David Campese’s forthright verdict on ‘the elephant in the room’ and what Joe Schmidt should look at to ‘avoid humiliation’

In his latest column, Wallabies legend David Campese reflects on the second Test between the British & Irish Lions and the Wallabies and begins with the major talking point from the encounter.

Test for the Ages

Firstly, I want to say hats off to both teams for a wonderful Test match, full of incident, commitment and excitement, and in the final analysis, the Lions just had too much in terms of fitness and impact for the Wallabies.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first; the Jac Morgan clear out.

For me, it was fully legal – he was as low as anyone could possibly get in that situation, there was a clear and positive attempt to wrap, and he won the collision. I simply don’t get how anyone could think otherwise, and I thought Jac did great when he came on after Tom Curry’s magnificent 60 minutes.

The whinging from some parts of the Aussie media is embarrassing. We, as a nation, live by the sword and die by the sword – and above all, I’d like to think we’re strong enough as a sporting country to take the referee’s word and not blame others, as some of our former players and pundits have done. It’s bloody embarrassing, and we should be magnanimous in defeat to an outstanding Lions side.

The officials nailed the call. Alongside Andrea Piardi were Nika Amashukeli and Ben O’Keeffe, two of the world’s foremost referees, and they took their time to make the correct call in a calm way.

I was watching the match with Phil Davis, the wonderful former Wales number eight, who is one of the best coach and law developers in the world, and both he and I looked at the replay and were absolutely sure it was a fair and perfectly timed clear out.

My message is it’s time to move on. If some sections of the media continue, there’ll be so many sour grapes that there’s a danger it could outdo our wine exports; it’s truly that embarrassing.

Excuses don’t wash

The strong-minded players don’t look at a single incident in a match for excuses. It’s far more honest to look at the other issues that conspired to leave us short. The Wallaby lead was built when the Lions were down to 14 – and I have to say, considering that Australia scored in the move where Tommy Freeman was carded, I found it quite harsh to see him yellowed for a very marginal offside that had no eventual impact on the try scoring outcome. Yes, the Lions were on a warning, but two inches offside in a move where the opposition score is not, for me, a yellow card offence.

Fuming former Wallaby accuses officials of being ‘weak’ as ‘terrible decision’ costs Australia in Lions series

Andy Farrell addresses controversial Jac Morgan clear-out in British and Irish Lions victory

But once the Wallabies built that lead, then they fell off. I have to say I thought the forwards were terrific – they won so many early collisions, the absolute key against this Lions side, and when we turned around at half-time, it was all to play for.

However, the drop off that came in the second half cost us the game. We scored three points in 40 minutes as the big lads that had made all the dents ran out of petrol. Will Skelton and Bobby Valetini were outstanding, but neither have had a great deal of game time and they fell off a cliff after 50 in terms of impact.

What I simply cannot understand is why Joe Schmidt wouldn’t want to pack his replacements with players who have had a proven impact over the Lions. Sure, First Nations & Pasifika played them on Tuesday, but can you really tell me that the likes of the brilliant Seru Uru, Taniela Tupou and Charlie Gamble, even with a midweek 80 behind them, wouldn’t have had a greater 30-minute impact? Uru, 6’6” and some 120kg, would have been the perfect man to have carried on where Bobby “Vee” and big Will left off, and it’s crazy that he’s not been given a well-earned opportunity. I really hope these three are given their opportunity next weekend as the Wallabies look to fight off a whitewash.

Lions stars

Whilst I have been disappointed with the lack of pace and width that has plagued the Lions in the Test, their work up front, and especially in that back-row and half-back area, has been outstanding.

For me, the man of the series has been Tom Curry. What an engine this lad has – one of the things that sets him aside is that when he makes an intervention, it’s a devastatingly powerful one. The tackle back on Joseph Suaalii was absolutely sensational – bone-crushing and ball-winning – exactly what you want in your seven. There was a moment in the first half when Australia took the contact into him, yet not only did he win the collision, he put his man down and then spoiled the ruck and completely ruined any form of continuity, all fully legally. That’s the stuff Richie McCaw did all day long, and it takes so much momentum away from an attack, giving the defence a vital second or so to reload and realign.

At nine, Jamison Gibson-Park might not have grabbed the headlines, but I can’t remember him making a poor decision yet. His kicks are perfect, his speed to ruck is brilliant, and he keeps pressure off his fly-half and allows his forwards to work off real precision around the breakdown. I don’t think enough has been made of his impact, and he’s been a key leader for the Lions.

Moving forward

This series is now a dead rubber. It remains to be seen if the Wallabies have done enough to maintain public interest – had Australia won on Saturday, the build-up this week would have been amazing. Now it’s all about avoiding humiliation, and I’m not sure how that sits with the Aussie public.

Nevertheless, there’s part of me that thinks that we’ve done enough in this series not to be nilled, and I hope Joe Schmidt looks at the bench impact and changes up a few of the selections to get more from his finishers.

The Lions will have dents and bruises, but I can’t see Andy Farrell changing much. He will want that 3-0 win, so expect to see another power-based Lions team. My only hope is that the Lions decide to entertain – they’ve been fantastic so far, but to finish this series, I’d love them to say ‘f**k it, let’s give this a crack’ and enjoy themselves with ball-in-hand.

READ MORE: British and Irish Lions storm back to win series with dramatic victory over wonderful Wallabies