𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Jack Conan has revealed that an inspiring video from Irish boxing great Katie Taylor helped the British and Irish Lions find the resilience needed to close out their series against Australia.

Taylor, an Olympic gold medal winner and current undisputed world super lightweight champion, sent the good luck message to Andy Farrell’s squad in the build-up to Saturday’s second Test at Melbourne Cricket Club.

The 39-year-old’s words on the ability to dig deep turned out to be prophetic as the Lions emerged 29-26 winners after fighting back from an 18-point deficit.

“The video was unbelievably poignant and powerful. It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but also being ready to win by will,” said Ireland number eight Conan, who like Taylor hails from Bray in County Wicklow.

“That was something that was massively summed up in the game because we were not at our best at all.

“It’s huge because she comes from the town I’m from. I’m incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well.

“She’s gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world. To be such a superstar, incredibly humble and driven is something that we leant on as well because we knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it in spades.

“Everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy – it resonated with everyone. It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us.”

It took a beautifully-taken try by Hugo Keenan with 51 seconds remaining to separate the rivals in one of the greatest Lions matches ever played. Remarkably, Keenan’s touchdown was the first time they led in the match.

Conan admits that victory tastes all the sweeter for having been taken to the wire as Australia raised their game to a whole new level a week after starting the series with a whimper in Brisbane.

“We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well,” he said.

“It was disappointing how we played, but we played for 80 minutes. Hugo getting over the line in the last minute was just unbelievable.

“It wasn’t my best game. A lot of us weren’t at the races at all, but we stuck in there. You can’t fault the effort.  I thought the defensive sets we put in, just whacking people and just staying in there, was unbelievable.

“It’s something that will go down in history. They won’t be writing the history books about how s*** we were, but they’ll say that we won and that’s all that matters.

“Everyone’s over the moon. To be part of a Lions winning series team is incredibly special. The celebrations in the changing room wouldn’t have been the same if we’d won by 20.”