The British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia will go to a series decider in Sydney after the home side grabbed a late victory in Saturday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
Adam Ashley-Cooper rounded off a period of sustained pressure from the Wallabies with a 76th-minute try, but it was Christian Leali’ifano’s near-touchline conversion that clinched the 16-15 victory.
Until Ashley-Cooper crossed, the Lions had led for most of the match with Leigh Halfpenny, who missed a potentially match-winning 50-metre penalty in the last act of the game, kicking all of their points.
It means the three-match series is now level at 1-1.
Lions captain Sam Warburton was in defiant mood despite the loss.
He said: “We’re going through what Australia went through last week. It’s disappointing now, but I think the boys will wake up tomorrow and realise that we’ve still got a Test series up for grabs. And we’ve got every chance of doing that.
“We have to pick ourselves back up now, and there’s some good stuff in there. We’re definitely capable of taking the Test series, we’ve shown that for two games.It’s going to be won be a whisker next week, and I hope it’s us.”
He added: “We can still achieve our dream, it’s still alive. I know fans at home will be disappointed but it’s game on for next week.
“Once we’ve got over this defeat, I know the boys will be flying into next weekend with every hope and chance of winning the Test series.”
Warburton limped out of the action late on with what looked like a hamstring injury and the Lions now face a nervy wait to see if he will be fit to lead the team out next weekend.
Asked about the injury, the Welshman said: “Not sure, I felt something in my hammy so I’ve had some ice on it already. The physios will assess it in 24 hours’ time and fingers crossed from there.”
Brian O’Driscoll could not contain his disappointment after the defeat but warned the Wallabies: “It’s not over.”
O’Driscoll admitted the Lions were a “bit loose”, saying: “Obviously we’re very disappointed. We were ahead in the leaderboard, we got six points clear, that’s a horrible margin, a converted try and you’re behind.
“They battled away and, we were a bit loose with aspects of our game and gave them opportunities to build the platform to get their score.”
However, the veteran centre also insisted: “It’s very disappointing but it’s not over.
“We’ve got one massive week next week, both from a mental point of view and a physical point of view to get ourselves right for Saturday in Sydney.
“We knew it was never going to come easy and they made it tough on us.”
Of next weekend’s decider, the Irishman added: “It’s huge, the momentum from this game is with them but we won’t let that phase us, we’ll dig deep.
“We were able to beat them once and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do it again if we can get our game right.”