Jac Morgan clear-out: Nigel Owens breaks his silence

The Welsh flanker came off the bench in Melbourne to make a game-defining impact, helping Andy Farrell’s side clinch a stunning 29-26 comeback win and seal the series with one Test to spare.

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Morgan’s crucial intervention came just moments before Hugo Keenan crossed for the match-winning try, with the Ospreys star blasting Tizzano out of the final ruck — a hit that sparked outrage from Wallabies players and coaches, who insisted it was foul play.

He said said: "There are a lot of experts on social media and a lot of pundits who think they are experts at refereeing as well.

"First of all, what you need to to judge is a couple of things here. Are Jac Morgan's actions legal? So, is he coming in low, with the arms out ready to wrap and clear out?

"If he wasn't doing that or he was leading with a shoulder, then you would have foul play and you would have a penalty. But his actions are actually perfect in the way you'd expect a player to clean out."

Owens added: "The Australian player who has come in, there is a chance that he hasn't actually come through the gate but that is irrelevant to the outcome anyway, because if there was foul play, it would trump that.

"The Australian player gets in and he is also very low. This happens all the way through the game, we see many of these incidents. Morgan comes in and tries to go underneath him, go really low to clear him out. It is textbook clearing out.

"The only time that this type of action would be illegal is if the Australian player was in that position, and Morgan was a couple of seconds later arriving and he did what he did, when he had time to readjust. Then there would be the conversation that there could be foul play.

"But it is very dynamic, like the referee explained, both of them are in pretty much simultaneously. The Australian player gets there a split second before Jac Morgan, but Morgan is already coming in in a legal clearout and so then there's no foul play.

"I know some people in Australia are quoting the law and saying 'well, he's going in low'," he continued. "But if you're quoting the law, both players are low in that [tackle]. It's a perfect clearout."

Despite a classy offload for Beirne's try and some composed moments, Lowe was error-prone under the high ball and defensively vulnerable once again. A mixed bag leaning heavily toward underperformance.

BALLS 5/10: "One good flicked offload to Gibson-Park. Spilled a high ball, early in the second half. Composed take and footwork, on 57 minutes. Great step and offload for Beirne's try. His best, and last, contribution of the game."

Planet Rugby 4/10: "His try assist was the highlight of an otherwise poor performance from the winger who missed three of his seven tackle attempts, conceded a penalty and struggled in the air. He is a big moments player and produced that with a brutal fend and offload, but far from a complete performance."

Telegraph 3/10: "Lovely offload to put Beirne over but was another disappointing display. A liability once again in defence and several handling errors."

RUCK 4/10: "Lowe has looked off the tempo in both tests and today was another story of that. He never got going and was exposed hugely in defence. In attack he was nothing to fear for the Wallabies apart from his assist for Beirne."

Replacement: Duhan van der Merwe

Grew into the game and made a crucial carry in the lead-up to Beirne’s try, but defensive lapses and an avoidable penalty undermined his overall contribution.

Express 5/10: "Not the huge carrier he is with Ireland, ineffective apart from one second half charge"

Telegraph 5/10: "Grew into the game and his carry set the platform for Beirne’s try. Suaalii slipped past him for Wright’s try and gave up a really dumb penalty."

Planet Rugby 3/10: " Caught out defensively by both Jake Gordon and Joseph Suaalii and conceded a penalty that Lynagh duly slotted. He made an incredible break which led to Tadhg Beirne’s try, but it was rather mystifying that he went the full 80 minutes today as he was a long way off his best."

Replacement: Sione Tuipulotu

Busy but largely ineffective, Chessum struggled with the physicality of Australia’s second row and couldn’t spark the partnership with Itoje. Lions missed McCarthy’s bite.

Planet Rugby 5/10: "Quietly went about his performance but was accurate and efficient in doing so. He stayed on the right side of the referee’s whistle but was guilty of four missed tackles and conceded a turnover. Replaced on 55 minutes."

RUCK 5/10: "Chessum was mainly a passenger and struggled heavily against Skelton and Frost in both physicality and tempo of the game. The Itoje and Chessum partnership just didn’t seem to click the way the Lions would’ve hoped."

BALLS 5/10: "Was kept busy, mainly in defence, in the first half. Solid lineout option. Made 13 tackles but missed four."

Telegraph 5/10: "Was busy without being particularly eye-catching. Felt that the Lions missed McCarthy’s physical strength in the exchanges with Skelton."

Replacement: Joe McCarthy (If fit)

Anchored a dominant scrum and worked hard in defence, but key missed tackles leading to tries exposed costly defensive frailties.

RUCK 5/10: "The Lion’s scrum was mighty, and more often than not, Porter was the first to show that to referee Andrea Piardi, he looked okay in attack but looked better defensively, but was caught short for Gordon’s darting try."

Telegraph 5/10: "Targeted by Australia in defence with both Gordon and Suaalii slipping through his grasp for tries. Still made 16 tackles, but misses were big black marks."

Planet Rugby 4/10: "Beaten for two of the Wallabies’ tries in the first half as he watched Gordon sprint past him before missing a tap tackle on Suaalii in the build-up to Tom Wright’s try. Conceded a penalty, and while his work-rate was top tier, his mistakes were costly. He was fortunate not to be penalised at scrum time too."

Replacement: Ellis Genge