Stop moaning Australia, your player dived

Telegraph

26-07-2025

It felt fitting that this truly enthralling Test, electrified by the Wallabies' wounded pride and the British and Irish Lions' extraordinary powers of perseverance, should end on a moment of the richest theatre. Just when it seemed that Hugo Keenan's last-gasp try had put a rousing, controversy-free exclamation point on this series, with Tadhg Furlong windmilling down the touchline to celebrate, referee Andrea Piardi deferred to the TMO to see whether Jac Morgan had committed an illegal clear-out on Carlo Tizzano just before the full-back scored. In the end, the verdict was clear: the Australian had tried to buy a penalty, falling backwards with an exaggeration of which an Italian centre-forward would have been proud.
For the hosts, it was the one sour note in an otherwise highly creditable performance, where they reclaimed their reputation with exceptional spirit and defiance on a night that few present would forget. Tizzano clearly milked the incident, collapsing with a melodrama that could easily have persuaded some officials to chalk off Keenan's try. As Piardi waved off the Australian protests, Andy Farrell could be seen muttering a few choice oaths in relief. It would have been hugely unjust for the series-clinching score to be ruled out on the basis of one player's histrionics. He deserved, as his team did, to celebrate long into the Melbourne night.
Still, this could not quell a sense among some Australians that they had suffered a grave miscarriage of justice. Morgan Turinui, the former Wallabies centre, lamented: 'The end is a penalty to the Wallabies, and the referees were too weak to give it. It doesn't matter – you cannot hit a guy in the back of the neck to save the ball from a guy who is legally jackalling. The referees got it wrong. It has cost the Wallabies survival in the series and the Lions lead 2-0. It was brave of them to come back but it was a terrible decision to decide this match.'
Such a view smacked of misplaced bitterness. The reality was that Morgan's clear-out technique was blameless: he wrapped his arms legally and could not have gone any lower. By contrast, Tizzano's reaction – staggering back, clutching his head as if in mortal agony – was anything but. Eventually, Piardi agreed, awarding the try that brought rapture for the Lions and deep recriminations for their opponents. As the Lions' families spilt out on to the pitch, with Will Stuart and Bundee Aki leading the chants, you saw the beginnings of a party that might still be going strong in a week's time.
Australia earned admiration for the way they turned this into such a compelling contest, even briefly threatening a runaway victory when James Slipper, Jake Gordon and Tom Wright combined for a hat-trick of first-half tries in eight minutes. It was a stirring riposte after the derision they had drawn for their anonymous display in Brisbane, with all in green-and-gold at the MCG marvelling at the ruthlessness with which they exploited their man advantage when Tommy Freeman was sent to the sin bin for his indiscipline.
In that exhilarating interlude, you saw the heights of which the Wallabies were capable, whether in their clever kicking game or in the magical, defence-splitting run that Joseph Suaalii produced to send Wright clean through. It was a night, all told, when the sport in Australia rediscovered its soul. The sadness for these players was that even at their most inspired, they still could not sustain the jeopardy until Sydney. Harry Wilson was a study in desolation at the final whistle, explaining: 'We were written off, but we came out here and put our bodies on the line. To lose it at the very end, it hurts.' The captain reflected that he was 'not in the right emotional space' even to discuss the Tizzano incident.
Not that this stopped Joe Schmidt from trying, with the Australia head coach suggesting that Morgan had flown into the ruck with such force that he collected Tizzano high. 'It was described as arriving at the same time, and we can all see that that's not the case,' he said. 'We can all see clear contact with the back of the neck, which might be a different decision on another night. We led for 79 minutes and I couldn't quite believe that we didn't get a decision at the end to lead for 80. That's the wicked backlash that sport provides.'
HUGO KEENAN WINS IT FOR THE LIONS! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/FX9bX2Jylh
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 26, 2025
But the Lions were also remarkably resilient, weathering the surprise bombardment with patience before finally engineering a stunning coup de grace courtesy of Keenan. Somehow, they conjured this from a 23-5 deficit, completing the greatest comeback ever witnessed in a Lions Test. Even if the pedigree of this Wallabies side continues to be debated, with the limitations again in evidence after Will Skelton and Rob Valetini punched themselves out, the scale of the Lions' feat is beyond dispute. They are only the third side to go 2-0 up in a series in 51 years, and a first clean sweep since 1927 is now firmly in their sights.
Such was the euphoric chaos in which this Test ended, they were still faintly giddy in the aftermath. With the MCG long having emptied, they brought plastic chairs out to the centre of the pitch in this vast sporting citadel, sitting in a circle to drink in the grandeur of the setting and the magnitude of their achievement. At one stage, they broke into a refrain of The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond, apparently in tribute to Finn Russell and Huw Jones, who had both been outstanding once more. In the corner, Keenan replicated his try in the deserted stadium by diving across the line. The delighted reaction of his team-mates was a reminder of how, once the ructions over the clear-out were stripped away, all that remained was the glory.