In 2013, the final moments of the British and Irish Lions’ first Test win against Australia had the entire Suncorp Stadium gripped.
Replacement Kurtley Beale slipped, when attempting to convert a match-winning penalty, and the Lions escaped to lead the series 1-0.
Drama. Excitement. Edge-of-your-seat stuff. It is what makes the Lions so special.
Fast forward 12 years and Andy Farrell’s side also delivered at Suncorp Stadium with a 27-19 victory – the Lions’ ninth straight win in Brisbane.
The result was the same but the feeling was different.
The Lions were so dominant in the first 50 minutes that the outcome was never in doubt.
Farrell’s side raced out of the blocks to lead 17-5 at half-time after tries by Sione Tuipulotu and Tom Curry. A 12-point lead did not do justice to their performance.
Finn Russell at his mercurial best was dominating his head to head with rookie Australia fly-half Tom Lynagh and, in partnership with scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, was running the show.
Flankers Tom Curry and Tadgh Beirne, both of whom responded to questions over whether their form warranted a starting spot, were bossing the physical battle.
Prop Ellis Genge and hooker Dan Sheehan were battering Australia’s defensive line.
“The Lions looked battle-hardened, ready and a lot of the clunky stuff in the warm-ups had gone,” former Lion Tom Shanklin told the BBC. “They looked sharp in attack, they knew what they were doing and Australia ran out of options.
“Finn Russell and Gibson-Park were quality. The way they pull the strings, the time they have on the ball, their decision-making makes everyone’s jobs so much easier.”
Andy Nicol, a Lions tourist in Australia in 2001, heaped praise on Curry and Beirne.
“Tom Curry was off the scale,” he told the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly. “He smashed players in contact and his metres after contact was amazing as well.
“Beirne was man of the match and played the full game, Curry played 57 minutes and I would happily have given it to him. He was outstanding, so was Maro Itoje.”
