With the Tom Richards Cup on the line, the Wallabies will be counting on the golden army turning out in Melbourne, where rugby union carved out its own slice of history 24 years ago.
In 2001, Australian rugby’s governing body was stung into action by the red sea of Lions supporters, who flooded the opening Test in Brisbane, leaving the Wallabies feeling like they were at Cardiff Arms Park rather than the Gabba.
And they played like it, with the 1999 World Cup champions crashing down to earth with a 29-13 thud.
“I was sitting there looking for glimpses of gold because it was a sea of red and then they started singing … so on and off the field, we got absolutely smashed, which was a massive wake-up call, and the media gave it to us with both barrels and said we’d let Australia down,” former ARU (now Rugby Australia) boss John O’Neill told AAP.
The sea of red at the Gabba in 2001 sparked a call to action for Australian rugby union fans. (Getty Images: David Rogers)
“We decided we really had to make sure the series was really competitive, at least 1-1 after Melbourne, and we had to make sure Wallabies supporters were seen and heard.”
With only a week before game two, Australian rugby set about “golding” the Docklands Stadium, and ironically, it was paid for in British pounds.
A British tour operator had bought tickets that were meant to be sold in Australia, which the ARU looked to cancel due to the breach of contract.
Brian Thorburn, then general manager of commercial operations, told AAP he smartly re-sold the tickets back to the operator at a higher price.
“We basically said to the agent, ‘Well, we’ve got sympathy for the 300 people you’ve sold to, but the facts are that you’ve got them cheap and outside the contract, so we’ll sell them back to you at double the price,'” Thorburn recalled.
“The profit we made essentially paid for all of the gold at both the Melbourne Test and the Sydney Test, so it was quite ironic that a British travel agent paid for all the gold.”
Wallabies fans responded to the sea of red in 2001, with Docklands Stadium being awash with gold. (AAP Julian Smith)
The ARU’s marketing team brainstormed ways to make the Melbourne venue feel like home for the Wallabies — even trialling golden goal posts with kicker Matt Burke, before it was decided they were too distracting.
“We put ‘Go Wallabies’ placards on every seat in the lower bowl, and we had 10,000 very flimsy gold scarves, which was all we could secure with three days’ notice,” Thorburn said.
“We ensured every square inch of available signage was gold — we had a catch-cry of ‘Be Bold, Wear Gold’, and it was really a turning point.”
While they achieved their gold rush aesthetic, not everyone was happy — in particular the AFL, which was the ground’s tenant, now owner.
“We got these mylar cannons, and they blasted as the teams ran on and as we scored any try, and the result was gold glitter coming all over the crowd and on top of Poms drinking their beer,” Thorburn said.
“The CEO of the stadium, Ian Collins, gave me grief for years because they were still getting glitter out of the grass two or three years later because it was so small.”
The AFL could also be suitably miffed by the size of the crowd at the stadium for the second Test, with 56,605 squeezed into a venue that had a capacity of 56,347 — with the AFL’s biggest ever crowd 54,444, set in 2009 at a St Kilda-Geelong match.
Rugby’s 2001 attendance record stood until the second 2013 Lions match, when 56,771 fans crammed in.
This Saturday’s second Test will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with a capacity of 100,024.
At least 90,000 fans are expected to pack into the famous stadium, which would surpass the current Wallabies-Lions record of 84,188 set at Stadium Australia in 2001.
While swathes of supporters will attend to support the tourists, it is something which this current Lions group is not taking for granted.
The last tour was in 2021 to South Africa, played in front of no fans as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to plague the globe.
After winning the first Test in Brisbane last Saturday, Irish prop Tadhg Furlong spoke to the media about what it meant to see thousands of people in red, supporting the Lions and rugby.
“Class,” Furlong said about the support in Brisbane.
“Even the town … Thursday it filled up, you can feel it, everyone wears red.
“I’m sure Canterbury [the jersey maker] are delighted with the sales of the stuff. Everyone seems to be wearing the kit, they wear their club hat or whatever.
“It’s why the Lions is special, it’s not lost on us.”
AAP/ABC
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