Wallabies v British and Irish Lions: Winners and losers as hosts’ ‘Brothers of Destruction’ power dominant win against ‘shaky’ tourists

Following Australia’s 22-12 win over the British and Irish Lions in Test Three of the series, here are our key winners and losers.

Winners 

Will Skelton

Yet another brilliantly physical display from the imposing lock, who really adds something to this Wallabies side. His desire to truck through the Lions pack in the carry and the ruck aided his team in getting on the front-foot early on, and he made himself a real nuisance in defence too. Australia look like a different team with him in the picture.

Joseph Suaalii

Possibly had a quiet series to date, but this was a really classy performance to silence those creeping doubts. While the conditions were biblical at times, even without the lightning break, he showed some deliciously deft pieces of skill to drive his side’s attack. His offload to Dylan Pietsch was something out of an 18+ website, and he combined that with some solid carries as well.

Taniela Tupou

Bullish performance from the Racing 92-bound tighthead, who proved a real point. He was ruthless in the tight exchanges, tag-teaming with Skelton as if they were the ‘Brothers of Destruction’ from WWE, which again just helped his team assert their dominance on the Lions. Tupou also had a field day in the scrum too, which will serve as a timely advert for him heading into the Rugby Championship.

Dylan Pietsch

Thrown in as an injury replacement for Harry Potter, and he more than took his chance. His try in the first-half was the highlight of his performance, and also threw himself into the defensive efforts as well with some strong tackles and a crucial turnover too. From coming in as an outsider, he showed he can be a key man in this Wallabies side.

Harry Wilson

His inspirational performance set the tone for this Wallabies win, as he continues to prove why Joe Schmidt trusts him with the armband. He just never shied away from the tough graft, posting 11 carries and nine tackles, and he also got heavily involved in the battle in the breakdown too.

Nick Frost

He might not have stolen the headlines, but his work in the lineout was a major part of this victory. He managed to wiggle his way ahead of the Lions’ jumpers on a consistent basis, which dented the tourists’ attacking platform. He backed that up with some industrious efforts around the park too, but his lineout efforts deserve plenty of praise.

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Joe Schmidt

He’s come under fire this series, but tonight was arguably the pinnacle of his Wallabies coaching career. Every change he made to the side, either enforced or tactical, paid off in bucketfuls, and he has seen a side take some serious strides forward from the disaster of Test One to victory in Test Three. He undoubtedly leaves the team and the wider sport of rugby union in Australia in a better place than he found it last year.

Losers

Lions injured trio

Maro Itoje, Tommy Freeman and James Ryan unfortunately end their tour on the sidelines after picking up head knocks. Englishmen Itoje and Freeman were taken off in the first-half, before Ryan was carted off on a stretcher mere moments before the lightning pause.

Tom Lynagh

Started out pretty well, to be fair to him, but like the trio listed above, came off with a head knock and later failed the HIA. He seemed to be growing into the series as it went on, which should serve him well moving into the Rugby Championship.

Andrew Porter

Kept his starting shirt, but was absolutely pummelled at scrum-time and was hooked just after the lightning break. His scrummaging counterpart Tupou seemed to have his number at every scrum, managing to shunt him out of his shape and get underneath him, which allowed him to win some precious penalties. Has had a decent series up to this point, though.

Bundee Aki

Just not his day, at all, which rounded off a tough series for him. The powerhouse centre just couldn’t really get his usual game going across this tour, as he was asked to play a different way, and today encapsulated that to a T. Yes, he was pushed out to 13, and yes, he was forced to play in a new combination, but nonetheless struggled with his role in this side.

Lions backline

While the Wallabies’ backline still got to show off some champagne rugby in the biblical downpour, the Lions’ backline really struggled to click into gear. It wasn’t their own fault, as the Wallabies brought some intense defence, but yet they were just really shaky throughout the contest. The reshuffle clearly didn’t help things, with new untrained combinations asked to gel instantly, but their shape was way off from where it had been this tour, and then when it did click, they made consistent errors to deny them chances. A tough day’s work for the backs unit.

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