Australia vs. British and Irish Lions score: Rugby union result, highlights as Wallabies avoid whitewash with deserved win

Dom Farrell

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Australia vs. British and Irish Lions score: Rugby union result, highlights as Wallabies avoid whitewash with deserved win image

Australia produced a battling, gutsy performance to defeat the British and Irish Lions 22-7 and claim a consolation third Test victory in Sydney.

The Wallabies were trying to avert the humiliation of suffering a 3-0 whitewash defeat and began with fierce intent amid a downpour at the Accor Stadium.

Dylan Pietsch went over in the corner inside five minutes, and the winger was an effervescent presence in attack and defence, while captain and scrum-half Nic White was superb on his international farewell.

The Lions' kicking game faltered, they were second best at the scrum, and they coughed up four turnovers inside the first 20 minutes.

A relentless period of Australian pressure on either side of the half hour concluded with Tom Lynagh putting over a routine penalty. During that passage of play, the Lions lost captain Maro Itoje to a mouth injury, and his night was over when he failed an HIA.

There was a delay of almost 40 minutes early in the second half due to lightning storms in the local area. When the action resumed, Max Jorgensen seized up on some sloppy Lions handling to scoot down the right wing and score.

Jac Morgan followed up his superb second Test cameo for the Lions with a try to reduce the arrears, but the Wallabies would not be denied.

Tate McDermott touched down from close range with 10 minutes to play, meaning Will Stuart's try at the last was a mere consolation.

MORE: Full schedule for the Lions' 2025 tour

Australia vs. British and Irish Lions third Test score

 ScoreTries (Conv.)Penalties
Australia22Pietsch 7', Jorgensen 55' (Donaldson), McDermott 70' (DonaldsonLynagh 34'
Lions12Morgan 62' (Russell), Stuart 80'—

Starting XVs:

Australia: 15. Tom Wright, 14. Max Jorgensen, 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12. Len Ikitau, 11. Dylan Pietsch, 10. Tom Lynagh, 9. Nic White; 1. James Slipper, 2. Billy Pollard, 3. Taniela Tupou, 4. Nick Frost, 5. Will Skelton, 6. Tom Hooper, 7. Fraser McReight, 8. Harry Wilson (C)

Replacements: 16. Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17. Angus Bell, 18. Zane Nonggorr, 19. Jeremy Williams, 20. Langi Gleeson, 21. Tate McDermott, 22. Ben Donaldson, 23. Andrew Kellaway

Lions: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Blair Kinghorn, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park; 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Maro Itoje (C), 5. Ryan James, 6. Tadhg Beirne, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Jack Conan

Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Ollie Chessum, 20. Jac Morgan, 21. Ben Earl, 22. Alex Mitchell, 23. Owen Farrell

Australia vs. British and Irish Lions third Test highlights

Fulltime: Australia 22-12 Lions

Will Stuart bundles his way through for a consolation try and that's that. The Lions are unable to emulate the feat of 1927 in Argentina; there is no whitewash. Australia played like a team fuelled by a desire not to be humiliated and that can be a powerful thing. Dylan Pietsch's early try set the tone, one that was maintained by the all-action and ever-niggling Nic White on his final Wallabies appearance. 

70 mins: McDermott makes it through and reaches over for a fifth Test try. That surely seals it for the Wallabies, as Donaldson converts. Australia 22-7 Lions

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69 mins: Yellow card for Kelleher for deliberate offside as the Lions find themselves under siege on their own tryline. The tourists will play most of the remainder of the contest a man down. Tom Curry is also forced off through injury.

62 mins: Game on! The Lions bombard the Wallabies on their own line and, after some fine resistance, Morgan manages to burrow over. Russell adds the extras. Australia 15-7 Lions

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59 mins: A wonderful moment for Nic White, who departs to a standing ovation on his Wallabies farewell. Taking sentiment out of it, it's a strange decision given how well Australia's No. 9 has played. He's controlled the midfield and the Lions will certainly be pleased to see the back of him.

55 mins: The Lions get themselves in a mess on halfway, Aki overruns a pass and Jorgensen steals in. The winger storms clear to touch down and Donaldson adds the extras. It's a huge lead in these conditions, feels a monumental ask for the Lions. Australia 15-0 Lions

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43 mins: It's coming up to the scheduled restart of 9:50 p.m. local time and both sets of players are out going through some warmups. We'll be back underway shortly.

43 mins: Play has been suspended due to adverse weather. In truth, the weather has been adverse all night but the key element right now is that thunderstorms are in the area. In the brief period that was possible after halftime, Ryan took a knee to the face from Skelton, and the Lions lock has been replaced by Morgan.

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Halftime

Australia very good value for their lead. White has been superb so far on his international farewell. Pretty ragged from the Lions and, if they're going to turn this around, they'll have to do so without skipper Itoje, who has failed a HIA after going off to have a mouth injury tended to.

34 mins: After turning down a couple of kickable penalties, the Wallabies eventually take the three at the end of a relentless spell of pressure near the Lions line. Offside is called and Lynagh pops a routine effort over. The weather remains absolutely wretched out there. Australia 8-0 Lions

7 mins: Australia hit the front and it's a wonderfully worked try as Pietsch goes over in the corner. Lynagh can't add the extras. Australia 5-0 Lions

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Dan Sheehan

Australia vs. British and Irish Lions third Test live stream, TV channel

Australia

  • Live stream: Stan Sport

All Lions matches in 2025 will be streamed live via Stan Sport. All the Test matches against the Wallabies will also be broadcast on Channel Nine.

UK

  • TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action
  • Live stream: Sky Go app

Fans in the United Kingdom can catch the action live on Sky Sports, with coverage beginning at 10 a.m. BST on both Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action.

What time does Australia vs. British and Irish Lions third Test kick off?

The match takes place at Accor Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales. It will kick off at 8:00 p.m. local time (11:00 a.m. BST).

Dom Farrell

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.