Fascinating…
The most successful Lions tour, results wise, since the series win against South Africa in 1997, was undoubtedly the drawn tour against New Zealand in 2017.
The All Blacks won the first game, 30-15, the visitors claimed the second match, 24-21, and the third test was a 15-15 draw.
Despite the achievement of going down to the home of rugby’s most famed competitors as a scratch team and proving yourselves, captain Sam Warburton said, “I guess it’s a little bit of an anticlimax from the players’ point of view.”
With this in mind, Rugby Australia chief, Phil Waugh, told the Sydney Morning Herald that a ‘golden point’ rule could be put in place for the third test of the upcoming Lions Tour of Australia, if the sides have won one test each.
The law means that if the game is level after 80 minutes, a ten-minute extra-time would be played, with the first score winning the match.
Waugh said: “We’ve had some really constructive conversations. That’s got to go to the Lions board around whether it’s a drawn series, or you decide it through golden point or extra time.
“Our preference, if we put the fans at the centre of everything we’re doing, I think that the familiarity that everyone has with ‘superpoint’ and the interest for that in our market is a good guide.
“Obviously, we will be making sure both parties agree. But I think that if you’re thinking about some fan engagement, that’s certainly very appealing.”
The golden point rule is currently in place in Super Rugby.
