Every British and Irish Lions tour has its defining moments. One particular lineout remains among the defining moments of the tour to Australia in 2001. Perhaps the defining moment.
An epic series came down to an epic decider between a vintage Wallabies side, then world champions, and a Lions team featuring a core of English players that would be the next world champions two years’ later when beating Australia after extra-time in the same Sydney stadium.
In front of an 83,000-capacity crowd inside Stadium Australia, now known as Accor Stadium and again the venue for this series’ third Test, the lead had exchanged hands four times. The Wallabies were leading 29-23 when the Lions went to the corner two minutes into overtime in their last realistic shot at victory.
Martin Johnson called the ball on himself at the front but Justin Harrison beat him to the throw by the Welsh hooker Darren Morris, and a few minutes later the Wallabies were celebrating a famous and dramatic series win.
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True to type, Harrison already exchanged verbals with Austin Healy during the Lions’ loss to Australia A and win over the Brumbies, prompting the English player to describe him as “an ape, a plank and a plod” in a ghostwritten newspaper column. But Harrison had the last laugh.
Remarkably, although he was already 27, that seismic series decider in Sydney was Harrison’s Test debut.
“I probably should have retired after that,” Harrison admits wryly.
As Orson Welles once said toward the end of his career, which had begun with his debut film Citizen Kane, acclaimed as one of the greatest movies of all time: “I started at the top and there was only one way to go from there.”
In actual fact, Harrison won another 33 caps but, recalling that day 24 years ago, he told The Irish Times: “I remember being petrified. A lot of people come up to me now, the few that remember it, and say that was a great night. ‘What did you do after that?’ And I say: ‘Well, I played for Australia for another three years.’ So that’s a bit of a head-scratcher. But it genuinely was a career-defining moment. It comes once in a career and then to win it as well was fantastic.”
“I think it was probably the first time that rugby recognised that it was a professional sport as well as a commercial juggernaut off it,” Harrison adds.
Noting the quality of players on both sides, he describes it as “a really intense series”.
He has no regrets about his run-ins with Healey.
“Rugby is a bit of a pantomime sport. There are villains and heroes and characters, and Austin was one of them, absolutely. It’s great to zero in on a few people. I’ve had a lot of people come up and sort of remind me that Austin’s hard to ignore, but worth the effort.
“I didn’t use it as any extra motivation or spend any more time on it. We’d had a love affair since the Australia A fixture in Gosford. You pick on the smallest bloke on the field, don’t you? I’m probably pretty smart there,” he says, laughing.
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After his 34-cap Test career, Harrison went to Ulster in 2005 for three seasons and was part of the province’s last title, the 2006 Celtic League.
“I went there with a clear intent to be exposed to a similar culture to Australia; dealing with adversity and the Troubles, strong on identity, wanting to rebuild and searching for leadership, in the best competition, the Heineken Cup, as well as the Celtic League.”
He puts Mark McCall alongside Eddie Jones as the best two coaches he’s played under.
“I’m mystified why he’s not considered for national positions. He probably doesn’t want to but I think he should.
“Belfast, for me, was extreme success with the trophy and then the way that they nursed me through some troubled times as well I’ll never forget. It’s a very special part of my life. My two young boys have Irish passports. My wife’s grandfather lived in Portrush. We’ve got a strong connection there.”
As well as being “very clinical in his approach” and “very well prepared”, Harrison says of McCall: “He articulates his message very clearly. A good communicator. He’s played before but he knows how to connect with every single person from the lowest common denominator to the highest. He’s a very, very good coach.”
[ The Offload: Justin Harrison far from a plank in the commentary boxOpens in new window ]
As a retired player who had moved into punditry by the time the Lions returned to Australia, he describes the 2013 series as another epic.
“Full of intrigue, and that’s what sport does. It throws up unpredictability: the slip from Kurtley [Beale], the miss from Leigh Halfpenny,” he says in reference to the last-ditch kicks at the end of the first and second Tests before the Lions had “a blowout” in winning the third.
Australia had just won their second World Cup two years before the 2001 tour, and would reach a fourth final in 2015. But they haven’t won it since and suffered a first pool exit two years ago in France when thrashed by Wales and beaten by Fiji.
Harrison was also part of a fifth Bledisloe Cup win in a row over the All Blacks in 2002, but likewise they haven’t won that since either.
Yet he is a little miffed when it is suggested to him that Australian rugby is in decline.
“It’s been under pressure, absolutely. We have a commercial model for international rugby, not just Australian rugby, that’s under strain.
“World Rugby is certainly solving some big macro issues around calendar alignment. Northern hemisphere clubs, as well as down south, are financially challenged.
“How to attract, retain and develop talent is an age-old problem, particularly in Australia, when you’ve got the economics that we’re exposed to in the international market. We can’t have a chequebook shoot-out.
“The health of the game, also, all the way down to under-6’s, is determined by our national performance. So, absolutely, we need to be doing better, more consistently at a national level so that that’ll have a waterfall effect, not only for resources, but for engagement and creating heroes.
“We’ve got AFL and [Rugby] League, who are domestic competitions that have vastly superior broadcast deals and just outright resources. Do I think that there’s been a decline? There’s been a decline, possibly, in win-loss ratio, but I don’t see any less parochialism or passion around the Wallaby jersey. Those things are never in question. Access to talent and ability to retain and develop talent, that’s an ongoing issue.”
Being an Australian, perhaps it’s not so surprising to hear Harrison speak optimistically about this series and especially this Wallabies team.
“The Wallabies have a healthy group of players that have got shared experience in adversity, extreme adversity,” he says, citing the 2023 World Cup, and notes the improved Australian performances in Super Rugby Pacific and the work of Joe Schmidt.
“Joe Schmidt has done very well. He’s connected with the group. He’s built trust and honesty, and importantly he’s recognised the stage at which Australian rugby is in. And he’s let that inform the way that he places expectation on performance.
“He hasn’t tried to reinvent a skill or find something that’s not there. He’s recognised that there’s a rebuild and a foundation required. And there’s consistency and cohesion coming through.”
As in 2001, Harrison believes this series will come down to one or two key moments again.
“It’s bound to. But for it to be a good series, we need good officials,” he adds, launching into a common lament in Australian rugby union regarding excessive use of the TMO and replays, and citing the Australia-Fiji game when referee Pierre Brousset “was really going hard at making it into a clinically perfect dentist’s visit of a match instead of just letting it be an entertaining spectacle”. Referees are trusted more in Super Rugby, and there is less use of TMOs.
Contrary to the prevailing view, Harrison believes these Wallabies are in “a great position”, in large part due to the Australian mentality.
“Look at, culturally, the history of Australia. Just about everything that moves in the wildlife can kill you, whether we’re in flood, drought or something we’re dealing with, right? We’re an adverse frontier country. We’re used to being hard against it. And on the world stage, typically, every single one of our national teams does well.
“From a resource shoot-out, we probably do better than we are entitled to think we should. That’s a great position for us to be in. Culturally, we like to be under pressure, and we like to prove our point, and this Wallaby group, I think, will prove their point.”
