- guardian.co.uk, Sunday July 8 2001 14.20 BST
'We never play badly twice.' It was the pledge the Wallabies made on their arrival here in Melbourne, and they kept their word.
This city of Australian Rules placed its trust in the world champions of rugby union, turned up in record numbers at the Colonial Stadium - complete with its closed roof and its red army of Lions fans - and witnessed a record score against the side that had ambushed the Aussies in Brisbane.
Could it have been avoided? Most certainly. The Lions squandered their chances in the first half. And still they led at half-time by five points. That was not bad. If they cranked it up again they might have run away with the second Test as they had the first.
But within 10 minutes of the start of the second half it was all over. The Wallabies had scored two tries and kicked a penalty and the series was level. It was a depressing period for the tourists. Whatever they said to each other during the interval probably will not go down in the annals of stirring oratory.
So much went right at the start; so much was horribly out of order by the end. And to the pear-shaped patterns of play were added some nasty contortions of the body which threaten the preparations for the showdown in Sydney.
Richard Hill is suffering from concussion and will miss the final Test, as will Rob Howley with fractured ribs. Jonny Wilkinson and Brian O'Driscoll also took knocks, but the news on them might yet be more encouraging. To contemplate playing without Hill and Howley is to be looking at the prospect of a long, cold journey home in the cargo hold.
It might not be the only hold the Lions will have felt by then. All the Wallabies who looked ponderous and out of touch just one week ago finished here in flying form. Owen Finegan for one. How did the blindside suddenly become such an influence in the second half? Because George Gregan was allowed to play. And George could play because the front five did the Lions at the line-out and at the scrum. That was the true horror story.
How differently it all was at the start. The Lions survived a scary couple of throws into their own line-out and settled down by throwing short to Martin Johnson. Who else? Reassured by their captain, they burst into life. Dafydd James came off his right wing and burst clean through midfield. But it led to nothing as he took the tackle rather than risk the final pass.
The same thing happened to Brian O'Driscoll quarter of an hour later. He cut through as sweetly as he had done in Brisbane but instead of finishing the move off by passing to Matt Perry he allowed himself to be caught.
It didn't seem to matter at this juncture. The referee was stinging the Wallabies on the penalty count. Wilkinson kicked two to open up a six-point lead and although Matt Burke responded with his first the tell-tale signs elsewhere all favoured the Lions.
Their tackling was even more brutal than it had been in the first Test. And there were deft touches, too. O'Driscoll leapt above Gregan to claim a high kick, while a cross-field gem from Wilkinson just eluded the grasp of Hill for the try.
The only danger was that the referee couldn't carry on penalising the Wallabies like this. It simply doesn't happen. And the Lions simply couldn't go on wasting their opportunities.
They didn't. Straight from the line-out set up by Hill and the Wilkinson kick, the Lions took a catch and drove. No prizes for guessing that the last person up, with the ball, would be Neil Back.
So far, so good. Scott Quinnell charged through Burke and it seemed that the Wallaby defence might crumble again. No, said Finegan, flattening Wilkinson. Not tonight.
This declaration was followed soon afterwards by a blow to the face of Hill. He went off bleeding from his nose. Martin Corry, one of the Brisbane bulldogs, came on as a blood-bin replacement. Hill returned but surrendered at half-time.
Burke in the meantime kicked a second penalty. The Wallabies turned the ball over twice in their favour at the tackle. Referee Jonathan Kaplan was starting to even up the penalty count.
But these were but ripples of concern. There was no way to imagine that it was about to implode. Was Hill such a massive loss? Without him it all changed in the second half.
After so much iron-willed discipline in the face of pressure from without and, let's face it, from within, the Lions suddenly cracked. And it was Wilkinson, of all people. He was on his own 22 when he tried to loop a pass out to the wing. It found one. Roff said thank you very much and the scores were level.
At 11-11 there was everything to play for. The game and perhaps the series were in the balance. The Lions collapsed. The Wallabies soared to a new height of ball retention and direct action. Moreover, they made a right mess of the Lions scrum.
Howley fed the set piece and then could only watch as the Wallabies turned it and drove. The ball disappeared and then appeared in the hands of John Eales. How could a second row do that? The ball found its way to Roff who had too much gas for James.
The game was not quite yet over. Wilkinson kicked a third penalty and the gap was down to the equivalent of a converted try. The Lions never came close. They were chasing the game and anxiety dogged their every move. Time after time they were penalised. Burke kicked three of them.
And he did more than that, He was the final runner to rampage through a defence that had lost its shape. Gregan had set up a Finegan charge and the full-back completed the move, crashing through the challenge of Jason Robinson and Iain Balshaw.
Robinson and Balshaw. Two of the Lions' best runners in attack were now left on their rears on their own try-line as the Wallabies made good on their pledge. Before the series began they made another: 'We shall be at our best in Sydney'. Would that the Lions could now say the same thing.
Australia: Burke; Walker (Latham 44), Herbert, Grey, Roff; Larkham (Flatley 75), Gregan; Stiles, Foley (Cannon 78), Moore, Giffin (Cockbain 68), Eales (capt), Finegan, G Smith, Kefu.
Lions: Perry (Balshaw 50); James, O'Driscoll, Henderson, Robinson; Wilkinson (Jenkins 69), Howley (Dawson 76); T Smith, Wood, Vickery (Leonard 62), Johnson (capt), Grewcock, Hill (Corry h-t), Back, Quinnell.
Referee: J Kaplan (S Africa).
