Quote Me On That

The British and Irish Lions tour ended on Saturday in a damp Sydney with Australia ensuring they didn’t finish the series empty-handed by securing a memorable 22-12 victory at Stadium Australia that meant the Lions won the series 2-1.

The Wallabies will now move on to face world champions South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in a fortnight, while the Lions will go into the annals of rugby union, until they tour New Zealand in 2029.

Before that test, the row over the legality of Jac Morgan’s clear-out of Carlo Tizzano at the end of the second test rumbled on, with opinions flying well into the week.

Aside from the Lions, there was plenty of other goings on in the rugby union world, and here are the most memorable soundbites.

“The best team won on the night. It might take one or it might take two beers (for the Lions players), but they'll be unbelievable proud of what they've achieved on this tour.”

Lions head coach Andy Farrell knows what the immediate future holds:

“I said in the week it would be insulting to question Australia's place on the series, and I repeat that. Special things are going to happen to Australia over the next 18 months. They have special athletes and special players.”

Farrell is in no doubt that the Lions will be back in 12 years:

“They earned whatever they got tonight. I couldn't be any prouder of the way the players rebounded. The feeling of disappointment they had was deep. You had to let that run its course and let them springboard back.”

Australia coach Joe Schmidt lauds his players’ spirit to fight for a win:

“I am so happy that he got to finish his test career like that. He is so important to our group, he keeps us accountable, and he loves a beer. He is a great team-mate.”

Australia captain Harry Wilson raises a (metaphorical, for now) glass to the retiring Nic White:

“We've got to back our referees and our match officials, and we do. They're making 800-plus decisions under incredible pressure in front of a global audience in a single game, and they don't get every decision right. But as long as they've gone through the right process and as long as they've got a decision that they can stand behind, then we'll support them.”

World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpen gives his support to referee Andrea Piardi:

“I know that it is a very tough call for the referee to make there, and if I were Joe, I would be really disappointed, and if I were Andy, I’d be really happy. I think it was touch and go, I can understand both sides of it and what both coaches see. But World Rugby has ruled on it; that’s what everybody has to accept.”

Get off the fence Rassie Erasmus, and tell us what you really think:

“If he (referee Andrea Piardi) hadn’t allowed that try, then basically, the cleanout would be out of the game in rugby because he couldn’t do anything more legal than he did. The argument is that he hit his head. Yes, we know that. But he couldn’t do anything more than that. If you don’t allow that sort of cleanout, we might as well forget about rucks and have ‘play-the-balls’.”

Eddie Jones takes a legal look at Morgan v Tizzano:

“I can tell you they’ll come back, and I can tell you why they’ll come back because the Lions’ number one is about making money, and it makes money for the home unions and Australia makes more money than any other tour. That’s the reason they’ll come back.”

The ever-reserved Matt Williams pours cold water on the idea that the Lions may be done with Australia:

“I’m going to hand over to the Red Roses. Thank you for all your support this summer. Go do your thing, we believe in you.”

No pressure for England’s Red Roses, as England’s Euro 2025 football winning captain Leah Williamson passes the flame before the Women’s Rugby World Cup starts:

“In 2016, I made the All Blacks. The following year things went downhill. I made the team, but I wasn’t getting picked to play and it just wasn’t something I was used to. In the off-season, I told my wife I wanted to leave New Zealand, and I almost got to the point where I wanted to quit rugby because I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. What brought me back was a conversation with my wife. She just said: ‘Who cares about selection, coaches, players. Just go out there and have fun’.”

Just imagine what we would have missed if Mrs Savea hadn’t intervened:

“Something clicked and I told myself that this was where I could give my best. I want to do a little more for my country. Because I'm mixed nationality: my father is Senegalese, my mother is French. It's part of me. It was an obvious choice for me, a choice of the heart.”

Wilfrid Hounkpatin explains why he swapped France for Senegal: