The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
Jac Morgan of the British & Irish Lions celebrates victory(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Here are your rugby headlines for Monday, July 28.
Campese: Aussie media ’embarrassing’ over incident
Wallabies legend David Campese has thrown his support behind the officials who cleared Jac Morgan’s decisive clearout during the second British & Irish Lions Test — and says the Australian media need to stop “whinging” about the result.
The former World Cup winner insists the controversial incident that preceded Hugo Keenan’s match-winning try was handled correctly by referee Andrea Piardi and his assistants, and says criticism of the officials is doing Australian rugby no favours. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“For me, it was fully legal,” Campese wrote in his Planet Rugby column. “He [Morgan] was as low as anyone could possibly get in that situation, there was a clear and positive attempt to wrap, and he won the collision. I simply don’t get how anyone could think otherwise.”
He added: “The officials nailed the call. Alongside Andrea Piardi were Nika Amashukeli and Ben O’Keeffe, two of the world’s foremost referees, and they took their time to make the correct call in a calm way.”
While Rugby Australia and head coach Joe Schmidt have questioned the legality of the clearout — and the decision not to award a penalty — Campese said the outcry from certain parts of the Australian press had been “bloody embarrassing”.
“The whinging from some parts of the Aussie media is embarrassing,” he said. “We, as a nation, live by the sword and die by the sword — and above all, I’d like to think we’re strong enough as a sporting country to take the referee’s word and not blame others, as some of our former players and pundits have done.
“If some sections of the media continue, there’ll be so many sour grapes that there’s a danger it could outdo our wine exports.”
Campese praised the quality of the match and the physical edge brought by both sides, but admitted the Lions simply had too much firepower in the end.
“Hats off to both teams for a wonderful Test match, full of incident, commitment and excitement,” he said. “In the final analysis, the Lions just had too much in terms of fitness and impact for the Wallabies.”
The Australian icon also revealed he watched the game alongside former Wales No.8 Phil Davies, a respected coach and law expert, and said both were in agreement over the Morgan incident.
“Both he and I looked at the replay and were absolutely sure it was a fair and perfectly timed clear out,” Campese said. “My message is it’s time to move on.”
Wallabies call in All Black
Australia have called up former All Blacks player Aidan Ross for the final Test against the Lions on Saturday. The prop comes into the squad as Harry Potter was ruled out following an early injury in the second Test.
Dual-qualified Ross has only just qualified to play for the Wallabies after completing a three-year stand-down period on July 9 following his apearance for New Zealand against Ireland in 2022. He has already played against the Lions twice this summer, for Queensland Reds and the AUNZ Invitational XV.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Allan Alaalatoa says the wounded Wallabies will use the hurt of Saturday’s controversial defeat to avoid a 3-0 whitewash in Sydney.
“It’s a dead rubber, but we are still going out there wearing a Wallaby jersey, representing our country and representing our family,” Alaalatoa said.
“And we want to go out there and put on a good performance that everyone can be proud of. The disappointment that we are feeling now – we will definitely be using that to feed us throughout the whole week.
“It’s our third game in and we want to keep growing and getting better every week. The boys are gutted that we didn’t come away with that win, but look back and see, as a team, we are growing.
“Our performance was a massive step forward since last week. There will be moments where we can look back and learn. We have grown from where we were last year against Wales. We have come a massive way.”
History books won’t remember how ‘s**t’ Lions were
Lions No. 8 Jack Conan says the history books won’t remember how “s**t” the Lions were in parts of their second Test comeback against the Wallabies at the MCG in Melbourne, with the series victory over Australia all that matters.
The tourists had trailed 23-5 in the first-half, but rallied to eventually win thanks to Hugo Keenan’s 79th minute try.
“We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well,” said Conan.
“It was disappointing how we played, but we played for 80 minutes. Hugo getting over the line in the last minute was just unbelievable.
“It wasn’t my best game. A lot of us weren’t at the races at all, but we stuck in there. You can’t fault the effort. I thought the defensive sets we put in, just whacking people and just staying in there, was unbelievable.
“It’s something that will go down in history. They won’t be writing the history books about how s*** we were, but they’ll say that we won and that’s all that matters.
“Everyone’s over the moon. To be part of a Lions winning series team is incredibly special. The celebrations in the changing room wouldn’t have been the same if we’d won by 20.”
Dawson: Starting bench players in third Test could freshen Lions up
Former England and Lions scrum-half Matt Dawson has urged Andy Farrell not to rip up his team for the final Test, but believes that starting some players who have featured on the bench might be an option.
Wales’ sole representative in Australia, Jac Morgan, made his Lions Test debut off the bench at the weekend, with the man starting in the 7 shirt, Tom Curry, having enjoyed two stellar outings in the clashes against the Wallabies.
And Dawson hinted that Curry’s exertion throughout the last few weeks would deem it wise for Farrell to opt for some players who might be fresher – like perhaps Morgan.
“Picking a completely different side won’t work, but some of the bench players could start to freshen it up,” the World Cup winner said in his BBC column. “For example, I would like to see Blair Kinghorn start and players such as Ben Earl in the 23, especially with how much Tom Curry has given.
“Farrell will need to weigh up continuity of selection and making sure players aren’t broken after this Test series.
“Maybe part of the Lions’ internally talking about winning 3-0 is the management saying to the whole squad that this tour is not going to peter out – that they are here to play right to the end.
“The Lions can’t win this 3-0 by relying on the same players again. The whole squad will need to be ready to go this week.”