Is winning all that matters or must Lions deliver more in final Test?

Scotland fly-half Finn Russell will start his third Test in a row for the British and Irish Lions

Australia v British and Irish Lions, third Test

Venue: Accor Stadium Date: Saturday, 2 August Time: 11:00 BST

Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app with post-match analysis on BBC iPlayer, Radio 5 Live and the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

It was Finn Russell who said it first. In the passageway beneath the MCG, in the wake of the Lions securing the series against the Wallabies last Saturday, the fly-half insisted that the job was not yet done in Australia and would only be done if the Lions turned the 2-0 from Melbourne into 3-0 in Sydney.

A clean sweep is what they came here for and a clean sweep is what they need to stand a chance of being remembered in the way they wish to be remembered. The Lions need to finish with a flourish. Listening to them this past week, they know that better than anybody.

For weeks now, one Lion after another has spoken about their target being a landslide and that kind of rhetoric has only intensified since Melbourne.

Andy Farrell was asked the other day if the bravado from his players sat well with him. "I never think you should shy away from shooting for the stars because you might end up on the moon," he said.

"I dont think you should shy away from challenging each other and if you dont get there, then hopefully its somewhere near. It sets the mentality in my mind of what delivering means. Whats there to be shy at? Players, coaches, staff, everyone, Lions fans, want to win every game. You cant be frightened of that."

So here we are. The Lions are favourites to win their third Test in a row (probably not the case since they toured Argentina in 1927 and won 4-0) and, if they achieve it, it will be the first time theyve won three on the spin in 51 years.

By their own estimation they have not had to produce a complete performance to get this far. Fifty minutes here and fifty minutes there has been enough.

After winning the first Test comfortably they said they were going to have to be considerably better if they were going to win the second. In many areas they were worse (the Wallabies were much improved) and they still won.

To their credit, of course, but you dont get to be great Lions if youre falling over the winning line against moderate opponents.

"While the first two games have been great because we got two wins, theres still a feeling that we havent put it together in a way we know that we can," said captain Maro Itoje. "Thats the exciting thing for us - we want to chase down the performance we have been searching for."

Jack Conan, the Irish number eight, had his own particular take on the Lions still not having produced what they think theyre capable of.

"A lot of us werent at the races at all, but we stuck in there," Conan said in the wake of the dramatic Melbourne win. "We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well. It was disappointing how we played, but we played for 80 minutes."

Earl (left) returns among the replacements after missing out on the 23 in Melbourne, with Farrell opting for six forwards and two backs on the bench

Theres been a feeling about these Lions that they are potentially a very fine team made up of a healthy collection of world class players. Theres also a feeling that if they click then the Wallabies - shorn again of the wonderful Rob Valetini in their back row - will be taken to the cleaners.

The Lions need a performance that blows the door off. But the problem in legacy terms is that even then, in the best case scenario of a Wallaby shellacking, we will wonder how good the Lions could have been had they had better opponents, had the Springboks or the All Blacks been down the other end.

Thats a question with no answer. Well never know. At some point of the journey, Ben Earl said he wanted his side to go down in history as the best, or among the best, Lions teams in history.

Earl wasnt around in 1971, 1974 or 1997, but theyre the pantheon tours of all time. Aspiring to join them was exactly the right mindset to have, but you need true competition to get anywhere close to greatness and the Lions havent had enough of it on this trip. Its not their fault, but it is their truth.

The Wallabies have spent their week fuming over the Jac Morgan clearout with Joe Schmidt donning a boffins hat in giving his version of events. "There were just over 54 Gs of direct force that went through the neck [of his flanker Carlo Tizzano when Morgan hit him] along with almost 2200 rads [radians] of rotational force, which is enough to cause serious injury."

Schmidt knows all about G-force and rotational force but couldnt get his staff to get the Wallaby team bus to the MCG on time. He was still banging on about the Tizzano incident five days after the event.

Hugo Keenans late, late try broke the Wallabies. How they can put themselves back together again is anybodys guess, but without Valetini the job is a whole lot harder.

Theyve also got two Tests against the Springboks coming up this month and Schmidt is already talking about those games, as if the final Test is more about preparation for the Rugby Championship than a face-saving mission against the Lions. If the Wallabies have lost focus, theyre doomed.

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How Lions overcame Australia first half strength to win series

For the Lions players and the coaches, and especially for Farrell, making it 3-0 is big. Frankly, a game of tiddlywinks would be a major deal in his world. The full weight of Farrells personality does not come out in a crowded room full of journalists, but his players - the Irish guys who are familiar with him and the rest who are not - talk about him in almost reverential tones.

Huw Jones is one of the 11 who will start his third Test in a row on this tour, and he spoke about his coach on Thursday: "Hes been really good at getting everyone closer," said the centre. "I dont really know how hes done it but its worked. I wasnt really sure what to expect from the outside, but hes very calm and relaxed a lot of the time and when hes on hes pretty intense.

"When were training he doesnt miss a beat. He sees everything. Theres no hiding place. His standards are so high. He doesnt need to try to be intimidating. He just is. Not in a bad way, in a good way. Its just how he commands respect. Some people just have that presence."

Would Farrell do the job again in 2029? "Would I? Give me a break, would you. Let me get through Saturday. Honestly, for me it has been absolutely brilliant. I have absolutely loved every single minute and I knew I would because I just love everything that the Lions is about. Thinking about the future is not something thats on my mind until I get home and have a bit of reflection on the whole thing."

And a bit of Oasis. "Im definitely going to that," he smiled. "Weve got a few tickets for the Saturday night at Croke Park." Before then, a game to secure a place in history, some might say.