THE BRITISH & IRISH Lions proved the doubters wrong with a record-breaking win over Australia in the series decider in Sydney.
Leading 19-3 at the half time hooter, thanks largely to Alex Corbisiero's try inside two minutes, the Lions looked at one stage as if they were going to throw it all away.
In stoppage time in the first half, the Aussies crossed the line for the first and ultimately only time when James O'Connor repaid his skipper James Horswill for his brave approach in opting to kick for touch, rather than the posts.
Despite being outplayed, it meant, suddenly, that the hosts were back in the game - and they certainly were when, early in the second period, Christian Leali'ifano dispatched two penalties. Indeed, at 19-16, it was very much 'Game On'.
Now this decider had only come about after the first Test in Brisbane had been taken by the Lions by two points and the second Test in Melbourne was won by the Wallabies by a single one.
There was only half an hour of the whole tour left and it was all set up for yet another close encounter - but Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny eased the tension a notch with another nerveless kick.
Man of the series Halfpenny has indeed been exemplary in the last five weeks and his total of 49 points is the best ever by an individual Lion on tour, beating his compatriot Neil Jenkins' 1997 record.
But his biggest three points were undoubtedly those to stem the Aussie tide and put the Lions 22-16 ahead.
From then on, Warren Gatland's men were unstoppable. Halfpenny proved indispensable again, sending a pass into Jonathan Sexton before converting to make it 29-16.
And Halfpenny also assisted the next try, stepping inside Will Genia and away from Joe Tomane to put in George North in the left-hand corner.
Now, the lead was back up to 18 points and everyone was breathing much more easily.
However, the Lions did not stop there, instead opting to turn on the style as Conor Murray put Jamie Roberts in for a fourth try. This was a thrashing.
At full time, a mixture of relief and downright ebullience crossed each of the Lions' faces. It was all in sharp contrast with the tense build-up and the many questions over the Welsh-dominated line-up.
Of course, the biggest call of all had been Gatland's decision to drop Ireland's iconic centre Brian O'Driscoll, and - even in victory - the Kiwi coach admitted he had been shocked by the "almost vitriolic" criticism which had come his way.
Gatland said: "At the moment I do not feel a lot of pleasure because of the amount of personal criticism that was placed on me after the team announcement. I was absolutely shocked by what was said: the criticism was almost vitriolic.
"When we sat down on Tuesday to pick the team, we knew we were making a tough call with Brian but there have been other players on this tour who have been unlucky in terms of selection.
"I have not enjoyed the last 72 hours and it has been tough personally. It is not a case of feeling vindicated after the win: maybe in a week or two I will get some pleasure out of the achievement."
Hopefully it will not take that long as Gatland should now just enjoy the moment in Australia alongside the estimated 30,000 travelling fans.
The celebrations have been and will be wild, no doubt - after all, it is not as if they come along too often. This was the Lions' first tour win since beating South Africa 2-1 in 1997 following three successive defeats so far this century.
And in that sense, perhaps more than any other, this was an important victory from a historical context for the red British & Irish Lions shirt.
All the marketing and branding in the world will be unable to bring the same appeal as a tremendous series win.
It may have been a bumpy ride at times but the Lions have certainly restored pride back to their shirt this summer.
LIONS RESULTS AND SCORERS
Test matches: British & Irish Lions won series 2-1
| First Test | Australia | 21-23 | British & Irish Lions | Brisbane |
| 22 June, 11:05am | Tries Folau 12, 34 Con O'Connor 13 Pens O'Connor 51, Beale 61, 68 | Tries North 25, Cuthbert 48 Cons Halfpenny 27, 48 Pens Halfpenny 23, 31, 65 | Attendance 52,499 |
Australia Berrick Barnes; Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Leali'ifano, Digby Ioane; James O'Connor, Will Genia; Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, James Horwill (capt), Kane Douglas, Ben Mowen, Michael Hooper, Wycliff Palu.
Replacements Saia Fainga'a, James Slipper (for Robinson, 68), Sekope Kepu (for Alexander, 58), Rob Simmons (for Douglas, 68), Liam Gill (for McCabe, 47), Nick Phipps (for Ashley-Cooper, 77), Pat McCabe (for Leali'ifano, 2) Kurtley Beale (for Barnes, 38).
British & Irish Lions Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Brian O'Driscoll, Jonathan Davies, George North, Jonathan Sexton, Mike Phillips; Alex Corbisiero, Tom Youngs, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Paul O'Connell, Tom Croft, Sam Warburton (capt), Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements Richard Hibbard (for T Youngs, 65), Mako Vunipola (for Corbisiero, 52), Dan Cole (for A Jones, 52), Geoff Parling (for AW Jones, 70), Dan Lydiate (for Croft, 73), Ben Youngs (for Phillips, 62), Owen Farrell, Sean Maitland.
Referee Chris Pollock (NZ)
| Second Test | Australia | 16-15 | British & Irish Lions | Melbourne |
| 29 June, 11:05am | Try Ashley-Cooper 74 Con Leali'ifano 76 Pens Leali'ifano 16, 23,36 | Pens Halfpenny 9, 27, 32 39, 62 | Attendance 56,771 |
Australia Kurtley Beale; Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Leali'ifano, Joe Tomane; James O'Connor, Will Genia; Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, James Horwill, Kane Douglas, Ben Mowen, Michael Hooper, Wycliff Palu.
Replacements Saia Fainga'a, James Slipper (for Robinson 60), Sekope Kepu (for Alexander 58), Rob Simmons (for Douglas 53), Liam Gill (for Palu 60), Nick Phipps, Rob Horne (for Ashley-Cooper 79), Jesse Mogg.
British & Irish Lions Leigh Halfpenny, Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll, Jonathan Davies, George North, Jonathan Sexton, Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Geoff Parling, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements Richard Hibbard (for T Youngs 56), Ryan Grant, Dan Cole (for Jones 58), Tom Croft (for Warburton 66), Sean O'Brien (for Heaslip 62), Conor Murray (for B Youngs 53), Owen Farrell, Alex Cuthbert.
Referee Craig Joubert (South Africa)
| Third Test | Australia | 16-41 | British & Irish Lions | Sydney |
| 6 July, 11:05am | Try O'Connor 40 Con Leali'ifano 40 Pens Leali'ifano 8, 41, 45 | Tries Corbisiero 2, Sexton 57, North 64, Roberts 67 Con Halfpenny 2, 57, 69 Pens Halfpenny 7, 12, 15, 25, 51 | Attendance 83,702 |
Australia Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Leali'ifano, Joe Tomane, James O'Connor, Will Genia; Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, James Horwill (capt), Kane Douglas, Ben Mowen, George Smith, Wycliff Palu.
Replacements Saia Fainga'a (for Moore, blood, 55-62, then 72), James Slipper (for Robinson, 66), Sekope Kepu (for Smith, 26-36, for Alexander, 36), Rob Simmons (for Douglas 62), Ben McCalman, Michael Hooper (for Smith, 5-10, then 66), Nick Phipps (for Genia, 69), Jesse Mogg (for Folau, 27).
Yellow card: Alexander (24)
British & Irish Lions Leigh Halfpenny; Tommy Bowe, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North; Jonathan Sexton, Mike Phillips; Alex Corbisiero, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Geoff Parling, Dan Lydiate, Sean O'Brien, Toby Faletau. Replacements Tom Youngs (for Hibbard 48), Mako Vunipola (for Corbisiero, 67), Dan Cole (for A Jones, 55), Richie Gray (for Parling, 68), Justin Tipuric (for Faletau, blood, 55, for O'Brien, 60), Conor Murray (for Phillips, 51), Owen Farrell (for Sexton, 64), Manu Tuilagi (for Roberts, 69)
Referee Romain Poite (France)
Other tour matches
| 1 June | Barbarians | 8-59 | British & Irish Lions | Hong Kong |
| 5 June | Western Force | 17-69 | British & Irish Lions | Perth |
| 8 June | Queensland Reds | 12-22 | British & Irish Lions | Brisbane |
| 11 June | Queensland/NSW County | 0-64 | British & Irish Lions | Newcastle |
| 15 June | New South Wales Waratahs | 17-47 | British & Irish Lions | Sydney |
| 18 June | ACT Brumbies | 14-12 | British & Irish Lions | Canberra |
| 25 June | Melbourne Rebels | 0-35 | British & Irish Lions | Melbourne |
Lions points scorers (all matches)
114 Leigh Halfpenny (record)
51 Owen Farrell
23 Stuart Hogg
20 George North, Alex Cuthbert
19 Jonathan Sexton
15 Jonathan Davies, Brian O'Driscoll
10 Ben Youngs, Conor Murray, Sean O'Brien, Tom Croft, Mike Phillips
5 Richard Hibbard, Dan Lydiate, Geoff Parling, Mako Vunipola, Alun Wyn Jones, Jamie Heaslip, Alex Corbisiero, Sean Maitland, Tommy Bowe, Paul O'Connell, Jamie Roberts, one penalty try
Lions points scorers (Test only)
49 Leigh Halfpenny (record)
10 George North
5 Alex Cuthbert, Alex Corbisiero, Jonathan Sexton, Jamie Roberts
Lions try scorers (all matches)
4 George North, Alex Cuthbert,
3 Leigh Halfpenny, Jonathan Sexton, Jonathan Davies, Brian O'Driscoll
2 Ben Youngs, Conor Murray, Sean O'Brien, Tom Croft, Mike Phillips
1 Owen Farrell, Stuart Hogg, Richard Hibbard, Dan Lydiate, Geoff Parling, Mako Vunipola, Alun Wyn Jones, Jamie Heaslip, Alex Corbisiero, Sean Maitland, Tommy Bowe, Paul O'Connell, Jamie Roberts, one penalty try
Lions try scorers (Test only)
2 George North
1 Alex Cuthbert, Alex Corbisiero, Jonathan Sexton, Jamie Roberts
LIONS HISTORY since 1989
| Year | Coach | Captain(s) | ||
| 1989 | Australia | W2-1 | Ian McGeechan | Finlay Calder |
| 1993 | New Zealand | L1-2 | Ian McGeechan | Gavin Hastings |
| 1997 | South Africa | W2-1 | Ian McGeechan, Jim Telfer | Martin Johnson |
| 2001 | Australia | L1-2 | Graham Henry | Martin Johnson |
| 2005 | New Zealand | L0-3 | Sir Clive Woodward | Brian O'Driscoll, Gareth Thomas |
| 2009 | South Africa | L1-2 | Ian McGeechan | Paul O'Connell |
| 2013 | Australia | W2-1 | Warren Gatland | Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones |
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