Wallabies vs British and Irish Lions: Second test scores, latest talking points from the MCG

News.com.au

26-07-2025

For a city that has always been lukewarm about its on-again, off-again relationship with rugby, Melbourne has turned on the charm offensive for Saturday's latest fling between Australia and the British & Irish Lions.
Revelling in its reputation as Australia's sporting capital, Melbourne has embraced the so-called game they play in heaven like never before, breaking with convention by granting the Lions permission to play on Victoria's most hallowed turf.
Comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the Lions have already featured at some of the most iconic stadiums on the planet since they began touring the world in the late 1880s, but there's something extra about getting invited to play on the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the first time.
'When you spend time in Melbourne and speak to the locals and all Australians, they hold the MCG in a real special regard,' the Lions' captain Maro Itoje said.
'It's a privilege for us to play there in what will be an amazing stadium and an amazing crowd. If it reaches full capacity, it will definitely be the biggest stadium that I've played in, so it's something that we're looking to relish.'
Melbourne knows how to throw a party and for the visiting fans, the festivities are already in full swing.
An estimated 40,000 Lions' supporters have made the long trip from Europe to watch the match live from the G and have transformed the Victorian state capital into a sea of red jerseys and hoodies against the backtrack of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot', 'Flower of Scotland', 'Land of my Fathers' and 'Ireland's call.'
From the CBD to St Kilda Beach and Lygon Streets, Melbourne's pubs and restaurants are doing a roaring trade, with Lions' and Wallabies fans side-by-side.
Because Lions tours to Australia only take place every 12 years, for Wallabies' long-suffering supporters, it's a rare time they can wear the team's gold jersey with pride.
After the disaster of the last World Cup, being spotted in public wearing a Wallabies jersey was almost as awkward as being caught on kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, but not this week in bustling Melbourne.
While the final attendance will depend on how many members show up, Rugby Australia expects it will surpass the all-time record crowd for any Lions match of 84,188, at Sydney in 2001.
'In 10, 15 years' time will I look back on this game?' Absolutely,' Australia fullback Tom Wright said.
'I'm probably never going to play in front of 100,000 people again,'
For both teams, the occasion has taken on even greater importance because the stakes could not be higher.
The tourists won the opening Test 27-19 in Brisbane last weekend and will clinch the series with a game to spare if they win again at the MCG.
The Wallabies are desperate to level the series and ensure the last match in Sydney is not a dead rubber and Melbourne's fickle weather has potentially come to their rescue.
In theory, the forecast of rain on Saturday night should help the Wallabies, who have assembled a massive forward pack after Rob Valetini, Will Skelton and Dave Porecki were all passed fit after missing the series opener.
The Australians were outplayed in the first Test but finished strongly to close the final margin to eight points after trailing by 19 early in the second half.
The Wallabies' coach Joe Schmidt is banking on his big men holding the Lions at bay long enough for his replacements to run over the top of them, but also knows things don't always go to plan so he doesn't care how they get the result, as long as they do.
'We just want to win,' he said.
The Lions know the ambush the Wallabies are planning for them.
In 2001 and 2013, the visitors won the opening Test in Brisbane only to lose game two in Melbourne.
They have made changes to their team too, with head coach Andy Farrell stacking his starting XV with nine Irishmen for what he hopes will be their crowning glory.
'We're the privileged ones that get the opportunity to do something special and hopefully create a bit of history,' Farrell said.
'There's a determined Australian side that's in our way that's going to try and stop us from doing that, so it's a hell of a Test.'