![\"Jeremy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/e0d8739a6741ae24ac57d3c1cb2819aa9efc3a7d.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nIt was, friends \u2014 the result aside \u2014 rugby at its very best.<\/p>\n
The second thing to celebrate was just how wonderfully the Wallabies played. I want my Australian teams to bleed for the jersey, to back themselves, to eschew the percentage play in favour of a damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead approach \u2014 and that is exactly how they played from the outset.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jeremy Williams and the Lions\u2019 James Ryan of the British & Irish Lions compete in the line out.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
After losing last week, our blokes started the match as heavy underdogs, criticised by former Lions coach Clive Woodward for having a \u201closing mentality,\u201d and there was a widespread feeling that we were simply outclassed.<\/p>\n
But under the captaincy of Harry Wilson, the Wallabies looked like a different team from the opening whistle.<\/p>\n
The lineouts worked. The scrums worked. Courtesy of the likes of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini coming into the pack this week, we had so much go-forward in the collisions that the Lions forwards were reeling with every clash.<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
In the backs, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Tom Wright and Max Jorgensen made break after break. With 10 minutes to go before half-time we had gone out to an 18-point lead, 23-5, courtesy of fabulous tries to James Slipper, Jake Gordon and Tom Wright – and it really looked as if not just a win but a blow-out win was on the cards!<\/p>\n
Even when the Lions came back with two tries of their own just before half-time, hope sprang eternal.<\/p>\n
Still, the Wallabies didn\u2019t back off, tackling themselves red-raw as the Lions launched raid after raid. Halfway through the second half, the Australians even had the line wide open for what might have been the winning try, only for the ball to be lost in heavy contact after Suaalii made a great break.<\/p>\n
It all came down to the final minute, with the Wallabies clinging to a 26\u201324 lead \u2014 only for the Lions to go over in extremis, in the corner. Many felt Lions flanker Jac Morgan\u2019s pulling down of Carlo Tizzano at a ruck just before Hugo Keenan scored, should have seen the try disallowed. Maybe. Maybe not.<\/p>\n
![\"Jake](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/c62d6843375d668f505f3934206b0acf2de66cf7.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Jake Gordon scores a try.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The ref said it was a legitimate try, and so be it.<\/p>\n
That technical loss aside, there was victory off the field in having staged such a match at the MCG \u2014 before a Lions world-record crowd of just over 90,000 \u2014 with many Victorians seizing the rare opportunity to witness a game of such global significance. With that in mind, I\u2019ll leave you with the words of Mr AFL himself, Eddie McGuire, who texted John Eales and myself immediately after the match ended.<\/p>\n
Folks, here\u2019s\u2026 Eddie!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an amazing night for your code. 90,000 at the MCG!<\/p>\n
\u201cRecord. Amazing game,\u201d McGuire messaged.<\/p>\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/d97054c111b085047dd96eba75c4462bc311fc74.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Tom Curry goes over for a try in the first half. Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cNot sure why we didn\u2019t get the last penalty. Ref has no idea about setting up a huge result and a big final game. Another effing tax auditor ruining the game!!<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost the perfect result. Still an amazing night. You should be very proud of the rugby culture. A week of joy. More please!\u201d<\/p>\n
More to come, Eddie.<\/p>\n
It will be at the Olympic Stadium, next Saturday night. The Australians will be waiting for the Lions. They\u2019re a team that has grown before our eyes over this past week, a team to be proud of. They will be even better next week, and if there is a rugby God, this time it will go our way!<\/p>\n
Either way, the second Test was one for the ages and congrats to the British and Irish Lions and their supporters on a magnificent win.<\/p>\n
And welcome to Sydney. We\u2019ll be waiting \u2014 did I mention?<\/p>\n
All matches of The British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia are live & on demand on Stan <\/a>Sport, with Wallabies Tests in 4K. All Test matches live and free on Channel 9 & 9Now.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was, friends \u2014 the result aside \u2014 rugby at its very best. The second thing to celebrate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-24698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}