when push came to shove, it was the Lions that found that extra gear to reach the top of the mountain.

This is a win that will be remembered and cherished for a long, long time.

British & Irish Lions 41 (Alex Corbisiero, Jonny Sexton, George North, Jamie Roberts tries; Leigh Halfpenny 3 cons, 5 pens) Australia 16 (James O’Connor try; Christian Leali’ifano con, 3 pens)

Crowd: 83,702