Wallabies look to avoid slice of unwanted Lions history

Perth Now

6 days ago

Skipper Harry Wilson says he saw enough in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions to suggest the desperate Wallabies can save the series and avoid a grim 59-year first.
The Wallabies take on the Lions at the MCG on Saturday night in a boom-or-bust clash following a disappointing 27-19 opening defeat in Brisbane.
The underdog Australians need victory to stay in the hunt for just a third series win since the first Lions tour in 1899.
The hosts are also looking to escape becoming the second team since the 1966 Lions tour to have the series wrapped up in two games, with that Wallabies outfit losing both matches in a two-Test tour.
In Australia's past two series, in 2001 and 2013, the Wallabies lost the first Test but levelled both in Melbourne.
With more than 90,000 fans expected at the MCG, Wilson says the team is aware that history is at stake, while the tourists also want to make their mark as the "greatest Lions side of all time" with a 3-0 sweep.
"There's no denying we have to win. We have to win the next two to win the series," the 25-year-old flanker said.
"I'd say there's pressure on both teams - they want to wrap up the series and we want to keep the series alive.
"So there's no doubting there's a lot on the line for both teams and that's something that really excites you.
"Playing professional sport, there's a lot of pressure on and it's what you love about it."
One statistic in the Wallabies' favour is that the last three times the Lions - who also tour to South Africa and New Zealand - have gone 1-0 up in a series, they've lost the second Test.
Wilson believes his team have made progress since they squeezed home in their first Test of the year against Fiji, with some confidence-boosting signs in the second half at Suncorp Stadium.
The Wallabies rallied from a 24-5 halftime deficit and, while they lost the match, made ground in the second 40 minutes for an eight-point loss.
"We do feel like we're improving each week this year," Wilson said following Australia's captain's run on the famed cricket ground on Friday.
"Fiji, we got away with that one, and then we didn't start too well in that first Test.
"But in that second half, once we got a bit of possession, a bit of territory and started playing our sort of footy, we took a lot of confidence from that.
"We saw some errors we really want to improve this week ... we didn't play the sort of footy that we wanted to play. We didn't fire as many shots as we would have liked."
Out-muscled by the Lions in Brisbane, coach Joe Schmidt has bolstered the Wallabies by including heavyweights Will Skelton and Rob Valetini - their two most damaging forwards.
The two were sidelined at the first Test with calf injuries.
Hometown boy Valetini was the only try-scorer when the Wallabies last played at the MCG in 2023 in an otherwise forgettable 38-7 loss to New Zealand in 2024.
Wilson says the Wallabies have also taken lessons from the aggression shown by First Nations and Pasifika team, who almost caused a boilover in their mid-week match against the Lions on Tuesday night.
"A lot of us were there watching and just seeing the way Pasifika went after them, the line speed, the big hits in defence.
"It was a great blueprint there about how to really try and physically dominate them.
"They connected and went out there and did a performance that they should be so proud of."