The series is won, but both Lions and Wallabies want Sydney exclamation point

Australia Broadcast Center

27-07-2025

There was no disguising the British and Irish Lions' joy at having sealed the series.
Why should there be?
The party following the dramatic, last-gasp 29-26 victory over the Wallabies in Melbourne was well underway in the bowels of the MCG as coach Andy Farrell and captain Maro Itoje addressed the media.
"See what you guys are making me miss out on," Itoje said with a laugh as a raucous rendition of Status Quo's Rockin' All Over The World carried through from the Lions dressing room next door.
The mock frustration will be short lived. You get a sense that this party may be going on for a while.
"These lads have dreamed of being British and Irish Lions all their lives," Farrell said.
"And to get to the point where we come to the MCG, 90-odd-thousand people, with a dramatic finish like that to win the series — that is what dreams are made of.
"No-one can deny that, for us now, it's a special moment for everyone.
"So we are absolutely delighted that we showed the courage of what it takes to be a Lion and delighted for everyone involved."
Delighted, but not satisfied. This Lions team came to win the series 3-0 and that plan has not changed.
"The plan stays the same," Farrell said.
"We'll make sure that we enjoy it tonight, that's for sure, because we've just made a bit of history."
They sure have.
The largest-ever comeback to win a Test match, after falling 18 points behind in the first half to trail 23-5.
The first-ever Test win in Melbourne.
The biggest-ever crowd (90,307) to watch a Wallabies-Lions Test.
The first time since 1997 that a Lions team has won a series with a game to play.
Perhaps it was even legendary.
"Well, we've made history, haven't we?" Farrell said, having to speak louder as the volume of Rockin' All Over The World increased.
"Does that warrant that type of tag? I think it does. Why not?
"We came here to do what we've done. We should all celebrate that."
This was a good day at the biggest office the Lions have ever played in.
"It means the world," Itoje said of being a Lions winning skipper, after further illustrating the party-mood by taking a quick snap of a packed press conference room as he sat down with a disposable camera.
"This has always been the goal, for the results to be this way at this point in the tour, and we're just delighted.
"This is what dreams are made of."
But the goal has always been 3-0.
Following full time Itoje, the player of the match, took a walk around the cavernous bowl of the MCG, collecting his thoughts.
"It's surreal," he said.
"You know these are one of the moments in your life that you'll cherish, this will live long in the memory.
"In sport, you have to move on to the next and focus on the next challenge and and no doubt we will do that after tonight's celebration.
"But every now and again it's I think it's important to save in the moment.
"When we met … Big Faz [Farrell] made the call that he wants us to go out here and win. He wants us to win everything.
"Don't get me wrong, absolutely delighted with the result tonight.
"But we want to go again next week."
Finn Russell, whose magisterial right boot regularly drove the Lions forward at the MCG and who tasted success with the Lions for the first time in what is his third tour, said he would be desperate to play in the series finale next week.
"I think everyone wants to play that game, but it's not really on our minds just now," Russell said, adorned with a garland made of chocolates.
"I think we enjoy this and celebrate tonight, but when we come back Monday, we'll be ready to go again.
"I think if we can make it a three-nil series that's amazing and I think everyone should be gunning for that.
"I think everyone here has been going for it for their whole career, to get to the Lions, there's one thing, and then to get a series win … it's so special to get this.
"To get the series win's amazing but it's like the job's still not done yet.
"We need to go and try and finish it off next week. Even though we got the series, we need to go and finish it off and finish on a high."
The party was still going as a dejected Harry Wilson and Joe Schmidt fronted the press, the walls separating the joy of victory from the devastation of defeat seemingly thinning with every new party song the Lions team deigned to belt out.
"It was a heck of a Test match," Schmidt said, Sweet Caroline incongruously echoing over his words.
"We're absolutely gutted.
"They [the players] were broken at the end of it [the game].
"You've gotta keep your resolve and you've gotta keep going forward and we can't, and we won't, wallow in self pity because we didn't get the result.
"We've gotta keep trying to build the way we play, the behaviours we demonstrate and the understanding we're trying to build of the game and how we can best play it."
Schmidt was clearly still stinging from the controversial finish but said there was no need for added motivation.
"Serves to probably lower spirits in the short term," Schmidt said.
"I don't know that it will serve as motivation, you can't get more motivated than what the players demonstrated tonight, I don't think."
Wilson, who must have wished for ear plugs to drown out the sounds of joy emanating around him, said the result was "so painful".
"I'm so proud of the team, how we bounced back and played some terrific footy tonight and to not get the result, to not go to a series decider really hurts everyone.
"Any opportunity to put on this gold jersey is really special for our group.
"And it's a Test match. At home, so it's massive for us when we go out there.
"We wanna win every single Test match. Obviously, it's not a series decider, but it's a Test match for Australia, so it's massive for us."
And the Wallabies, written off after a dire 60 minutes in the first Test, will be positive about how they can stop themselves being whitewashed.
The added aggression and intensity of Rob Valetini and Will Skelton turned this Wallabies side into a different animal, one that the Lions struggled to deal with.
The renewed breakdown intensity forced repeated ill-discipline of the tourists that resulted in Tommy Freeman being sent to the sin bin.
"I didn't think we were that bad last week," Schmidt said.
"I know people reported as such, but it was three tries each and I felt we really clawed our way back into that game.
"And this one, we had the game to really challenge them and we demonstrated that when we built the lead.
"But they're a really good side, and the experience they have just allowed them to come and stay calm and execute their game.
"I felt that we had a couple of half chances that we didn't quite nail … We will look closely back at the game, lament a couple of [missed] opportunities and also try to learn from anything that we didn't make the most of."