Latest rugby talking points ahead of British & Irish Lions third Test against Wallabies

They drank bars dry at the MCG and had bartenders working overtime in Brisbane. The British & Irish Lions army are making their presence felt in a big way.

To give an idea of exactly how much Lions fans have been drinking on tour, beverage company Diageo revealed that there was one pint of Guinness poured every four seconds in Brisbane on the day of the first Test.

At the MCG last weekend, level two ran out of beer during the second Test.

British & Irish Lions fans at the MCG.

At the fan zone in Federation Square, the kegs also ran dry. Pubs in Melbourne had to order emergency reserves on Thursday to ensure they could keep up with demand through the weekend.

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While much has been made around whether Carlo Tizzano deliberately took a dive to win a penalty following Jac Morgan’s clean-out last week, former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has admitted trying to milk penalties during his own glittering career.

Hooper does not believe Tizzano was trying to milk a penalty, but believes that it is such a routine part of rugby that any player who doesn’t try to get an advantage with referees is “missing a trick”.

Michael Hooper has admitted he dived during his Wallabies career.

“I think there’s an element of the game that people do do it now,” Hooper told Rugby Confidential.

“I’m not saying Carlo did, but to emphasise the fact that you get hit in a certain area, I think players all do it. I’ve done it.

“Carlo’s as tough as they come, that guy’s tough. But if he finished that game and he didn’t show a bit where he got hit, then I think he’s missed a trick. I think it’s part of the game.”

Hooper is adamant Morgan should have been penalised by referee Andrea Piardi, which would have given Australia a win to level the series.

“I think (Morgan) went off his feet in the clean-out,” Hooper said.

It’s refreshing to hear such honest commentary from Hooper, amid the raging debate about whether Morgan should have been penalised.

It’s understood World Rugby has made its findings from the match known to the Wallabies, but it will be kept confidential to protect Piardi and the other match officials from any backlash and abuse.

Carlo Tizzano receives medical attention.

Hooper says while the chance to win the Lions series is gone, the Wallabies must show consistency after a brilliant first half in Melbourne before they were chased down to lose 29-26.

“We can’t have a decider now, so that’s a shame, but we can have another really competitive Test match,” Hooper said.

“For an Australian supporter and fan, what you want to see is a Wallaby team that backs it up again.

“And that’s going to be the progression of this team, and something that’s eluded us now for some time, is that ability to play good performance, good performance.”

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Drew Mitchell has shut down speculation that his friendship with Kurtley Beale was affected after Beale burst out laughing in commentary when he tore his hamstring in the Classic Wallabies match.

Beale was on commentary for Stan and said Mitchell would pull his hammie in Melbourne against the Lions legends last Thursday, seconds before Mitchell did exactly that after making a break.

Beale was in hysterics as Mitchell hobbled over the sideline clutching the back of his leg, which is typical of their friendship.

But some insinuated that Beale may have caused dramas with Mitchell over his reaction, and Beale reached out to his mate quickly.

“KB called me probably twice in the next couple of days after I tore my hamstring, like really concerned, because basically a couple of people went up to him when he was walking the streets, were like, ‘Oh, what about you laughing about you, mates hamstring’.

Drew Mitchell and Kurtley Beale.

“And he got really concerned, he called me and said ‘Mate, I’m really sorry’.

“I said, ‘KB, I’m so fine with. I’m totally okay with it’.

“I knew going into that game I was going to tear my hammie. I just knew it was going to happen, because I’d torn them four weeks before.

“When you’re 41 and you’re playing in a Classics game, the injuries are probably very likely to happen.

“I mean, if that happened in my prime and he took the same amount of joy, then maybe I might have been distressed about it.

“But the fact that my best mate knew about it and he predicted it, and Kurtley’s not the most comfortable in commentary, but he looked so good in the commentary that night, he looked comfortable and he showed his character and he showed his laugh.

“Honestly, there’s zero drama, I don’t hold anything against Kurtley.”

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Glitzy corporate packages to the 2027 World Cup are now available, and organisers are looking to woo new guests who aren’t traditional rugby fans.

The offerings will include access to exclusive restaurant and bar experiences around Australia, and working with the arts sector to engage a different crowd to what has traditionally been engaged in the tournament.

“There’s a lot of following, now we’re looking at attracting new audiences, for us it’s really important to start providing experiences that start to come from different audiences that we haven’t had, as opposed to just the avid rugby fan that we know will come and enjoy the World Cup,” said David McCallum, event director of Rugby World Cup Experiences.

“One of the concepts that we’ve been working on is something called the Advantage Club, and that’s something that isn’t just a match day ticket and hospitality and rugby game. It’s about buying into something that will give you options, different things throughout the week, turning up to live podcast events, going to food festivals or having different music events that are happening.

Rugby World Cup 2027 Event Director, David McCallum.

“So we’re just trying to bring in a lot of different entertainment elements that will be different to probably what’s been seen traditionally, which has been just hospitality and a travel program.”

Fans can now secure their place at the opening match, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in Australia, with packages that combine official match tickets, premium hospitality, hotel stays and unique city experiences.

The offering includes five new in-stadium experiences, along with ‘The Advantage Club’, a world-first off-field hospitality program delivering exclusive entertainment and social moments across host cities.

Fans can register for the presale until the end of January 26, which then go on sale in February, at rugbyworldcup.com/2027.

World Cup organisers have for the first time launched a Superfan Pass, that costs $750 (tickets not included) that will give you guaranteed access to ticket for all games including the World Cup final.

Superfan Pass holders can buy up to four tickets per match, with a limit of 52 tickets across the tournament.

There will be more than 2.5 million tickets available for the tournament, and 1 million of them will cost $100.

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The Melbourne Cricket Ground still hasn’t been locked in as a venue for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, even after the brilliant success of last weekend’s thrilling Test between the Wallabies and the Lions.

With a capacity of up to 100,000 the MCG would have been a shoo-in to host the finals or the opening match but missed out on the biggest matches after the Victorian state government dropped the ball by engaging in petty politics with event organisers.

Melbourne is still pencilled in for nine matches, including two quarter-finals, but it remains unknown which, if any, games will be played at the MCG because the Victorian government’s tourism arm has given the USA’s National Football League first call on renting Australia’s most hallowed turf.

Already under fire for spending a fortune in taxpayers’ money to bring an NFL regular season game to the MCG in 2026, the Victorians have also offered the NFL the option of a return visit in 2027, if they consider the first match a success.

According to highly placed sources, the NFL has been promised it can choose any date it wants, which has left Rugby World Cup organisers and the AFL in the lurch because that means they can’t lock their dates in until after the Americans.

The 2027 NFL season is due to start in the first week of September, which clashes with the AFL finals series, while the Rugby World Cup will run from Oct 1-Nov 13. If the second NFL game goes ahead, one of them will lose out.

British and Irish Lions' Jamison Gibson-Park celebrates at the MCG.

This column understood RWC organisers were planning to hold four matches at the MCG with the other five Melbourne games at Marvel Stadium but the uncertainty over the MCG’s availability could see its allocation reduced to two, possibly none, because time is running out with tickets going on sale to the general public in January.

Asked about whether the MCG would host World Cup games in 2027, World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said he hoped so but did not give any guarantees.

“We’re just finalising that piece with all the venues, which is exciting because that’s the next part of the journey. We’re going to confirm the final venues when we get to the match schedule, obviously in January,” he said.

“A 90,000 plus crowd in a globally iconic venue. What’s not to love about that? What we saw on Saturday is that rugby can make some noise in Melbourne as well, so we’re looking forward to Melbourne being part of that tournament.”

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Gilpin said World Rugby was open to holding talks with organisers of the proposed R360 rebel competition, which is offering huge sums of money to lure players away from both rugby codes.

Fronted by former England centre Mike Tindall, the R360 global franchise competition is planning to launch in late 2026.

R360 has already been linked with a number of high-profile players from the NRL, including Ryan Papenhuyzen, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Kalyn Ponga.

“We need to have a dialogue with those guys when they’re ready to do that and we always say rugby needs investment,” Gilpin said.

“Rugby’s in a really competitive environment around the world, every sport and beyond sports competing for an ever more difficult attention economy.

Rugby World Cup Tournament Director Alan Gilpin.

“So investment in the game’s great as long as that investment is driving into the right areas, as long as it’s creating a more financially sustainable game for players. For the wider ecosystem then we encourage it but we’ve got to understand what that means in the R360 case.

While Gilpin said World Rugby was willing to engage with R360 he said he was confident the appeal of playing in international events like the World Cup would override the lure of players wanting to defect for big bucks.

“Our position is whatever competitions arise, we know players want to play international rugby,” he said.

“It’s not true of every sport, but in our sport, the international game is the pinnacle of the game.

“We’ve got a really quite tricky calendar in global rugby, so it’s really important that whatever is getting endorsed and invested in gives players that opportunity.

“And I think anything that doesn’t give players that opportunity, players will vote with their feet on it.”

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Wallabies legend Matt Burke has been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, the 20th Australian to be given the honour.

Australia’s second highest point scorer with 878 points from 81 Tests, Burke’s achievements included being part of the Wallabies team that won the 1999 World Cup and beat the Lions in the 2001 series.

Matt Burke has been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

“Matt was a pivotal figure in so many of the Wallabies’ most famous triumphs and those of us playing with him at the time knew we were in the presence of greatness,” Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said.

“That has now been confirmed with his induction into the Hall of Fame, where he will forever stand shoulder-to-shoulder with rugby’s giants.

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A very worthwhile fundraising lunch will be held in Sydney’s Hilton Hotel, helping those who have suffered spinal injuries.

In October 2018, 16-year-old Alex Noble was living his dream, training with the NSW Under-17 Rugby Sevens squad. Then came the tackle that changed everything. A broken neck. Severe spinal cord damage. A prognosis that he would never walk again.

Lying in intensive care after his own devastating injury, Alex saw his older brother Zac distraught — ready to walk away from his final high school exam. Gasping for breath but full of fight, Alex looked at him and said four words that would define the next chapter of his life:

“I fight, you fight.”

Alex Noble.

Now 22, Alex is channelling that same determination into raising awareness and support for life-changing research.

Just one day before the final match of the British & Irish Lions’ Australian tour, Alex will join leading figures from sport, business, and media at a lunch at the Hilton.

Hosted in partnership with SpinalCure Australia, the event will be attended by rugby legends Matt Burke, Mike Catt and George Gregan, as well as SpinalCure Patron Sandra Sully and Ambassadors Ed Cummings, Rodger Corser and Sam Bloom.

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In response to the avalanche of Lions fans flooding Australia, Virgin Australia was forced to add 70,000 seats across its network to support travel to and from Sydney from Thursday to next Tuesday.

Virgin has launched a Lions competition where customers can win free flights if they spot this furry critter.

The airline has also launched a Lions themed competition, where fluffy toy Velocity the Lions will be placed around the cabin, and fans who take a photo or video and tags @VirginAustralia will go in the draw to win return domestic economy flights anywhere in Australia.

Post them to Instagram or TikTok with #SpotTheLion.

Originally published as Latest rugby talking points ahead of British & Irish Lions third Test against Wallabies