MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia beat the British and Irish Lions 16-15 in the second test on Saturday at Docklands Stadium to level the series and set up a mouth-watering winner-takes-all third match in Sydney next week.

After last week's dramatic 23-21 defeat in Brisbane, the Wallabies overcame a raft of injuries to their backline thanks to a late converted try from Adam Ashley-Cooper and three penalties from Christian Leali'ifano.

Lions fullback Leigh Halfpenny slotted five penalties but missed one from the halfway mark with time expired that would have given the tourists victory.

The third Test takes place in Sydney next Saturday.