Lions Claim Famous Tour Victory

Joe Paley,

Correspondent (Sport)

 

The British and Irish Lions secured a famous series victory last Saturday evening in Sydney as tries from Alex Corbisiero, George North, Jaime Sexton and Jaime Roberts brought glory to the northern hemisphere for the first time since 1997.

With the ground capacity full at just over 83,000, anticipation for the final match in this pulsating series was enormous. After the Lions narrowly toppled Australia in the first game by two points, the hosts struck back in Melbourne to leave the final game of the series open to play for.

Criticised for lacking penetration in the final quarter in the second test, the Lions got off to a dream start in Sydney with prop Corbisiero going over in the opening two minutes.

Leigh Halfpenny ensured the momentum was with the Lions after Corbisiero’s early try, continuing his remarkable kicking record on tour. It would be Halfpenny’s consistency that saw the man of the series award head his way after the game. However against the run of play, Australia’s James O’Connor blunted Halfpenny’s impact by scoring a try just before half-time to close the gap between the teams and in turn giving his side hope and momentum for the second half.

Yet a remarkable last 30 minutes saw the Lions bask in glory with James Bond star Daniel Craig in the changing room after the game. George North scored his second try of the tour before fly-half Jaime Sexton and the recalled centre Jaime Roberts both went over in the final 10 minutes to give the Lions an emphatic win.

This is the Lions’s first series victory since the infamous tour of South Africa in 1997. The tour of New Zealand in 2017 is likely to come with even more expectation, with many already calling for Coach Warren Gatland and his backroom staff to return.

Image Courtesy: Caomhan27 (http://commons.wikimedia.org/)