British & Irish Lions fail in clean sweep bid as Australia storm to third Test triumph

The Lions will depart with a first series victory in 12 years having last won in Australia in 2013 but a 2-1 success was not what Andy Farrell and his squad left home shores to achieve.

G'DAY: Australia's Tate McDermott celebrates try score. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie.

AUSTRALIA 22 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS 12

The British & Irish Lions failed in their bid for a clean sweep of their series with Australia as the Wallabies restored some pride with a victory in the third and final Test at a rainswept Accor Stadium on Saturday.

The Lions will nonetheless depart with a first series victory in 12 years having last won in Australia in 2013 but a 2-1 success was not what Andy Farrell and his squad left home shores to achieve.

The objective, much stated in public throughout this tour was to complete a nine-match whitewash on Australian soil and a 3-0 series win.

The series had been secured with the Lions’ dramatic second-Test victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground seven days previously and though the tourists’ camp insisted there would be no hangover as they chased a 3-0 sweep of the Wallabies, their performance suggested otherwise.

In a game interrupted by a 37-minute delay for a nearby lightning storm, the Australians hustled their way to a deserved victory with tries from Dylan Pietsch, Max Jorgensen and Tate McDermott, leading throughout with the misfiring Lions replying too little and late, tries from Jac Morgan on 62 minutes and Will Stuart at the death either side of a Ronan Kelleher yellow card.

The Lions were poor but not helped by failed first-half Head Injury Assessments for captain Maro Itoje and wing Tommy Freeman while they lost lock James Ryan to a nasty accidental head knock early in the second-half, just before the game was halted after two lightning strikes within 10 kilometres of the stadium.

GAME IN 60 SECONDS

Key Moment: Max Jorgensen’s turnover try in the 54th minute as the Lions fluffed their lines yet again in possession put the game beyond the lacklustre and under-performing tourists with the conversion opening up a 15-0 lead that was always going to be difficult to reel in in such terrible conditions.

Talking Point: The Lions tour ends in a damp squib rather than with the fireworks of a crowning final-Test performance that would have delivered a 3-0 hammering of the Wallabies but that should not detract from the achievement of winning such a series.

Lions tours are notoriously difficult to get right and just two series wins (1997 and 2013) and draw (2017) in the professional era confirms that notion.

Player of the Series: Munster and Ireland lock/flanker Tadhg Beirne finished the match as Lions captain and crowned his tour with the highest accolade.

Ref Watch: Nika Amashukeli had to deal with a bad-tempered contest between these two teams and did so with authority.

There was not the controversy that dogged Andrea Piardi at the end of the second Test while the Lions could have little argument with his sin-binning of replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher after repeated team offences inside the tourist’s 22.

Penalties Conceded: Australia 11 Lions 11.

Injuries: Three failed Head Injury Assessments in the first half, with Lions captain Maro Itoje, Wallabies fly-half Tom Lynagh and then Lions wing Tommy Freeman removed from the action before half-time. Two minutes into the second period, there was further concern as James Ryan left the field on a stretcher cart after taking a knee to the head in a tackle.

Next Up: That’s all folks.

The 2024-25 season finally comes to a conclusion, with the Irish provinces already having started pre-season for 25-26 in the absence of the 12 Irishmen who earned the right to wear the Lions jersey this summer.

It could be closer to the November internationals when we see them in action again.

AUSTRALIA: T Wright; M Jorgensen, J-A Suaalii, L Ikitau, D Pietsch; T Lynagh (B Donaldson, 34 - HIA), N White (T McDermott, 59); J Slipper (A Bell, 58), B Pollard (B Paenga-Amosa, 72), T Tupou (Z Nonggorr, 61); N Frost, W Skelton (J Williams, 63); T Hooper (L Gleeson, 57), F McReight, H Wilson - captain.

Replacement not used: A Kellaway.

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: H Keenan; T Freeman (O Farrell, 38 - HIA), H Jones, B Aki, B Kinghorn; F Russell, J Gibson-Park (A Mitchell, 71); A Porter (E Genge, 43), D Sheehan (R Kelleher, 58), T Furlong (W Stuart, 57); M Itoje – captain (O Chessum, 27 - HIA), J Ryan (J Morgan, 43 - HIA); T Beirne, T Curry (D SHeehan,69 – FR YC) J Conan (B Earl, 63).

Yellow card: R Kelleher 69-79.

Referee: Nika Amakusheli (Georgia).