'Lions need whitewash to be lauded for decades' - Dawson column

In his BBC Sport column, England World Cup winner - and three-time British and Irish Lion - Matt Dawson assesses the Lions' chances of a 3-0 series clean sweep in Australia.

The British and Irish Lions have achieved something truly special by winning a Test series - but for this squad to be properly celebrated for decades to come, they need to whitewash the Wallabies.

How good are they, compared to the series-winning teams of 1989, 1997 and 2013?

It's hard to judge given the opposition. Australia have had a tough few years. Part of me would love to have seen the Lions taken to the edge in three high-intensity Test matches in New Zealand or South Africa.

But you can only beat what is in front of you, and while Australia didn't turn up in Brisbane, they did in Melbourne and showed they can be a very decent Wallaby side.

Is that the level Australia are at now? Or was it a spike in performance born out of desperation? We'll find out a lot more about them this weekend and through the rest of their international season.

A couple of hours after full time on Saturday, the Lions players gathered in the centre of the pitch to reflect on what they had achieved in the sporting mecca that is the MCG.

Sitting there would have been the proper stuff of dreams for those players and I would like to think during the course of that night – even if at 4am – they spoke about how they can take themselves to a Lions status that hasn't been done in a century.

The last time the Lions won all their Test matches on a tour was 1927 in Argentina. That's almost a century worth of history. They are putting themselves in a position to be remembered for many years to come.

It reminds me a bit of when the European Ryder Cup team won in Italy in 2023 and all 12 of the victorious players were sitting at a press conference after regaining the trophy.

Yes, it was great to win at home, but winning at home has been done a lot before. So it was telling Rory McIlroy quickly turned his attention to Bethpage, New York, and a chance to really cement their legacy later this year.

On a similar note, I hope the Lions players have been saying to each other at the start of this week: "We could be a proper legendary side if we win 3-0."

'We never spoke about 3-0'

I was part of the last Lions team to go 2-0 up in a series, in South Africa in 1997.

After winning in Durban, the celebrations were so ridiculous - then we travelled up to altitude with a load of injuries. For me, it was a bit of a blur. There was so much euphoria and mayhem after sealing the series. In hindsight, it was utter chaos.

Family and friends were over, so we were being pulled all over the place, the England players that were fit were organising themselves to get to Australia after the third Test for a ludicrous one-off match, so while we were focused on the final Test at Ellis Park, and it was great to be selected again in a Lions shirt, I am not sure realistically we felt 3-0 was achievable.

At the time, we were saying we could do it and had the belief, but there was not a chance South Africa were going to let us whitewash them in their own backyard. They were playing for Springbok rugby pride and their intensity was off the charts.

We never spoke about winning 3-0 in the aftermath of victory in Durban. But we absolutely know it is on these Lions players' minds – they have spoken about it both in public and in private.

The stuff Henry Pollock said - backed up by his captain Maro Itoje - would never have come out of our mouths in 1997.

We were just thinking about ways of stopping the Springboks. But because of the nature of this current squad, their ability and the comparative weakness of Australian rugby, they have been able to set lofty goals.

Now they need to hit them in Sydney.

'Brave call not to penalise Morgan'

The decision not to penalise Jac Morgan for a clearout just before Hugo Keenan's decisive try has been a huge talking point here in Australia.

Personally, while I didn't think it was a penalty, I have seen examples where one has been given. Watching from the MCG stands, I was surprised the referee didn't give a penalty to Australia.

The easier decision would been to penalise the Lions, because once it goes against Australia, it is series over. It was a brave call and to some extent I can see why the Australians are spewing.

But did the right team win the Test match? I think they did. The Australians played some great rugby in the first half but their defence was so poor at times.

Three Lions tries - maybe even four - were from Australian defensive errors, either system lapses or losing the physical battle close to the line. But that came from the fatigue. The Lions were fitter with a stronger bench and it told.

In 1997 we were forced into a number of changes for the third Test and I would like to think Andy Farrell might make a handful of alterations to his starting XV given how close some of the selection calls have been.

Picking a completely different side won't work, but some of the bench players could start to freshen it up. For example, I would like to see Blair Kinghorn start and players such as Ben Earl in the 23, especially with how much Tom Curry has given.

Farrell will need to weigh up continuity of selection and making sure players aren't broken after this Test series.

Maybe part of the Lions' internally talking about winning 3-0 is the management saying to the whole squad that this tour is not going to peter out - that they are here to play right to the end.

The Lions can't win this 3-0 by relying on the same players again. The whole squad will need to be ready to go this week.