British and Irish Lions: Jonathan Sexton admits Australia were deserving winners
Jonathan Sexton admitted the British and Irish Lions got what they deserved in the second Test defeat to Australia.
Last Updated: 29/06/13 10:30pm
Leigh Halfpenny missed a penalty at the death as the Wallabies held on for a 16-15 victory, Adam Ashley-Cooper grabbing the game's only try with five minutes remaining.
Australia now have momentum with them in their quest to deny the Lions a first Test series triumph since 1997.
"We are all pretty devastated to be honest," said Sexton. "We are all bitterly disappointed because we know just how close we came.
"It's a tough one to take, but if we are honest with ourselves then we have to say we didn't play well enough.
"We didn't control the set-piece well enough and we all made mistakes. We didn't deserve to win, it's as simple as that."
Halfpenny cut a disconsolate figure as referee Craig Joubert's final whistle sounded, but Sexton sympathised with his teammate.
"It was a very tough kick, and you have to also remember how tired he must have been right at the death," said Sexton.
"It's small margins, but like I say, you can't look at one man. There was plenty wrong with our performance as a team.
"We were 1-0 up and we should have gone 2-0 up, and we didn't. At times it felt we were wishing the game to finish, rather than going out and going after it. That's how I felt, anyway."
