WARBY BEMUSED BY MORGAN ROW

SAM Warburton admits he is “bemused” by the furore surrounding Jac Morgan's controversial clearout on Carlo Tizzano at the end of the British and Irish Lions’ second Test win over Australia, with the former Wales skipper making a key claim after re-watching the whole game.

- JOHN JONES

The ex-flanker - who captained the Lions on two tours in 2013 and 2017 - has weighed in on the incident that sparked worldwide debate, in which Morgan made a decisive intervention at a ruck in the final moments of the game, which allowed Hugo Keenan to cross for a try which won the match and series for Andy Farrell's side.

In the wake of the last-gasp victory, Morgan's clearout, which was checked and cleared by the TMO, was slammed as dangerous by Australian pundits, coaches and players, with a fuming Joe Schmidt claiming that the decision to allow it goes against rugby’s “push for player safety”.

However, others - including ex-referees Nigel Owens and Stuart Barnes - have rubbished those claims, with Warburton among those to have defended the challenge.