Led 23-5 by Australia after half an hour of play, the British and Irish lions finally beat the Wallabies 26-29 in Melbourne, thanks to a test just before the siren of Hugo Keenan.
Never since their creation in 1888 the British and Irish Lions had managed to win a match after being led by 18 points. But they succeeded this feat this Saturday in Melbourne! Wallabies winners 19-27 last week in Brisbane, the Lions again prevailed, on the score of 26-29, and are therefore assured of winning this series, even before the last match of August 2 in Sydney. And yet, the men of Andy Farrell have passed very close to the defeat, against Australians who have won only four of their twelve games for a year. After half an hour of play, the Wallabies indeed led 23-5!
Tom Lynagh had indeed sanctioned the indiscipline of lions by marking two penalties in the first ten minutes (6-0). The Irishman Dan Sheehan scored the first trial of the Lions in the quarter of an hour (6-5), but James Slipper replied seven minutes later (11-5). The Wallabies even scored three eight minutes tests, taking advantage of the yellow card inflicted on Tommy Freeman for accumulation of faults, since Jake Gordon and Tom Wright also went behind the line (23-5, 30th). Lynagh, however, missed two in three transformations, and it cost dear in the end.
Farrell: “a fairy tale”
Because the Lions made part of their delay before half-time, before overthrowing everything in the second period. The Englishman Tom Curry marked a 34th test (23-10), followed three minutes later by the Huw Jones (23-17, MT). At the 53rd, Lynagh added a penalty to dig the gap (26-17), but the Wallabies then no longer scored the slightest point. Unlike the lions, which marked an essay by the Irishman Tadhg Beirne transformed by Finn Russell (26-24, 59th). And in the 79th, it was Hugo Keenan, the Irish winger of Leinster, who put on the hero’s costume for the lions by registering the test of victory (26-29)!
“After all he went through, it was really worth it. Mark at the end of a Lions test-match. These players dream of playing for lions. It is a fairy tale. We want to win all the matches, but we will take the time to breathe after this one, “reacted Andy Farrell after the match. Whatever the result next Saturday, the series has been won, and it is a first since 2013 (already in Australia) for the Lions, forced to draw against New Zealand in 2017 (a victory, a draw, a defeat) and beaten by South Africa (a victory, two defeats) in 2021.
