Slipper on Wallabies’ ‘confidence and belief’ before must-win Lions Test

Australia may be down one-nil in the three-Test Lions Series, but they’re not out of the fight just yet. The Wallabies were beaten by the British & Irish Lions 27-19 in Brisbane last weekend, but the men in gold have a chance to level the series at one-all this Saturday at the MCG.

Test veteran James Slipper has been in this situation before. As rare as it is for any player to face the Lions twice in two Test series, ‘Slips’ is hoping to help the Wallabies repeat history after taking on the same challenge 12 years ago in Melbourne.

In 2013, Kurtley Beale slipped while attempting a last-gasp penalty goal at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, which would’ve seen the Wallabies win that Test if it had gone over. Instead the Wallabies went into game two in Melbourne trailing one-nil.

Foote on where the championship win ranks personally

Foote on where the championship win ranks personally

The Wallabies bounced back to win that match, and they need to do the very same this time around to keep the 2025 Lions Series alive. As Slipper explained, there’s still plenty of confidence and optimism among the Wallabies group that the Sydney Test can be a series decider.

“There was disappointment, clearly from the result on the weekend,” Slipper said.

“There’s a feeling of belief in the group that we were able to fight back into that game after being a fair stack down at the start of the game, that first half, really put ourselves under a lot of pressure.

“We’ve taken a lot of confidence and belief into what we can do. It’s already been touched on, it’s obviously game two, it’s another Test match, we know what’s coming and it’s about nailing our preparation now and taking that belief into that.”

The Lions went into last weekend’s Test as firm favourites, as the visitors lived up to that label from the opening minute. Finn Russell knocked over an early penalty, and the Lions ended up racing out to a 24-5 lead by the 42^nd minute.

Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Curry and Dan Sheehan scored a try each as the Lions piled on the points. While the Aussies hit back through Carlo Tizzano and Tate McDermott deep into the contest, that lead was ultimately enough to see the visitors home.

Australia outscored the Lions 14-10 during the second half but a slow start to the contest was what hurt the host nation. Slipper was asked about that on Monday, with the prop alluding to some of the lessons the Wallabies have learnt.

“I wouldn’t say we weren’t in the right mental state. You’ve got to give credit to the Lions, they came out and they obviously kicked off and put us under pressure and kicked three points right off the bat,” Slipper told reporters on Monday.

“We kind of lost momentum from the kick off and that’s not ideal, it wasn’t our plan. Probably just a little bit of looseness from our half.

“Going forward, it’s just about those little areas of the game that you need to nail at this level and that’s what we’re planning to do this weekend.”