Andy Farrell’s Lions hopes of a Wallaby whitewash were washed away in a storm in Sydney as they lost their unbeaten record down under.
On a dramatic night in Sydney play was suspended for more than 35 minutes just after the break because of lightning strikes in the local area.
And bad luck struck the tourists three times before that with skipper Maro Itoje, wing Tommy Freeman and lock James Ryan all out of the game before the 42-minute mark.
With the carnage and positional reshuffles the Lions were blown away in the downpour and their hopes of a clean sweep went down the drain.
They manned up all right but in the end were outscored by ** tries to one and the Wallabies, so close to winning in Melbourne last week, must be thinking of what might have been.
The lightning break came with the Australians 8-0 in front and they rained on the Lions parade good and proper after the delay.
The Lions have spent the last six weeks proclaiming they were aiming for a 3-0 series win and were shooting to be remembered as one of the best touring sides in history but this result blows that out of the water although they still have a series win and no one can take that away from them.
Tadhg Beirne sealed his status as the Lions best player in Australia with another monstrous display, which included switching from flanker to lock.
And Tom Curry was his normal turbo-charged self, emptying the tank before going off late on, but this was a game too far for the tourists who looked shattered at the end of it.
Aussie boss Joe Schmidt has got a lot of things wrong in the last few months. His side played only one game before the series, a 21-18 limp past Fiji and he seems to be worried about the upcoming Rugby Championship than the once-in-12-year chance to beat the Lions.
But Schmidt had his side fired up from the off with lock Will Skelton again flying around, disrupting the tourists and adding a bit of biff to proceeding.
The Lions were all at sea as the rain bucketed down and were trailing 8-0 at the break with the Wallabies having nearly 70 per cent of territory and possession.
The hosts scored their opening try on seven minutes when Joseph Suaalii, the ARU’s five-million dollar man, produced a no-look pass that hoodwinked the Lions defence and put wing Dylan Pietsch over for his first Test try.
Skelton, of course, sparked the first decent brawl of the series when he whacked into Curry and all hell broke loose. There were even some punches thrown which is a rarity in the modern game with Dan Sheehan, Finn Russell, Aussie scrum-half Nic White and Lions lock James Ryan all involved.
All good stuff, but it could not disguise the Wallabies dominance and they fully deserved Tom Lynagh’s penalty which came just after Itoje had gone off. Lynagh was then taken off for his HIA after a Sheehan tackle with the Irishman lucky to escape a card.
Then Freeman, an injury scare before the game, was taken off after copping a stray knee on the nose and with blood streaming down his face.
That meant the Lions had to reshuffle the backline with Owen Farrell getting catcalled by the crowd when he came on and there was more disruption after the break.
Ryan got an accidental knee in the face from Skelton that finished his game then the lightning came and confusion reigned.
When play resumed Australia drew first blood with wing Max Jorgensen going over before Jac Morgan got the Lions on the board. But the injuries had taken their toll and the tourists looked out on their feet with replacement scrum-half Tate McDermott going over to make it 22-12 and the game was up. Will Stuart’s late score was scant consolation.
Scorers:
Australia: Tries: Pietsch, Jorgensen, McDermott ; Cons: Donaldson (2); Pen: Lynagh
Lions: Tries: Morgan, Stuart; Cons: Russell (2)