Wallabies defeat British & Irish Lions 22-12 in Sydney to avoid series clean sweep

But for 80 minutes — and then some accounting for a long lightning delay — they showed mongrel.

And with it came victory against the British & Irish Lions, denying them an historic 3-0 clean sweep and ensuring there is a strong, beating heart inside the gold jersey two years out from a home World Cup.

Australia won 22-12 in front of 80,312 at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, led by a commanding shift from enforcer Will Skelton, who was a titan among mere mortals, and gritty backrower Tom Hooper, who claimed man of the match.

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This was a feisty, scrappy, hungry display; like a boxing kangaroo taking it to an intruder.

In pure statistics, but for the controversial non penalty last week at the MCG, the Wallabies were one minute away from claiming the series.

That is a remarkable feat given how comprehensively they were outplayed in the opening three quarters in Brisbane.

The Lions, who partied for two days after claiming the series at the MCG, were worn out by a desperate home team, who finally were able to string together back-to-back strong performances.

A 35-minute stoppage of the game due to lightning strikes disrupted the match, that featured fights, concussions, and a Lion stretchered from the field.

Retiring halfback Nic White played 59 minutes before walking off to a standing ovation. His dog-on-a-bone attitude filtered right through the team in his finale.

In driving rain, the Australians brought the smoke, physically unloading on their rivals with ferocity.

They led 8-0 at the break, and 15-0 with just a quarter remaining.

It took until the 62nd minute for the Lions to get on the board, with Jac Morgan burrowing over from close range.

At 15-7 with 18 minutes to play, fears arose that the Wallabies would give up another big lead.

But it wasn’t to be this time.

Replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher was sin-binned in the 69th minute after repeated offside and ruck infringements as the Wallabies peppered their line,

Two minutes later, Tate McDermott poked through a busy ruck and reached out for the winning try.

Lions replacement prop Will Stuart barged over on the full-time whistle, but their hopes of an undefeated tour had already evaporated.

In the 43rd minute, play was halted and players escorted into the dressing rooms as a lightning storm passed through.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii took time to meditate, Nick Frost studied laptop footage with lineout coach Geoff Parling, while Finn Russell was scrolling on his mobile phone, and some of his teammates snacked on bananas while chilling on beanbags.

Five spectators decided to provide their own entertainment by invading the field, basking in 10 seconds of glory before facing criminal charges and fines of $5500 each.

The players returned to the field at 9.40pm, with a 10-minute warm-up period before play resumed.

Australia settled in much better following the delay, winning two Lions lineouts, forcing errors, one which saw Max Jorgensen race 60 metres to score another sizzling try.

Injury wreaked havoc upon both sides, with Wallabies playmaker Tom Lynagh and Lions captain Maro Itoje both suffering first-half head injuries that ruled them out for the rest of the game.

Ben Donaldson took over as playmaker from the 35th minute

Tommy Freeman was also assessed for concussion late in the first half, so entire backline was rejigged with Owen Farrell coming on at outside centre, Blair Kinghorn moving to fullback, Bundee Aki to outside centre and Huw Jones to wing, a completely new formation they hadn’t used on tour.

It showed, with the Lions making several mistakes trying to spread the ball wide.

Australia kept the Lions scoreless in the first half.

A shoving exchange midway through the first half, with White and Dan Sheehan scuffling and Skelton imposing his brute force upon the Lions pack and particularly rival lock James Ryan, leading referee Nika Amashukeli to penalize the giant Australian.

But Skelton was setting the tone, saying in a half-time interview: “We’re not gonna take any itshay”.

Early in the second half, Ryan was rendered unconscious after accidentally colliding with Skelton’s knee and following a lengthy delay, was stretchered off the field.

That was immediately followed by the lightning delay, allowing big men Skelton and Taniela Tupou a vital break that extended their playing time. Moments after resumption, the pair combined for a break that opened the chance for a try, only for Tupou to lose the ball.

On the flipside, the Lions had both their starting locks in the stands, with Ollie Chessum and Tadhg Beirne moving into the second row and Morgan the replacement for Ryan.

Australia opened the scoring in the eighth minute through a Dylan Pietsch try.

Suaalii stepped around Gibson-Park and drew in Freeman before a lofted pass to Pietsch, who hauled it in from behind him and raced to leap into the corner, before shooting an imaginary arrow at the Lions’ audacity.