O'Gara's La Rochelle book Champions Cup final return with ugly win

Interesting no comment from the Lions fans on the Aus try where the ref obstructed the tackler? Accept it & move on.

That's a clean out, ‘tackle’ or a cheap shot depending on your view. That phase of play is completed.

Morgan then holds Wallabies boys leg on the floor. He has played him off the ball.

It's not complicated. At all.

You just don't know it.

Australia have made progress for sure, and of course that matters. But for a team made up of 4 leading rugby nations, including two that are ranked much higher than this opposition, a win is expected and a loss would be humiliating. Furthermore, with weeks of playing together, planning together and living together it is hard to argue that the Lions have had less opportunity for cohesion than Australia.

A win is a win, and no-one should question that. But a last-minute one-score win that depended on a 50/50 penalty call is one to humbly accept, rather than to crow about. It was neither a beating, nor even a compelling win. I thought win was not undeserved, but it’s a close call on which was the better team on the day.

And let’s get off this nonsense about it being like a world cup final. The local pub teams may feel that their big game is like a world cup final, but it’s stupid to pretend it is the reality. The RWC final is played by two of the top teams in the world, and there is no evidence that either of these teams fits that description. There is a game in Eden Park later this year between the #1 and #2 ranked teams that would be a lot closer to it, of course.

Well done to the Lions, and congrats to the Wallabies. Let’s enjoy a good game for what it was, without pretending it was something bigger than it was.

At least 20 clear outs like this in the match. But you're upset about this one. Doesn't make a lot of sense…