Maro Itoje: What was said as Lions fell 'far behind' on scoreboard

Lions skipper Maro Itoje has set his sights on claiming a clean sweep of Test wins over the Wallabies, but only after savouring them securing a series win with a 29-26 victory in Melbourne.

The Lions made history after coming back from 23-5 down to win the series with a controversial last-minute Hugo Keenan try at the MCG, with a game to spare.

The England and Saracens lock says that Lions boss Andy Farrell set them the goal of going unbeaten in Australia, but that he is determined to enjoy winning the second Test before thinking about the final game in Sydney.

“When we first met in London or Dublin, Big Faz made the call that he wanted us to come out here and win everything. Don’t get me wrong, we are absolutely delighted with the result tonight.

“But we want to go again next week. It’s surreal – these are one of the moments in your life that you will cherish. This will live long in the memory.

“Often in sport, you have to move on to the next thing and focus on what’s next and the next challenge. No doubt we will do that after tonight’s celebration, but every now and again it’s right to savour the moment.

“It means the world, but I am just delighted for everyone involved. It’s been a massive squad effort. It has always been the goal to get to this result on tour. This is what dreams are made of,” he said.

Itoje is quick to point out that there was no panic among the Lions players, even though at 23-5 down it looked like the game was going to slip through their fingers.

“The gist of it was our ill-discipline, our lack of composure, or our inaccuracy was leading to their positive outcomes. The key is to focus on the next passage of play. That way, you mentally get yourself back into the game.

“So once we got that far behind, the message was: this is where we are at the moment, let’s just focus on the next passage of play and start to build ourselves back in,” added Itoje.