Lions MAUL Aussies to make History

 

British & Irish Lions  41 – 16 Australia 

After 16 years of Pain and hurt for the British & Irish Lions fans and players who have played since their last series victory back in 1997, After tours of promising starts, to only lose out in the end.

Saturday saw History made as not only did the Lions beat the Australians, but they destroyed them in their own back yard as the Rampant Lions mauled Australia 41-16 in the series decider at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

Australia had bolstered their side with the inclusion of Returnee George Smith to the Wallabies side after a 4 year absence from International Rugby and 2 years from Rugby, as he only returned to action in February and was seen as huge risk chosen by Australian Head Coach Robbie Deans.

For the Lions, Warren Gatland decided to take a massive risk himself as he dropped a major bombshell during midweek , when he announced that Ireland and Lions legend Brian O` Driscoll was dropped from the squad completely. That decision caused uproar from the media and Lions fans alike, as they wanted to see their hero win a Lions Series for the first time ever. He was prepared to risk the wrath of the fans from the home nations countries with his decision.

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Jamie Roberts and Alex Corbisiero was brought back into the starting 15, as they recovered from hamstring injuries sustained in the 1^st test match two weeks before, as they replaced Marko Vunipola and the Injured Lions captain Sam Warburton.  Alun Wyn Jones was chosen as the man to captain the Lions as he led them out for the Third test on the ANZ Stadium pitch.

So as Johnny Sexton kicked off the Final test and series decider, the Lions couldn`t have got off to the better start possible, when Will Genia normally so reliable with his catching ability knocked on after 3 seconds of the game gone.

So the Lions had great field positioning as they put into the scrum and from the resulting scrum the Australians were standing up in the scrum and Northern Hemisphere Referee Romain Poite from France awarded a free kick to the Lions, which was took quickly by Mike Philips and as he combined with Tommy Bowe down the blind-side, Bowe was brought down on the 5m line by the Wallabies defense and play was nearing the line and the captain Alun Wyn Jones went agonisingly close to the line but was held up inches from the line.

In the next phase of play it brought the Lions a try which saw Alex Corbisiero going over from close range to give the Lions a 5-0 lead and with Leigh Halfpenny scoring the conversion for a 7-0.

Australia came straight back with an attack of their own as they gained towards the try line and the move finished up with George Smith ,who was involved in a horrible clash of heads with Richard Hibbert. As they came together which saw Hibbert take the brunt of the smash, but come off better than Smith and who seemed to be groggy.

The Lions scrum was mauling the Australian pack as they dominated the Wallabies and was running them ragged.

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Things got even better for the Touring side as the Aussies gave away a penalty on the half way line for not releasing and gave Halfpenny a chance to exorcise his missed kick last week.

Halfpenny made no mistake this week as he put the Lions 10-0 up and at the restart saw the Aussies given a penalty due to the Lions obstructing the Aussie players and one that James Horwill the Wallabies captain chosen to kick at goal eventually after turning down 4 previous chances to kick at goal.

Kurtley Beale kicked over to put some points on the scoreboard for the Aussies, as he made it 10-3.

The Lions won yet another penalty at the scrum as the Australian were dealing so badly with the Lions pack and once again Halfpenny kicked over for a 13-3 lead. Minutes later saw them get another penalty as the Wallabies pack were caught standing up in the scrum and Poite awarded the Lions another penalty and warned the Wallabies Captain Horwill “any more repeats and it`s a yellow card for whoever”.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked the penalty and made it 16-3 after fifth teen minutes of play as the men in Red were dominating the Green & Gold`s and Australia looked powerless and stuck for answers in what to do.

Then in the 24^th minute Ben Alexander was shown the yellow card for collapsing in the scrum and gave Halfpenny another penalty and he extended the score as it became 19-3 then.

Johnny Sexton then made a great play as a long kick up field by O Connor, was picked up by the Irish player while his foot was on the dead ball line and picked it up while it rolled meaning play came back all the way back into the Wallabies half.

It was the Lions enjoying a long spell of possession in the Wallabies 22m zone where they went through 20 plus phases of play, before Sexton went for the drop goal and saw his attempt just go wide of the uprights.

Australia were desperate to find any kind of spark within their side to get them going as a Jesse Mogg made a break away from the Lions and was ankle tapped by Geoff Parling to stop the run.

With the last run of play before half time , Australia scored a Try through James O`Connor as he battled past the Lions defense to score for the Wallabies and with Lealiifano kicking the extras he made it 19-10 with them slowly gaining ground on the Britain & Irish  Lions.

Second half saw the Aussies come out strong and win a penalty as the Lions were penalized for not rolling away at the breakdown, which gave Lealiifano the chance to kick the Australians closer to the Lions score as they made it 13-19.

Momentum seemed to switch towards the home side now, as the Aussies started to get the rub of the green in the game now, as a mark called by Johnny Sexton missed by the touch judge which gave them advantage at the 5m line.

Australia won a penalty as the Lions were adjudged to have come in at the side of the maul and gave Lealiifano a chance to kick over for a 16-19 score line.

Then the Lions got back to basics as they won a penalty from the scrum and Halfpenny kicked it to make it a 6 point lead now.

Then came a huge moment in the game, as a good passing move by the Lions went towards the left flank and then Jonathon Davies and Leigh Halfpenny combined to set up Johnny Sexton, who couldn`t contain his emotion as he went over the line jubilant and put the ball down for a try for 30-16 score line after Halfpenny kicked the 2 extra points over.

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Australia put the tourists in trouble as a Mogg kick found touch by the 5 metre line deep in Lions half and despite possession for the Wallabies, the try gave the Lions belief and seemed to take the wind out of their sails. Australia pushed hard for the try line though they just couldn`t find a breakthrough.

Then the back breaker for the Australians came as Leigh Halfpenny broke through the Wallabies defense and pulled the full back out of position before feeding George North and he grabbed a try for the Lions to make it 34-16, Halfpenny unfortunately couldn`t kick the conversion over.

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The Lions then completed the thrashing when from their poorest set piece on this tour the Line-out, they managed to get it to work as they worked the rolling maul from it and after Murray fed Jamie Roberts, the Welshman dashed through the hapless Australian defense, scoring a try that broke the 16 year hoodoo and wrote this 2013 side into Lions folklore as they celebrated the try.

Lions players on the bench and management team hugged and congratulated each other during the final stages and as the whistle blew History was made and the Lions won the series 2-1 and the fans and players alike celebrated victory, tears of joy were shed by Roberts and FINALLY O`Driscoll could have Lions series winner added on his C.V and this now shows the Lions are back and back with a vengeance.