Lions hold nerve as Andy Farrell celebrates a feat that 'dreams are made of'

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Andy Farrell described the British & Irish Lions series win over Australia as a feat that 'dreams are made of' after his side rallied from 23-5 down after 30 minutes to win Saturday's second Test 29-26.
The Lions left it late to secure the victory which made it 2-0 in the Test series with one Test remaining, Hugo Keenan claiming the decisive try in the final minute in front of 90,307 supporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Australia, beaten 27-19 in the previous Saturday's first Test in Brisbane, were much improved from their performance in the series opener and outgunned the Lions by three tries to one in that opening half hour, the Lions' Dan Sheehan and Wallabies record appearance maker James Slipper exchanging scores before Tommy Freeman's yellow card allowed Joe Schmidt's side to leap into an 18-point lead when Jake Gordon and Tom Wright crossed the line within two minutes of each other.
The Lions fightback began before half-time, tries from Tom Curry and Huw Jones leaving the half-time score at 23-17.
A Tom Lynagh penalty extended the Wallabies lead to six points on 53 minutes but the Lions' momentum was gathering and Tadhg Beirne's penalty on the hour mark, converted by Finn Russell, closed the gap to 26-24.
Keenan's winning try for a Lions team boasting nine Irish players came right at the death, sparking wild celebrations, and head coach Farrell had to conduct his media conference against the background of raucous singing from inside the dressing room.
'When you see what it means to everyone, you can hear them can't you, these lads have dreamed of being a British & Irish Lion all their lives and to get to the point when we come to the MCG with 90 odd thousand people with a dramatic finish like that to win the series is what dreams are made of and no one can deny that for us now,' Farrell said.
'It is a special moment for everyone, we are absolutely delighted that we showed the courage and what it takes to be a Lion.'
Farrell credited his players for holding their nerve and sticking to their game plan having given themselves a mountain to climb at 23-5 down. He also praised the upturn in the Wallabies performance.
'Congratulations to them, fair play they turned up. They said they were going to turn up physically but it wasn't just that, they played a great brand of rugby whether it be their kicking game, 50-22s etc, moving the ball around, they played a great brand of rugby but we added to that with our discipline in the first half but we kept on fighting a way, that is the best thing about it.
'Even in the latter stages there of the first half, every time we got into the 22 we looked dangerous and that was a nice way for us to go into half-time.
'It wasn't all going our way in the second half but the way we held our nerve when we got down to that last 10 minutes was outstanding.' Farrell said the victory belonged to his players, adding: 'Honestly, it's zero to do with me. No matter what, it's been a privilege and an honour to represent these boys as a head coach. But I'm the one that's living the dream.'