Rotating the Lions team would disrespect fans and Australia

Congratulations are due to Andy Farrell, Maro Itoje and the British and Irish Lions squad for securing a series victory in Australia.

The Lions’ victory over the Aussies came with a showing of conspicuous resilience and no little nerve. This was the first proper examination of their mettle since landing Down Under, and they managed to find a way to win.

The last-gasp score by Hugo Keenan took the Lions clear and proved to be the only time in the game that they led in Melbourne. They took that chance with patience and precision, knowing that one error would have lost them the game due to the imminence of the final whistle.

HUGO KEENAN WINS IT FOR THE LIONS! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/FX9bX2Jylh

— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 26, 2025

The try has caused controversy due to the reviewed clear out at a vital ruck by the Lions’ Jac Morgan on Australia’s Carlo Tizzano. Joe Schmidt, the Wallabies coach made his view plain after the game, saying Morgan’s action was illegal. The Aussie media, that once attracted the sobriquet of ‘fans with typewriters’ and who are not well known for their impartiality, agreed.

I thought it was borderline but agree with most people who saw it as a rugby incident. Now that the crocodile roll has been outlawed as a way of removing players who get into the same position as Tizzano, it is almost impossible to see a way in which they can be cleared legitimately. If actions like Morgan’s are illegal, it means the whole ruck law around jackalling players needs to be reviewed to allow supporting players some way of removing their opponents.

'A rugby incident' 👀

Warren Gatland on the last minute Jac Morgan clearout 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/cGM2x27OvM

— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 26, 2025

It is, unfortunately, becoming de rigueur to blame officials for losses in rugby and this is a trend that should be condemned. The nature of rugby is that it is a highly technical game in which officials must be given the capacity to make judgment calls, without which no game would flow.

The officials got nearly all the major decisions right which, without strict liability under rugby’s laws, is about as consistent as you can get. If the Aussies want to moan about their loss they should first look at the fact that they looked immensely vulnerable to conceding tries every time the Lions got into the Australian 22-metre zone.

However good the performance of Australia, and it was tenacious and brave in the face of adversity, if you ship five tries in a game, and blow an 18-point lead, you should first look at your defensive efforts before trying to blame the referee.

You can feel sympathy for Australia, who have been hampered by the unavailability of two forwards of immense ball-carrying power, Will Skelton and Rob Valetini. Both made significant contributions to Australia’s dominance of the gain-line in the first half but, as they were both returning from injury, neither has the capacity to last a full game.

As pointed out in previous weeks in this column, the Lions’ bench is appreciably stronger than anything their counterparts can summon and that proved to be the deciding factor in the second half.

What happens next in this series will be important to the Lions’ brand. Until this most recent Test, the essential sporting elements of challenge and jeopardy have been frustratingly brief, which might not matter to the Lions’ faithful, but does matter in terms of legitimacy.

The Lions must show the sort of bloody-minded ruthlessness that used to be associated with New Zealand, and is the hallmark of current world champions, South Africa. They need to stamp home their dominance with a convincing display on the final Test in Sydney on Saturday.

This represents a challenge that is often not understood. To dominate from a winning position is a necessary trait of good sides, but the mindset to do this is not easily summoned. Seeing the job through requires great self-discipline, requiring players to set their own standards when a task has been largely completed and they cannot lose a series. Central to this will be the selections made by Farrell for the final Test.

There must be a temptation to make wholesale changes this coming Saturday. Farrell could, rightly, make the point that he has proved his critics wrong thus far. He could go further, saying it would be right to reward the loyalty of fringe squad players by allowing them to experience Lions’ Test rugby. That step would be a mistake.

There is much made about whether a player is a ‘Test animal’. If this means anything, it is that such players do not want to relinquish their positions to charitable selections, whatever support they receive from colleagues. That backing should be the minimum expected of a Lions squad member.

Choosing the strongest possible squad for the third Test in a best way to show respect to Australian rugby and both sets of fans.