Australia have won back a lot of fans during the British and Irish Lions Test series, says former Wallabies captain Stephen Moore.
Australia were well beaten in the first Test, but then came within one last-gasp Lions try of winning the second before taking the final Test 22-12 in Sydney to prevent the tourists securing a 3-0 series whitewash.
Ranked sixth in the world, two-time World Cup-winners Australia have been rebuilding after failing to qualify for the knockout stages of a Rugby World Cup for the first time in their history in 2023.
A poor national team and the continued rise of rugby league and Australian rules football have been factors in a decline in interest in rugby union in the country.
But the Lions, who the hosts have not beaten in a series since 2001, proved popular, with the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Crowd played in front of 90,307, while more than 80,000 watched the match in Sydney.
“I know it sounds weird because we’ve lost the series, but I think the team will come out of this series in better shape than when they came into it,” Moore told BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
“Enhanced reputations individually, and collectively as a team. The people watching those games at the ground and on the TV will be proud of the way the Wallabies played for a lot of the series.
“Even though the Lions won – they deserved to win – we’ve won a lot of fans back in the last three weeks.
“The Test matches and particularly a Lions tour, that’s our shop window. That’s our chance to fill stadiums and get people talking about rugby [union].
“Outside the noise around rugby league, and AFL is massive, that’s the biggest thing in town.”
Joe Schmidt’s side could not hold on to an 18-point lead in Melbourne as Hugo Keenan’s last-minute try snatched a series win for the tourists, but Australia showed vast improvement from the first half of Brisbane, when they did not look remotely competitive.
The hosts led for 79 minutes in Melbourne and were one controversial clearout decision away from taking the game, and were never behind in the final Test of the series on Saturday.
Depth proved to be a big factor, with standout forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton missing the first Test because of injuries.
Prop Taniela Tupou, capped 59 times, was not selected for the first Two Tests after struggling for form but was back to his powerful best in Sydney.
“We still have a long way to go with our domestic structure,” former Australia captain Moore added.
“You look at Ireland’s centralised model and I think we need to go down that path so that our best players are really closely managed so that they’re cherry-right for that first game of the Lions series.
“We’ve had 12 years to get ready for this and we haven’t got that part of it right and there’s still a lot to do.”
