Jaded Lions have complaints aplenty but no real excuses

In the confines of the dressing-room the 2001 Lions were together for the last time. They were dead on their feet, experiencing probably the most bitter moment of their career most probably. They couldn't have given any more, Donal Lenihan told them. They had coped bravely with adversity on a tough tour, the management were proud of them all. Lenihan had to quicken his sentences then, as his voice began to break under the emotional strain, and he was warmly applauded.

It's funny how the 2001 Lions seemed almost to generate more warmth when it was over than when the tour was actually taking place. Yesterday the vast majority of the squad did what rugby tours were traditionally all about and had a good all-day knees-up. They should have done it weeks ago. This will be a tour of what-might-have-beens.

In one sense at least there can have been no recriminations. Truly, they had given every ounce of energy available to them. As a result, it ebbed if it didn't always flow and it was compelling sport. For much of the night it was even an epic contest, the cream of the home unions going toe to toe with the world champions, a Test and 23 points apiece going into the final quarter, in on the grandest of stages.

Yet you never really, really believed the miracle could happen.

And it would have been close to miraculous. At the risk of becoming a stuck record, the 11-month, seven-week tour had simply taken too much of a toll before a ball was even kicked on Saturday. It transpired that at no point did had the Lions' starting XV of last Saturday actually trained en bloc last week, and even allowing for the fly on the wall documentaries and the books which will eventually appear it's doubtful whether we'll ever know the full extent to which they were patched up and sent out. The miracle was they were within a converted try of stealing a series win. Of all the stats to emerge from this game and this series, perhaps the most relevant was the Lions failed to score in the final quarter for the third Saturday running.

They simply went to the well and the well had run dry.

As they trooped out of the dressing-room corridor to the underground exit gate to their bus, the Lions understandably cut a devastated lot.

To have come this far, and in so many ways, yet to come up short must have constituted the biggest disappointment of their careers. There'll be a lot of residual anger as to why this came to pass.

For defensive coach Phil Larder this was a sixth losing trek to Oz in one or other of the rugby codes and it probably stank the most. "It wouldn't be impossible," he had said, in reference to the notion of the Lions winning a series away from home at the end of a 40-50 game, 11-month season against world champions three months into their season, "but it's like trying to do it with one hand tied behind your back".

Martin Corry emerged and spoke in hushed, near tearful tones to a couple of us. He had been called up as a replacement yet ultimately started in six and featured in seven of the last nine games. "At the end you can usually say the best team won but in this case I don't think they did."

You could agree and disagree with this viewpoint. The better team did win on the night and over the series, but given a more level playing field you suspect the Lions would have been better.

They didn't get the rub either. For example, take last Saturday's first-half when they were shunting the Wallabies toward their line only for Paddy O'Brien's whistle to intervene because the Wallabies stood up. Then compare it with the scrum seven days beforehand which wheeled over 180 and disintegrated before John Eales picked up in the build-up to Joe Roff's second try as Jonathan Kaplan waved play on. Utterly inconsistent.

But to a large extent you make your own luck as well. An inspired Justin Harrison began and ended the game with the first and sixth steals of Lions' lineouts. No team can cough up that much ball and win. The pressure the Lions were under at lineout had a ripple effect throughout the rest of their rugby, with the under-used Rob Henderson and Brian O'Driscoll getting precious little attacking ball.

By comparison, the Wallabies were able to launch a stunningly simplistic simple but offensive lineout variation off quick top of the line ball for George Gregan to fire the ball in front of three oncoming midfield runners; Nathan Grey taking it up, then Toutai Kefu before Gregan put Herbert over for his crucial second try.

In all of this there was the sound of chickens coming home to roost, given the way three specialist middle of the line jumpers were long since jettisoned and not even included amongst the replacements. As long as I'll live I'll never understand why Martyn Williams, a specialist openside, was sitting on the bench these past three Saturdays, other than to keep it warm.

Ironically, there was no bigger thorn in the Lions' side than George Smith, a groundhog cut from the David Wilson cloth with an uncanny sixth sense for the breakdown. It was his ability to play the ball in the tackle which earned turnover penalties for Matt Burke to take it from 3-3 to 9-3.

And ultimately, the Wallabies are an utterly cool lot. The word "composure" has rarely been bandied about so much in post-match interviews and discussions. These Wallabies just never lose the plot. They don't have a Scott Quinnell propensity to give away a truck load of penalties, they'll patiently play aerial ping-pong all night until the opposition cracks, and imagine for a second one of their lot having a Colin Charvis-type brainstorm and throwing a defensive lineout to himself before crazily setting off on his own? Laughable alright.

Nor could you imagine the Lions closing out the game quite like the Wallabies did. No, no, the better team won on the night and over the series. It's just a shame the Lions hand one hand tied behind their backs.

Australia: M Burke (NSW); A Walker (ACT), D Herbert (Queensland), N Grey (NSW), J Roff (ACT); E Flatley (Queensland), G Gregan (ACT); N Stiles (Queensland), M Foley (Queensland), R Moore (NSW), J Harrison (ACT Brumbies), J Eales (Queensland, capt), O Finegan (ACT), T Kefu (Queensland), G Smith (ACT). Replacements used: M Cockbain (Queensland) for Finegan (76 mins), J Holbeck (ACT) for Grey (79 mins). Replacements not used: B Cannon, B Darwin, D Lyons, C Whitaker, C Latham.

Lions: M Perry (England); A Healey (England), B O'Driscoll (Ireland), R Henderson (Ireland), J Robinson (England); J Wilkinson (England), M Dawson (England); T Smith (Scotland), K Wood (Ireland), P Vickery (England), M Johnson (England, capt), D Grewcock (England), M Corry (England), S Quinnell (Wales), N Back (England). Replacements: C Charvis (Wales) for Quinnell (half-time), I Balshaw (England) for James (74 mins), D Morris (Wales) for Smith (74 mins). Replacements not used: M Williams (Wales), R O'Gara (Ireland), M Taylor (Wales). Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand).