Maro Itoje, captain of the British & Irish Lions celebrates after winning the second rugby union test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

SYDNEY (AP) — When talk of a 3-nil series sweep started in the week leading up to the second test, British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell was careful to play down those prospects in the full expectation of a potent comeback from Australia.

With that sweep now within sight in Sydney on Saturday after a contentious, last-minute 29-26 win over the Wallabies in Melbourne, some have questioned Australia's place in the rotation for quadrennial Lions tours that also includes World Cup champion South Africa and New Zealand.

Farrell thinks that kind of speculation is disrespectful.

“Every single team have their ups and downs but Australia — the sporting nation that they are — are always going to come back,” he said. “Come the 2027 World Cup, they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Australia won the Rugby World Cup in 1991 and ‘99, beat the Lions in 2001 and lost the World Cup finals in 2003 and ’15. But since then, the Wallabies have been on a slide that included a group-stage exit at the 2023 World Cup in France.

“It would be tragic not to tour here," Farrell said. "To me its insulting to talk about it in that kind of way.”

Whatever Farrell thinks, even the inference adds to the tension of another sold-out test in Sydney, where the Wallabies will be desperate to avoid a sweep and the Lions determined to finish off a historic, undefeated tour.

France has been touted as a replacement destination for Lions tours, given the strength of the national team and the club competition. Argentina was on the itinerary of early Lions tours in 1910 and 1927. The Pumas beat the 2025 Lions 28-24 in a warmup match in Dublin before Farrell's squad arrived in Australia and went on an eight-game winning streak.

They’re aiming to be the first Lions squad to record an unbeaten tour since 1974, which finished with a 13-13 draw against the Springboks. The Lions haven't won a test series in Australia 3-0 since 1904.

“We have put ourselves in position to finish this tour with our best performance to date and create our own piece of history,” said Farrell, who made two changes to his starting lineup. “Last weekend’s test match was an incredible spectacle. We are expecting another epic battle this weekend.”

Wounded Wallabies

Australia head coach Joe Schmidt had to make yet-another injury-enforced change when hooker David Porecki was ruled out Friday, with Billy Pollard promoted off the bench to start and Brandon Paenga-Amosa drafted into the squad.

Schmidt had already made four changes to his starting XV and two to the bench for the initial selection 48 hours ahead of kickoff.

On top of that, he decided it was better for backrower Carlo Tizzano to sit out this test and stay off social media amid northern hemisphere backlash over the disputed tackle in the leadup to the Lions' winning try in Melbourne.

Tizzano dramatically reeled back instantly after being cleaned out by Lions flanker Jac Morgan in the last breakdown, attracting criticism in the north for trying to milk a penalty.

Schmidt spoke about the deflating impact of the “ gut-wrenching end ” to last week’s test in Melbourne, but said his squad had rallied and was ready to go.

Those were sentiments echoed by Wallabies captain and No. 8 Harry Wilson.

“Last week we thought we played some pretty good footy and put ourselves in a position to win that game,” Wilson said the captain's run Friday, where he had to address yet more changes to the Wallabies lineup. "Ultimately we didn’t, and (the Lions) are obviously wanting to come out here and be clean-sweepers.

“But we want to go out there and get a result for our country ... the boys can’t wait.”

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