Winning a Test series is special, but it's hard to disagree that there would have been a sense of anticlimax at the MCG on Saturday had the Lions done so at a canter.
The fact that Australia showed up and played with a bite and fury which forced the Lions to dig deep lit a fire under the series and made Saturday’s game, in front of more than 90,000 people in Melbourne, a modern classic.
The Wallabies couldn’t see it through, in large part down to losing Rob Valetini and Will Skelton by the early stages of the second half, but the 18-point comeback and dramatic conclusion made the celebrations among the Lions players and staff all the more intense.
"I loved that composure in that last passage of play," attack coach Andrew Goodman said.
"The composure before half-time as well when we were 23-5 down to come back and to finish that well to get a bit of momentum back.
"We didn’t start the second half how we wanted to, a couple of errors in terms of lineout delivery and dropped balls etc. But 14 phases at the end there, there was some great work off the ball, some great work at the breakdown, some amazing efforts in the collision and the carry.
"Finn Russell having the composure to throw an offload over the top of a defender, he’s pretty calm isn’t he?
"I was actually hoping he was going to drop into the pocket at some stage but it’s always better to finish with a try, with Hugo two on two to back himself and finish like that - as you can imagine there were some wild scenes up in the coaches box."
The Lions parked their celebrations and returned to training today ahead of Saturday’s final Test in Sydney, with Goodman confirming that Garry Ringrose would miss the final Test due to concussion, but Joe McCarthy and Mack Hansen are in contention to return.
The squad and management were given an extra day off to enjoy their series win, and Goodman was in no doubt about what his own personal highlight of the celebrations was.
"I just loved the changing room after the game. When you’re just in there with the group that’s been a really tight part of it there’s some good moments that go on in there, the singing and a couple of fizzies and just connecting as a group.
"It’s a special time, a really special time. I’m a rugby purist and I kind of have missed that a little bit, the way the game’s gone in the last bit, so it’s nice to have that back and enjoy those moments together.
"And that’s what a Lions tour is all about and what I’ve really enjoyed about this, to get that balance of old school but professionalism at the same time. It’s been great."
Goodman (above) has been on a steep trajectory since returning to Ireland with Leinster in 2022, before taking over from Mike Catt as Ireland attack coach in 2024, and then joining Andy Farrell’s Lions group this summer.
And while there has been familiarity in the number of Irish coaches and staff on this summer tour, he says it’s been an eye-opening experience.
"I’ve really enjoyed working with different people: Wiggy [Richard Wigglesworth] and John [John Dalziel]. It’s been great to get different views on how things work, be open to different ways and different language, little activities to use. It’s been great.
"Wiggy, myself and Johnny [Sexton] have worked very tightly with the backs. It’s felt easy from the start.
"When we first got in as a group, Faz [Farrell] drove that really hard. He said we have to information-share, we have to be open books. That’s how we get the best out of each other.
"We all muck in. We all ask questions of each other and have areas we’re in charge of.
"Wiggy’s doing a lot of the kicking game and counter side of things, myself on the set piece attack into phase [attack], Johnny has an eye that asks a lot of questions and is spending a lot of time with the nines and tens.
"And Faz is over everything; effort, work, detail, driving us as coaches. He’s got a great eye for attack and defence, he’ll always be driving the messages."
While the series has already been won, the Lions are chasing history on Saturday as they look to complete a whitewash.
It’s 51 years since the last Lions side went unbeaten in a Test series – winning three and drawing once against South Africa in 1974 – while it’s 121 years since they whitewashed the Wallabies in a three-game series.
And Goodman says those figures will ensure there is no complacency in Sydney this week.
"It’s everything for us as a group to get excited about. It was 1974 the last time a Lions team went through the Test series unbeaten, so there’s huge motivation for the group.
"It’s one of those weeks where after two hard physical Tests it’s about getting the battery filled up and making sure we’re good to go by the end of the week.
"Faz has been massive on that since the start, his expectation not just of the players but us as management and coaches to be the most successful team.
"It has been driving us not just as players, but as a management group every day to get better every day and push each other forward."
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