Australia vs British & Irish Lions – Test series: Live score, team news and updates as play RESUMES after lightning in Sydney area – as Andy Farrell’s men look to overturn deficit to Wallabies

Game now resuming in filthy conditions, after it actually stopped raining for a while during that safety break. You couldn’t make it up. It will be interesting to see whether the break has allowed Will Skelton in particular to recharge his batteries sufficiently to last longer in this second half than he might have done – or whether his giant body has seized up instead!

We’re back underway here and it has been a fast start!

Taniela Tupou charges his way full pelt through the middle of the Lions ‘defensive line and gets pulled down inside the tourists’ 22.

Australia can’t make good the attack, with Tupou dropping the ball on his rampage up the pitch.

But the prop has been brilliant today and many Australia fans will be confused as to why this is his first start during this tour…

The rain is back. We’ll be getting back underway here in Sydney in approximately three minutes time.

But the rain is continuing to pour down here. Over 34mm of rain water has fallen in some areas of New South Wales in the past 24 hours – most of that feels like it’s fallen in the past two hours.

Meanwhile, it sounds like tempers exploded in the tunnel at half-time according to former Lions boss Warren Gatland.

There was definitely some frustration at half-time. I was stood there and I think it was coming from the Lions side – I heard someone say, ‘Who’s taking control here?’

Whether that was one of the Lions management talking to the officials, or their own players about taking a bit of control, there was definitely some frustration.

Hopefully they’ve sorted it out, but there were definitely some words.

Australia are making full use of this 10-minute warm-up period on the pitch, but still no sign of the Lions, which is odd. Maybe they think it is more beneficial to talk tactics rather than do stretching and passing drills.

Australia are back on the pitch, warming up. But the Lions are still yet to be seen…

It’s been a very tense match, quite uncharacteristic of how this series has been played to be honest!

While the tour has largely gone on without many tense moments, tonight in Sydney, tempers have flared. Nic White has been at the centre of two of those big brawls, as Australia stamped their authority on the match.

The Lions have been the second-best team in this game so far, struggling to match the intensity of Australia at the breakdown.

‘We spoke about the pride in the jersey and I think you can see it in our men. They’re going to war out there,’ James O’Connor said to Sky Sports.

On the conditions, he added: ‘I’ve never experienced anything like this, almost like the end of days,’ James O’Connor said.

‘It’s hard to get visuals out there.’

It looks like the players are about to come out again to resume the second half, they’ll do a quick warm up before getting back into the match.

Meanwhile, ‘It’s Raining Men’ by The Weather Girls is over the tannoy…

‘Here Comes the Rain Again’ by the Eurythmics is blaring out over the tannoy.

A glimpse into the Lions dressing room has also just shown Finn Russell tapping away on his phone before one of the coaches threw a towel over the camera in the changing rooms.

This whole occasion is unravelling – teams, officials and fans shielding from the threat of lightning in the area, while some spectators still in the stands are taking it in turns to invade the pitch and be chased down by the stewards. The last man who tried it was felled by a savage high shot from one disgruntled member of matchday staff, who had evidently lost patience.

Even with no rugby, the party here at the Accor Stadium is in full swing.

The players are back in the changing rooms with lightning having struck in the area.

We’ll have a 30 minute delay here in Sydney but if lightning strikes again in the vicinity, the clock will reset.

Meanwhile, fans are dancing and singing in the crowd as Free From Desire blares over the speakers.

Multiple streakers have ran onto the footy pitch with the crowd cheering the poncho-cladden spectators as they evaded security.

It’s a £5,000 fine in Australia for entering the field of play without authorisation… an expensive evening for those fans…

So just three minutes into the second half, a storm has stopped play here at the Accor Stadium.

Play has been suspended for 30 minutes after a lightning bolt struck within 10km of the stadium.

It comes just after play had restarted for the second half. A horror head injury to James Ryan had stopped play again for a further 10 minutes as the rain continued to fall.

Meanwhile, fans sitting lower down in the stands are being asked to move back into the terraces to avoid the lightning.

The players have left the pitch but the fans are in great spirits as a streaker runs across the pitch, sending up a roar of laughter as Zombie by the Cranberries rings out around the speakers.

More chaos. Play suspended due to lightning strikes in the area. Three minutes gone in the second half and the players have left the field…

There’s plenty of niggle in this game and that’s been absolutely fair enough when two fired-up teams want to get stuck into each other, but it went too far for another scuffle to break out barely a metre away from where James Ryan was lying motionless, after being knocked out cold trying to tackle the massive Will Skelton. Whatever has happened to spark a confrontation there is unacceptable.

Let the players rip into each other and channel all the aggression on both sides, but not in that situation. It was out of order to be almost tripping over a stricken player to go toe-to-toe again. Also in bad taste was the decision by the person controlling the stadium playlist to launch a rendition of Sweet Caroline over the speakers while Ryan was being treated. That was in bad taste.

We’re back underway here at the Accor Stadium and both sides are once again opting to put boot to ball early on.

White takes the ball off the back of a ruck and sends it high into the Sydney sky.

The ball is recycled with Will Skelton crashing up into contact. James Ryan is there to make the tackle but Skelton’s knee catches him in the side of the head with the Irishman worryingly dropping to the floor straight away.

Medics ran onto the field immediately to treat the second-row.

But as Ryan received treatment, both sets of players being embroiled in another scrap with Nic White bizarrely lashing out at Owen Farrell.

The No 9 is certainly getting under the skin of the Lions here…

His trip stateside lasted only 18 months, but Louis Rees-Zammit will return to rugby union after quitting the NFL.

He had shocked the world in January last year when he abruptly decided that he would be leaving the sport to pursue a career as an American football player.

The move left many scratching their heads, with many noting that the 24-year-old was surprisingly giving up the sport only a year before the Lions tour Down Under.

Now, Rees-Zammit has revealed that he may be set to sign with a new footy club ‘imminently’.

And Daily Mail Sport’s Mike Keegan has revealed that it may be a club no one has expected…

‘Be ready to win by skill but be prepared to win by will,’ boxing star Katie Taylor told the Lions.

Check out her message to the side before Saturday’s match here…

A great start for the Wallabies here in a rain-soaked Sydney.

A try from Dylan Pietsch in the first seven minutes of the match and a penalty from Tom Lynagh have seen the hosts take an 8-0 lead in this final Test.

Joe Schmidt’s side have been the more physical side at the Accor Stadium, dominating at the breakdown both defensively and offensively, winning the ball back in key areas.

The Lions will need to up their intensity if they are to pull this match back.

Meanwhile, things got a little bit ense in that first-half…

Lions captain Maro Itoje’s tour of Australia is over after the second-row failed a head injury assessment.

Itoje was pulled from the field by medics after just 27 minutes, having suffered a head knock during a lineout as the Lions weathered both a storm of rain and Wallabies attacks.

The Saracens second-row appeared to have a cut to his mouth with blood pouring down his cheek.

But after 10 minutes off the field, the Lions skipper was deemed unable to return to the pitch.

Tommy Freeman was also removed from the pitch with blood pouring from his nose and he too has failed a head injury assessment.

They seem to have finally woken up, only 36 minutes into this match.

They make their way into the Wallabies 22, with Conan, Sheehan and Beirne all hitting the ball up.

But Australia are just so much better at the breakdown than the Lions.

Their support for their ball carriers is just a little too slow, with Harry Wilson and Co showcasing their brilliance getting over the ball and slowing down play.

The Lions get up to the Wallabies’ 5m line, but Australia win back the ball and clear their lines with the Lions unable to come away with a score.

Meanwhile, Tommy Freeman has come off with blood pouring out of his nose. Owen Farrell takes the field in his place.

This certainly doesn’t feel like a hollow, dead-rubber Test – not so far anyway. There are some savage shots going in; especially from the Lions as Australia are dominating possession and territory. There has already been one mass scuffle and with the arch antagonist, Nic White, on hand to wind-up the visitors, it probably won’t be the last.

The Wallabies finally have their heavyweight combination of Taniela Tupou and Will Skelton together on the tighthead side of their scrum and the pair have given their side a powerful set-piece advantage early on. They even combined in open play too. While the two massive forwards are on the field, Australia’s pack will have considerable clout, but it is unlikely they will have the stamina to play deep into the second half.

Another score for Australia, and they’ve pulled to eight points clear of the Lions who are struggling to cope with the pressure the hosts are putting on them.

Tom Lynagh tees up a penalty from in front of the posts and makes no mistake in putting the ball over.

After booting the goal the Wallabies No 10 immediately runs off the pitch for a head injury assessment.

A big throwback to 2013…

Looks like Maro Itoje is heading off here for a HIA.

The Lions captain has blood pouring from out of his mouth here and might be heading down to the medics’ room to get a few stitches too.

Meanwhile, the Wallabies have a line-out on the Lions five metre line but an excellent bit of play from the tourists sees them turn the ball over and win a scrum to ease the pressure.

The ball comes flying out the side of the scrum but the Wallabies are just ramping up the pressure.

They force Bundee Aki to knock the ball on right next to the posts and win another scrum.

It’s getting a bit frosty out there too, with both side’s throwing a few sledges back and forth.

Australia kick for territory and advance down to the Lions’ 22m line.

The Lions recover the ball but an almighty brawl has just erupted.

Players come flying in from both sides as Will Skelton, Nic White and Dan Sheehan appear to have not seen eye to eye over a clearout at the breakdown.

The referee is now doing the rounds, telling the players to calm down, before giving the Lions a penalty.

A game of kick tennis has erupted on the footy pitch here.

Australia put the ball out for a line-out and the Lions ship the ball out to Bundee Aki, who crashes the ball up through the midfield.

However, Hooper and Pietsch are there to wrap up the centre and turn over the ball.

The Lions have started just as they did last week. Slowly.

In fairness to both sides, they are playing in a typhoon right now but the quality of the handling on show has been excellent so far.

Yes, we had a few knock-ons in the previous play but under the high ball, both have been excellent.

But given the conditions, the game has descended into a bit of a kicking fest, with both sides looking to put the pressure back on their opponents.

The Wallabies get off to a fast start again!

It’s a patient passage of play from the Aussies, who come away with five points thanks to some magic hands from Joseph Suaalii who ships the ball out wide to Dylan Pietsch.

The conditions are really not improving here.

The Wallabies have a scrum on the Lions’ five-metre line and they’ve started well.

The ball is slippery so they too are keeping things in the forwards who are just creeping closer and closer to the try line.

The Lions, though, are defending brilliantly.

Should the Lions win tonight, this will be the first time since 1927 that the Lions have claimed a series whitewash.

But where does this side rank among some of the greatest touring sides ever?

From Willie John McBride to Jeremy Guscott, Mail Sport has ranked the 10 greatest Lions tours of all time.

And we’re underway here at the Accor Stadium!

It’s Australia kicking off to the Lions and already the conditions are having an impact with the tourists opting to keep the ball in tight.

All the way back in 1888, the Lions travelled Down Under to take on Australia but found themselves playing a slightly different game that wasn’t rugby union.

The Lions arrived in Melbourne with players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in fact turning their hand to play Austrlian rules football.

AFL was originally thought up to help cricketers in Australia stay fit and active during the winter.

And as Australian sporting chiefs wanted to maintain a strong gate for the Lions tour, the tourists took on the Carlton Football Club in an Australian rules footy match.

But the results were very surprising.

Here’s how the Lions mastered a sport they’d never played before…

They’ve really nailed the pre-match light shows, big-screen team announcements and music during this series, to set the scene before kick-off.

The atmosphere hasn’t always remained loud and vibrant once the games begin, but every effort has been made to crank up the anticipating levels with noise and colour. If it’s like this for night games in two years’ time, the next World Cup here will be quite something…

Full of heart, full of pride, Pierre Schoeman reflects on what it truly means to be a British and Irish Lion.

A shout-out for the sound system at the Accor Stadium. They like an emotive pre-match montage on the Lions tour and the bass levels here are magnificent. It feels like I’m sat in an IMax cinema with state-of-the-art surround sound. My seat is shaking!

So, after last week’s victory, Andy Farrell has made only a couple of changes for tonight’s match.

Blair Kinghorn comes into the side, replacing James Lowe on the left wing.

Meanwhile, James Ryan comes in for Ollie Chessum.

Interestingly, Alex Mitchell has completed the full clean sweep, having been named in all 10 of the tourists’ matchday squads during their tour Down Under.

It’s amusing to recall that, when the Lions last played in Sydney four weeks ago, head coach Andy Farrell claimed after a narrow victory over the Waratahs that the home side had excessively watered the pitch at Allianz Stadium, in order to negate the British and Irish tourists’ attacking game. Everything is relative.

Conditions here at Accor Stadium, on the outskirts of the same city, are far worse tonight than they were a handful of miles away on July 5. It has been absolutely lashing down for hours, with the rain swirling around and drenching most spectators, who have repeatedly fled the stands to escape the deluge. Good luck to both teams trying to handle the ball…

Carlo Tizzano has been blasted for diving following last week’s Test in Melbourne.

Some from within the rugby community have lashed out at the Wallabies star after he appeared to fall away from a ruck, clutching his head after he was cleared out by Jac Morgan.

James Haskell slammed the Wallabies flanker for the action, while former Australia star Morgan Turinui clapped back at the officials for not awarding a penalty against the Lions for Morgan’s clear out.

While Joe Schmidt fumed, it seems like we’ve had some clarity from World Rugby, with CEO Alan Gilpin offering his view on the contentions moment…

Mail Sport’s Nic Simon and Kevin Quigley caught up with the retiring footy star, Nic White, on their travels of Australia.

Watch Lions: Roar & Uncut here…

Blair Kinghorn has similarly laid-back, languid body language to his fellow Scot, Finn Russell. With one leg heavily strapped, the Toulouse back – who operating on the wing today – has just been practising his long-range goal-kicking. Let’s just say it appears to involve minimal exertion but maximum impact.

From a short run-up and with a casual swing of the boot, Kinghorn was propelling the ball high between the posts from the halfway line and beyond. If the Lions need someone to take a shot from distance tonight, he’ll be ready to step up – without being fazed in the least.

Nic White has been described as the ‘ultimate competitor’ by Joe Schmidt.

The man with the moustache has enjoyed a glittering career at the top of the game, with this being his 73rd Test appearance for Australia.

He began playing for the Wallabies back in 2013 during a Test match against Argentina in Perth and would go on to become the side’s first-choice scrum half, scoring six tries for his national side.

White had wanted to run the water in tonight’s match, but Schmidt had other ideas.

‘Whitey’s got such massive respect inside the squad that it seemed a fitting way for him to finish,’ the Wallabies boss said.

‘I’m not a sentimentalist. It’s a Test match, and you pick people who are capable of playing that Test match – and we believe that Nic is.’

And that was reflected this week when the Wallabies paid homage to their retiring team-mate, by turning up for their squad photo shoot all wearing moustaches.

‘Nic has an excellent kicking game. He has the confidence of the players, and he has a really good game under his belt against Fiji I thought he played really well against the British and Irish Lions for the Western Force. He’s built his way into contention,’ Schmidt added.

Now, White has revealed what it means to him to play for Australia.

‘Pulling on the gold jersey was a dream of mine when I was a young boy in Scone and to say I’ve done it 72 times, with one last crack on Saturday night, is something I’m incredibly proud of and a privilege I’ve never taken for granted,” White said.

‘Rugby has given me so much to be grateful for. I’ve made some incredible memories, some lifelong friendships and had the opportunity to see the world.’

Ahead of the game, Joe Schmidt has made some interesting comments to Sky Sports, revealing that this tour was all about building and growing rugby union in Australia…

We just have to try and bank the belief we built from last week. It’s going to be a very tough evening conditions-wise.

For us it was never about the series. It was always about trying to build our way forward. This time last year we just started a group getting connected and playing together and just building on that really.

It’s just such a big event a Lions tour, you can maybe get a little bit distracted from those little bits and pieces you need to get right in the middle of the game.

We’ve just tried to focus on those and improve them so we can take them into the rugby championship after this.

Joe Schmidt has made several noteworthy changes ahead of today’s final Test.

Tighthead prop Taniela Tupou comes into the fold for his first start in the green and gold, replacing Allan Alaatoa.

Meanwhile, flanker Rob Valetini has been replaced by Tom Hooper.

But the big news for the Wallabies is Nic White is set to return to start for the Wallabies in what’ll be his final Test for Australia after he announced his retirement from international rugby.

Here’s your full Wallabies XV to take on the Lions…

So the discourse for this week has related fully to Jac Morgan’s controversial clear-out in the dying embers of last week’s Test in Melbourne.

The Lions clinched a last-gasp victory and the series against Australia thanks to Hugo Keenan’s try in the dying embers of the match.

It was a remarkable moment but there was controversy with Morgan’s clear-out on Carlo Tizzano at the breakdown in the phase prior to Keenan’s try being checked by Andrea Piardi.

Morgan’s clear-out was deemed fair by the referees but Joe Schmidt had another opinion. The Aussie boss claimed that Morgan had hit Tizzano high on the next with an illegal clear-out and the try should not have stood.

But his comments prompted furious backlash from around the rugby world with James Haskell hitting out at Schmidt for his post-match comments…

It is absolutely lashing it down right now in Sydney.

In some areas of New South Wales, we’ve had nearly 15mm of rain falling over the last five hours.

So the final test of this year’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia is upon us, and Andy Farrell’s side are looking for a whitewash here at the Accor Stadium in Sydney.

You’ll have to go back to 1927 to find the last time the Lions won every game in a series…

However, Australia will be keen to prevent the total shutout with Joe Schmidt having named mulitple changes for the match.

Tighthead prop Taniela Tupou and Tom Hooper both come into the side while Nic White starts at scrum half.

We’re an hour away from kick off so stay with us as we’ll be bringing you all the latest news updates and commentary from the Accor Stadium.