North and Lions set for Sydney decider

HIGHLIGHT - future Saint George North carries the ball and Australia wing Israel Folau

Warren Gatland’s men were edged out by a late Adam Ashley-Cooper try and a successful conversion from Christian Lealiifano in Melbourne.

It leaves the Lions, who have not won a Test series since 1997, and the Wallabies level at 1-1 going into next Saturday’s showdown at the ANZ Stadium.

Saints signing North, a scorer in the first Test, was once again involved in one of the game’s highlights as he carried Wallaby wing Israel Folau on his back while surging forward during the second half.

At that point it seemed as though the Lions would win out as they held a 15-9 lead, given to them by five successful Leigh Halfpenny kicks, with 10 minutes to go.

But Ashley-Cooper’s score and Lealiifano’s accurate kick spoiled their chances of wrapping up the series at the Etihad Stadium.

And boss Gatland is now getting set for a big week in the build-up to what promises to be a titanic tussle in Sydney.

“It’s 1-1 and we have a big game next weekend,” he said. “We’ll look after ourselves in the next couple of days and we’ll look forward to it.

“This was another close one that could have gone either way. In fairness to Australia, they kept going for 80 minutes. It was a tough, tough Test match.

“I don’t think the momentum is with Australia now - we saw how close that game was.”