SYDNEY (AP) — The Wallabies prevented a British and Irish Lions clean sweep of its Australian tour with a rousing 22-12 win in the third rugby test on a night of wild weather Saturday at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
Tries to wingers Dylan Pietsch, Max Jorgensen and scrumhalf Tate McDermott highlighted one of the finest performances by the Wallabies in recent years and came amid a wild storm that led to a near-hour pause in the game due to nearby lightning.
Having secured the three-match test series with victory in the first tests at Brisbane and a contentious, last-gasp 29-26 win last week in Melbourne, the tourists were seeking to be the first Lions squad to record an unbeaten tour since 1974.
But despite strong support among the capacity near 90,000 crowd, the Lions were never really in this one as the Wallabies won the early physical exchanges and moved the ball better throughout despite consistent rain squalls that swept across the ground regularly on a bitter cold and windy night.
Jac Morgan scored a try with 20 minutes to go to briefly give the Lions a glimpse of another stirring comeback like it did in Melbourne, but McDermott’s sniping try with just 10 minutes left sealed the hosts win.
A try on the siren by Will Stuart narrowed the final margin.
Despite the cold and wet conditions, emotions boiled over on several occasions in a feisty match as the Wallabies delivered a strong response after a week of reckoning that included questions from some of Australia’s place in the rotation for quadrennial Lions tours that also includes World Cup champion South Africa and New Zealand.
The aggression featured firebrand Australia scrumhalf Nic White, playing his last match for the Wallabies, who on several occasions was nose-to-nose with Lions forwards.
The tactic appeared to help the Wallabies and certainly engaged the raucous capacity crowd as the hosts enjoyed the greater share of possession and territory throughout.
Wallabies fast start
From a 5-meter scrum the Wallabies took a series of one-out runs near the posts before spinning the ball wide and Pietsch found just enough room to dive over in the corner to give Australia a fast start.
Tensions bubbled over as Wallabies scrumhalf White and Lions hooker Dan Sheehan engaged in some push and shove, before Will Skelton forcefully joined the fray and the Wallabies were penalized.
Tom Lynagh extended the lead in the 34th minute taking a penalty as another rain squall pelted Olympic stadium.
It was Lynagh’s last involvement as he was replaced by Ben Donaldson for a head injury assessment — which the 22-year-old flyhalf failed — after a high ruck clear-out by Sheehan that was missed by the match officials.
The Lions, starved of territory for most of the half, came more into the game as halftime neared and looked threatening. But a huge turnover by Tom Hooper as the Lions laid siege to the Wallabies try line allowed the hosts to escape to half time with its lead intact.
Lightning delay
Shortly after halftime an already wild night reached a new level. While play had been stopped for a serious head injury to Lions lock James Ryan, a match official entered the playing arena and advised referee Nika Amashukeli to escort the players from the field.
The big screen at the stadium displayed a message for spectators in rows 1 to 19 to immediately vacate their seats and seek cover on the lower concourses.
After a brief warm-up play resumed close to an hour later and the Wallabies almost scored immediately but Taniela Tupou dropped the ball as he hit the ground close to the Lions line.
The second-try did come soon after when Jorgensen pounced on a fumble by Lions center Bundee Aki and sprinted 50 meters to score next to the posts. Donaldson completed the simple conversion for a 15-0 lead.
Morgan’s try came after a period of intense pressure by the Lions pack which eventually paid dividends and narrowed the margin to 15-7.
The Wallabies responded and when Lions replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher was yellow carded for offside the winning try looked inevitable and was duly delivered by McDermott.
The Lions scored again as the full-time siren sounded but it was the Wallabies celebrating a morale-boosting victory.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Keiran Smith, The Associated Press
