Leigh Halfpenny is beyond value for the Lions

So the harder he works, the luckier he gets, to repeat an old axiom – except there was nothing lucky about the way the bashful boy from Gorseinon dominated the third Test – and not merely in kicking his goals.

This was not the first game in which he seemed to be a magnet, and the ball a lump of metal, each time the Wallabies hoofed it downfield. Utterly secure defensively, he was also the dazzling provider for the Lions’ second and third tries.

There are spooky coincidences. Gorseinon is an old mining village west of Swansea that also gave rugby Lewis Jones, full-back in the 1950 Brisbane Test when the Lions also fielded 10 Welshmen. Jones scored 16 points, then a record. The Lions won 19-6.

Jones went on to became a rugby league legend with Leeds and also played Tests for Great Britain. But when it comes to records, Halfpenny has now taken them all. His 21 points are an individual Lions Test record, his 49 in the series and his 114 on this tour likewise. He landed 40 of 45 kicks on tour, an 89 per cent success rate.

“Last week was as low as I ever want to feel and this is just incredible,” he said.

“To play like that and win like that is something that will live with me forever.”

As Sky TV’s commentator Miles Harrison said: “Halfpenny? How many Halfpennys are there?”

Article source: http://www.nswrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=77406&title=qld-name-their-side-for-game-3

Leigh Halfpenny is beyond value for the Lions