Jesse Mogg's fleeting cameo gave us a glimpse of what might have been for Wallabies

IN what may prove to be coach Robbie Deans final act as Wallabies coach, his players did what they've done for much of his reign.

IN what may prove to be coach Robbie Deans final act as Wallabies coach, his players did what they've done for much of his reign. They showed lots of courage and commitment, but were far too often let down by execution.

They have rarely been helped by an odd selection policy, as was evident from the impact Jesse Mogg had on the game.

The Brumbies fullback-cum-winger has a rugby brain which embarrasses some of his more experienced colleagues.

The what-ifs and what-might-have-beens for the Moggs, Quade Coopers and others, however matters no more. The scoreboard has had it's say, and Warren Gatland will not be justifying his controversial omission of Brian O'Driscoll for the rest of his days, which might have been the case had the result gone the other way.

The first 20 minutes told the story. The Wallabies were out-thought, out-kicked and certainly out-scrummed.

While Leigh Halfpenny was the obvious man of the match, England prop Alex Corbisiero deserved a place on the podium.

After scoring a try in the first three minutes, he made life hell for Ben Alexander and did what the tourists thought they would be able to do in first two Tests - dismantle the Wallaby scrum. Ultimately they did that when it meant most.

The Wallabies have made some progress during this series.

Ben Mowen played like a seasoned international in his first series, Christian Leali'ifano looks cut for the bigger stage and while he's been around for a decade, hooker Stephen Moore was immense, and did not deserve to be on a losing side. His lineout throwing, under huge pressure, was perfect and his general play superb.

James O'Connor is a very good footballer but again he showed he is not a very good flyhalf.

Once the best Australian team is picked with all the players put in the positions that best suits them, there's a sense they could beat anybody.

Whether Deans will be given another chance to get that jigsaw together has to be in grave doubt after the magnitude of this loss.

If Deans is one thing, he's a realist. I doubt at this stage he will spend much time wondering what combinations he should put together for the upcoming Rugby Championship.

If ARU has decided it's time to move on, one hopes the message will be delivered within days.

It is doubtful there has ever been a more influential impact on any tour to Australia than the one Welsh fullback Halfpenny completed with his sublime display.

While international rugby players tend to be imposing specimens nowadays, the 24-year-old from Cardiff looks more like a pizza delivery lad.

From the moment Australians became aware of his unerring accuracy with the boot in that first game in Perth, the mantra was to not give away penalties.

As the tour unfolded, it became increasingly obvious his brilliant goal-kicking was a mere string to a very big bow. His brilliant positional play kept the Lions on the front foot and overall he produced an individual performance rarely matched at the highest level.