The sports science and analysis available in the game now would almost certainly tell us that the Lions were not anywhere near physically done when they played Australia in the third Test in Sydney last weekend.
However, it is the mental stuff that you cannot measure as easily.
Where you could programme a robot to play a game with the same intensity as the Lions did in the second Test at the MCG, getting a group of humans to have the collective mental strength required to run out and play to the maximum when they have already achieved their goal of a winning series is another matter.
My sense was that the desperation of the Wallabies to salvage something from the series exceeded the Lions desire to get a 3-0 whitewash when they had already climbed the mountain.
It takes an incredible collective will to climb that mountain again, because in sport, as in life, when you’ve won, you’ve won, and it cannot be changed.
Finn Russell on his phone
As for Finn Russell looking at his mobile during the lightning interlude of almost 40 minutes, I don’t think it’s an issue.
Top players learn to switch on and switch off all the time, such as an injury intervals during matches or breaks to fine-tune tactics in training.
It had also been agreed that the teams would get 10 minutes to warm-up before the match restarted in what were very rare circumstances.
It’s very British to look for negatives, but the reality is that the Lions could not get the same level of physical and mental intensity to build the pressure to score the points they did in the first two Tests.
By contrast, Australia rose to the occasion and played the conditions better – and the fact that the Lions made over 200 tackles on a drenched Accor pitch compared with Australia’s 130 probably explains why they looked the more tired of the two teams.
However, when it comes to the 2025 tour’s place in Lions history what will be paramount is that they won the series, not that they lost the last Test.
Successful Tour
Maro Itoje’s team deserve a huge round of applause, because the Lions had not won the last two tours, and this success provides them with a great platform to work out how to crack the hard nuts of New Zealand and South Africa over the next eight years.
It’s now up to the Lions chief executive Ben Calveley, or whoever, to do a professional job by going to New Zealand and planning meticulously for the 2029 tour, and work out how to beat them.
Last time the Lions were fortunate to come away with a drawn series against the All Blacks, when Sam Warburton‘s chat with the referee in the last Test of that 2017 tour was one of the best non-physical interventions ever made in rugby.
As for the Wallabies, they managed to save face by winning the last Test, and it launches them nicely into the Rugby Championship.
However, two Tests in South Africa, the first on Saturday in Jo’burg, and the second a week later in Cape Town, is a tough start, and they will need their best players to put down a marker.
They now have to maintain the high they are on, because Australia is a country where rugby union is now so low on the national sporting roster that it has a lot of ground to make up.
“I expect Joseph Suaalii to have a bigger impact for Australia than Israel Folau”
They need to build a core of star players to do that, and their standout player from the Lions tour for me was Joseph Suaalii, who I would almost call a super athlete. The Wallaby outside centre is 6ft 5ins and weighs in at 15st 10lbs (100kg), and although he’s not Louis Bielle-Biarrey quick, he’s still fast enough to play on the wing, as he did in rugby league.
Suaalii’s size, length of stride, arm reach, and physical toughness, makes him a great asset, and once he understands the nuances of moves from the set-piece or breakdown better, I expect him to have an even bigger impact for Australia as a player than Israel Folau.
Folau took to the game so quickly he looked as if he had played union for years, and his ability in the air was ridiculous.
In a lifetime in rugby I’ve never seen anyone dominate in the air, in attack or defence, like Folau did – but Suaalii could maybe do that.
It’s not going to be easy for the Wallabies in South Africa, and if they thought the Lions were tough up front, they will wake up and smell the roses when they face the Springbok pack.
The positive signs at the end of the Lions series was that if they can get tighthead Taniela Tupou fit enough to play for an hour, using his 21 stone to make dynamic carries like he did in Sydney, he and Will Skelton could give them the momentum they need to confront South Africa’s power game.
Halfbacks
Scrum-half Tate McDermott was another Wallaby who caught the eye because he had a brilliant all-round impact when he came off the bench, in terms of injecting passing speed, and pace and energy around the fringes.
At fly-half, Ben Donaldson looked a decent footballer coming on in Sydney after Tom Lynagh failed an HIA, and they also have Noah Lolesio to come back from injury.
Lynagh looks steady, knows how to marshall a game, and kicks well – but put him up against Fin Smith and there’s no doubt that the England 10 is physically stronger and tackles harder. So, for Lynagh to stand out better, he needs to get his defence sterner.
The Wallabies are going through a process of rediscovery, and the best way to manage that is to find four or five key men and put good glue players around them.
From there, you can start to mould and develop teams to make an impact on the world stage.
At the moment I don’t believe Australia have any players who would get in a World XV, and that is a very good yardstick of where they are.
By comparison, the 2025 Lions have a number of players who would be in contention for a World XV, Tadhg Beirne, Finn Russell, Dan Sheehan, Maro Itoje, Tom Curry, and Jamison Gibson-Park among them.
Australia have still got massive challenges before they host the 2027 World Cup, and Joe Schmidt leaving as head coach before then isn’t great.
Given that Australia Rugby is also tackling financial uncertainty, one thing for sure is that they haven’t got the wind behind them yet.
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