Late Keenan try gives British & Irish Lions series-sealing win over Australia

MELBOURNE :The British & Irish Lions stormed back from an 18-point deficit to overhaul Australia 29-26 in front a record crowd in Melbourne on Saturday and seal the series with a test to spare in front of their ecstatic red-clad army of fans.

Hugo Keenan nosed the Lions ahead with a last-gasp try in front of 90,307 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to leave the Wallabies heartbroken and the third test in Sydney a dead rubber.

Dan Sheehan, Tom Curry, Huw Jones and Tadgh Beirne also scored tries for the Lions, who claimed their first series win since beating Robbie Deans’s Australia 2-1 in 2013.

"Andy (Farrell), he told us that we should have no doubt in our mind that we're going to win this game," Lions captain Maro Itoje, named man of the match, said of his coach.

"Let's continue to play big. Obviously, there's loads, loads of errors, loads of errors, but we played big, we got the win, and that's all that matters."

While Farrell’s team celebrated, it was a tough night for the hosts, who had taken a 23-5 lead in a belter of an opening half featuring three tries apiece.

"It hurts," said Wallabies captain Harry Wilson. "So proud of this team. We've been written off. We came out here, we put our bodies on the line. The game was there to the very end and to lose like that, it hurts."

With enforcers Rob Valetini and Will Skelton back from injury, Australia hit harder at the breakdown and turned possession into early points.

Wallabies flyhalf Tom Lynagh booted two penalties in the opening 11 minutes before the Lions rallied.

A scrum penalty had the Lions motoring to the line where hooker Sheehan took a quick tap and flew over a pair of Wallabies for the opening try.

Australia suffered another blow when winger Harry Potter came off with a