The Wallabies were brave in Melbourne but the true test of their courage comes now. Despite snatching defeat from the jaws of victory yet again, they must try to put aside the disappointment of the last-gasp 29-26 defeat at the MCG and debate over that contentious 80th minute non-penalty, and win the final Test to deny the Lions a 3-0 sweep. The Wallabies can’t save the series but they can save face in Sydney on Saturday – and claw back a little of the goodwill they squandered in letting the Lions off the hook with 90,307 fans in the stands and millions more watching on screens at home.
It won’t be easy. All week Australians have torn themselves apart wrestling with one of the crueller defeats in the Wallabies’ woebegone recent history. Moods have swung between grieving and aggrieved, despair and defiance. On one hand the wider public are mourning a gut-wrenching defeat, a once-every-12-years opportunity lost amid an embarrassing, yet painfully familiar, inability to ruthlessly close out a game they were bossing with a 23-5 lead. On the other hand they are still aggrieved that Australia’s early dominance over the Lions was denied at the death by a 50-50 decision.
