A clutch of players are seen taking it easy on branded bean bags. Bundee Aki is keeping warm on the exercise bike. Finn Russell is scrolling through his phone before giving a cheeky grin but the British & Lions’ performance manager, David Nucifora, decides enough is enough and puts a towel over the camera inside the dressing room, spoiling the fun. These Lions can be hard to love sometimes.
They may one day come to realise that giving spectators at home a glimpse of how their players might spend a 38-minute break in play could just encourage them to stick with this match. The stoppage was perfectly in-keeping with this chaotic finale to the Test series, enthralling and farcical in equal measure, but the shutters were pulled down. Another example of rugby union failing to help itself.
Andy Farrell’s side have made clear that they targeted becoming the “best Lions ever” on this tour but the manner in which they have put up barriers has ensured they will not be the most popular. And after this thoroughly deserved Wallabies victory, the Lions’ very public declaration that they have been targeting a Test series whitewash now comes to look like hubris. The mind spools back to Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s answer when it was put to him before the first Test. “Yeah, I heard about it,” was the response, but the way he uttered it said so much more.
Should Farrell have rested more of his exhausted players? Freshened things up, injected a bit more energy into proceedings? Certainly Ben Earl brought some late dynamism while Ellis Genge’s introduction, after the break in play, might have come a bit sooner. These are questions the Lions hoped not to deal with.
Where does this side rank up against their forefathers now? They performed breathtakingly well for 40 minutes in the first half of the first Test, catching an evidently undercooked Australia cold, and demonstrated remarkable character in the second half of the second.
In Sydney, they were consistently average for 80 minutes, unable to match the Wallabies’ carrying power and superior handling skills in abysmal conditions. The series was already wrapped up – and that was the No 1 objective after 12 years without a victory – but this defeat recasts the legacy they will leave. The lasting question will centre around what if Will Skelton had been fit for the opener in Brisbane?
Oh, the brutality of it all. Inside the first 43 minutes, Maro Itoje, Tommy Freeman, Tom Lynagh – to a pretty rank shot by Dan Sheehan, who was lucky to escape punishment – and James Ryan were all withdrawn with head injuries. Skelton and Taniela Tupou had ridden roughshod over the record-chasing Lions – trust the Tongan Thor to perform like this in a tempest. We had seen the thunder from Down Under, then came the lightning, calling a halt to proceedings for 38 minutes.
Sydney has been a squall all week. It has felt like endless rain, punctuated by torrential downpours. The kind where it feels like golf balls are falling out of the sky. So it was at the Olympic Park. On the way, a generous Lions supporter could be heard offering free ponchos to anyone who had failed to read the forecast. An hour before kick-off and spectators were dashing for cover. Neither side looked particularly interested in beginning their warm-ups while the lines on the pitch had to be repainted, by order of the match officials.
All things considered then, not the ideal conditions for the Lions to set about wrapping up the whitewash. It has been a long old season for a lot of these players. It began 11 months ago for many and plenty have exceeded the 30-match threshold.
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Theirs was a start every bit as bad as last week for the Lions, truth be told it was worse. The tourists’ lineout wobbled, as it did all match, they lost their talisman Itoje to a head injury inside the opening half an hour, and Freeman followed before the half was up. Freeman was struggling with a back injury and is among those players whose game-time this season cannot help but lead to fatigue.
Australia, meanwhile, showcased some stunning handling that has always been their trademark, even in these horrible conditions. The Lions simply couldn’t match them, reduced to relying on Finn Russell kicking for territory. It was effective at first, pretty wayward thereafter. The press box here is situated right next to that of the coaches and as Andy Farrell trudged down to the changing room shortly before half-time, amid the storm he wore a face like thunder.
The second half was less than three minutes old before the stoppage and the Lions were arguably more error-strewn after the restart. Aki was particularly culpable with his poor handling, though far from alone and the Wallabies remained the sharper, taking the game away from their visitors. Perhaps there were better ways to spend the break in play than worrying about the cameras.
