Wallabies great Drew Mitchell has braved Sydney’s winter and honoured his losing bet with former England prop Joe Marler with a musical blitz ahead of Saturday’s decider.
Mitchell took up Marler’s Twitter challenge ahead of the second Test in Brisbane, won 25-17 by England to square the series at 1-1.
The loser had to don the opposition’s team jersey and a pair of budgy smugglers while belting out the rival country’s national anthem.
Watch the Wallabies vs England series decider live on 9Now plus All Blacks vs Ireland, Springboks vs Wales and Pumas vs Scotland ad free and exclusive on Stan Sport
And while it took him a few days to pluck up the courage, Mitchell delivered by popping up in front of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to belt out God Save the Queen, while finding time to clear his throat with a cleansing ale.
“I trust this means we are all square?” Mitchell wrote.
“A Mitchell always pays his debts,” an impressed Marler replied, while putting out the offer of another bet for the third Test at the SCG.
READ MORE: All Blacks great rips rugby’s festering problem
READ MORE: Barty addresses golf future amid Wimbledon snub
READ MORE: DCE’s career defining Origin shot as dethroning looms
https://twitter.com/drew_mitchell/status/1543211379229831168?s=20&t=cuiW_lDvBxOHfSurLRHalAhttps://twitter.com/drew_mitchell/status/1546438676900507648?s=20&t=cuiW_lDvBxOHfSurLRHalAhttps://twitter.com/JoeMarler/status/1546804364668551169?s=20&t=cuiW_lDvBxOHfSurLRHalA
Both nations have injury issues in their squads and will name their teams on Thursday.
There has been plenty of niggle throughout the series and England forwards coach Matt Proudfoot expected that to continue at the SCG.
“I think it is the nature of the contest,” Proudfoot said.
Live from the The Pig ‘N’ Whistle, Sean Maloney and Andrew Mehrtens review all the action from the epic Test clashes between the northern and southern hemisphere as well as keeping an eye on the exciting Pacific Nations Cup in Fiji
https://omny.fm/shows/between-two-posts-1/the-pig-n-whistle-itchy-itchy-sea-lice/embed?style=Cover
“Just watching Ashes series and the amount of sledging that goes on in that, these guys are competing and they need to understand and grow and know where the line is.
“You can’t cross that line. I think that is part of how you develop players.
“Educating them. You never want to take that intensity away from a player like Gengey (Ellis Genge). He has great intensity.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!