Australia 26-29 British and Irish Lions: Courageous Lions get it done in dramatic circumstances

At last. Drama, intrigue, aggravation, edge. A Test match that will live on long after the rest of this 2025 tour is forgotten.

A brilliant performance from Australia, who so many thought had nothing left to offer. A fightback from the British and Irish Lions that proved they have grit to match the class they showed in pockets along the way.

Quite simply, wow!

"Wow!" at the searing aggression that the Wallabies showed in establishing a 23-5 lead that shook the ground under our feet in front of a 90,000-strong crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"Wow!" at the way the Lions picked themselves off the floor - and, boy, were they on the floor - with those salvation tries at the end of the first half from Tom Curry and Huw Jones. It had been a stunning first half, a six-try epic that gave you a crick in your neck such was the flow from one end to the other.

Where were these Wallabies last week? Well, they did not have Rob Valetini last week, nor they did not have Will Skelton. Both were belligerent, taking the fight to the Lions, forcing the tourists on to the back foot, making them concede yard upon yard and penalty upon penalty.

The misery for Australia was that Valetini, having been injured for weeks, could only deliver 40 breathless minutes and more disappointment came in the loss early in the second half of the towering Skelton.

The Lions, though.

On this tour we have waited and waited for them to be tested, waited and waited for them to see the whites of an opponent's eyes.

Finally, it happened. When they had backs to the wall, they came out swinging.

Click here to read article